Criminal Law Library Blog

February 21, 2008

News From the American Association of Law Libraries

From the AALL E-Newsletter, February 2008.*

David Pogue to be Keynote Speaker at AALL Annual Meeting

I am very pleased to announce that David Pogue, the personal-technology columnist for The New York Times, will come to Portland this July as the keynote speaker for the Opening General Session at the AALL Annual Meeting. Each week Pogue contributes a print column, online column, and an online video for the Times. His daily blog, Pogue’s Posts, is the Times’ most popular blog. He is also an Emmy award-winning technology correspondent for CBS News, a frequent guest on NPR’s “Morning Edition,” and a regular on CNBC.

February 21, 2008

Information Security Update: February 21, 2008

by David Badertscher

The following is some updated information that we thought might be of interest. This is not a separate issue of the Newsletter:

NEW YORK STATE OFFICE OF CYBER SECURITY AND CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE COORDINATION CYBER INFORMATION BULLETIN

DATE ISSUED:

February 21, 2008

U.S. Supreme Court: Riegel v. Medtronic 06-179

by David Badertscher

Argued December 4, 2007 – Decided February 20, 2008

…”Of Wednesday’s pre-emption cases, Riegel v. Medtronic may have the broadest impact. The Court ruled against the estate of Charles Riegel, who died after a catheter made by Medtronic malfunctioned during heart surgery.”

“Riegel sued in federal court, invoking New York state common law to argue for liability and damages. Like lower courts, the Supreme Court ruled that the federal Medical Device Amendments of 1976 specifically preclude states from imposing their own requirements on the makers of federally regulated medical devices.”

February 21, 2008

U.S. Supreme Court: Danforth v. Minnesota

by David Badertscher

Decision Date: February 20, 2008:

DANFORTH v. MINNESOTA CERTIORARI TO THE SUPREME COURT OF MINNESOTA

No. 06-8273. Argued October 31, 2007-Decided February 20, 2008

February 20, 2008

ABA Judicial Division Presents Programs at the 2008 ABA Midyear Meeting

by David Badertscher

From the ABA Judicial Division:

The ABA Judicial Division presented and received favorable press coverage of the many wonderful programs during the 2008 Midyear Meeting in Los Angeles, CA, February 6-10. You can read, listen, and/or view these programs by clicking on the links below. This information is also posted to: http://www.abanet.org/jd/

Stranger in a Strange Land: Cross-Cultural Issues in the Courts — Video | Audio

February 19, 2008

U.S. v Allen: Dropping Books During Clumsy Robbery Doesn’t Reduce Sentence

by David Badertscher

“(U.S. 6th Cir., Feb. 5, 2008) – Defendants’ sentences resulting from their clumsy robbery of rare books from a university and attempts to sell them at auction are vacated and remanded for re-sentencing, where the district court erred by excluding books dropped and abandoned in the library stairwell from the valuation of loss and computation of the sentencing range. The court held that the defendant-robbers “took” the books, under USSG, 2B3.1, when they exercised dominion and control over them, such that they completed the acts necessary to seize the books.”

U.S. Charles Thomas Allen II et. al.

February 19, 2008

U.S. Khalid Sheikh Mohammed et.al.

by David Badertscher

“Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, Feb. 11, 2008) – The U.S. Department of Defense announced that six high-value detainees held in Guantanamo Bay were charged, under the Military Commissions Act, with planning and executing the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. Specific charges include violations of the laws of war, attacking civilians, attacking civilian objects, intentionally causing serious bodily injury, destroying of property in violation of the laws of war, terrorism, and material support to terrorism”

U.S. Khalid Sheikh Mohammed et.al.: Specifications and Charges

Source: Findlaw Featured Documents, February 11, 2008.

February 11, 2008

Report to Congress on Implementation of Section 1001 of the USA Patriot Act

by David Badertscher

Report prepared by U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the Inspector General

February 2008.

Section 1001 of the USA PATRIOT Act (Patriot Act), Public Law 107-56, directs the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) of the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ or Department) to undertake a series of actions related to claims of civil rights or civil liberties violations allegedly committed by DOJ employees. It also requires the OIG to provide semiannual reports to Congress on the implementation of the OIG’s responsibilities under Section 1001. This report – the twelfth since enactment of the legislation in October 2001 – summarizes the OIG’s Section 1001-related activities from July 1, 2007, through December 31, 2007.

February 11, 2008

Is There a Wiki Where you Work?

by David Badertscher

The following is a question and and responses to that question. We have made every effort to remove all identifying information Regarding both the person who submitted the question and those who responded.

QUESTION:

How many of you have a wiki at your firm? What is it used for? Who is allowed to contribute?

February 8, 2008

CLLB Information Security Newsletter February 2008

by David Badertscher

While reviewing responses to readers of this blawg, I noticed that many seem interested in postings related to information security. Therefore, as an experiment beginning with this posting I plan to include an occasional newsletter covering topics and issues related to information security.

As an added activity I serve on an Information Security Committee at my orgaization. This experience has certainly increased my awareness of the importance of information security issues to all of us, including law librarians. Let’s see how this works. Comments are welcome.

David Badertscher