Update from the Lexis Alert Service,
May 11, 2009.
1. People v. Acevedo, 511 70/06, 512 70/06, SUPREME COURT OF NEW YORK, APPELLATE DIVISION, FIRST DEPARTMENT, 2009 NY Slip Op 3673; 2009 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 3554, May 7, 2009, Decided, May 7, 2009, Entered, THE LEXIS PAGINATION OF THIS DOCUMENT IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE PENDING RELEASE OF THE FINAL PUBLISHED VERSION., THIS OPINION IS UNCORRECTED AND SUBJECT TO REVISION BEFORE PUBLICATION IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS.
Pursuant to Section 42, paragraph 4, of the Judiciary Law of the State of New York the New York State Commission on Judicial Conduct respectfully submits the Annual Report 2009 of its activities covering the period from January 1 through December 31, 2008.
The New York State Commission on Judicial Conduct is the state agency responsible for investigating complaints of misconduct against judges of the state unified court system and, where appropriate, determining to admonish, censure or remove from office those judges found to have engaged in unethical behavior. All determinations are subject to review in the Court of Appeals, New York State’s highest court.
New York State. Commissdion on Judicial Conduct, Annual Report 2009
While most agree that forensic science is a critical element of the criminal justice system, there are increasing expressions of concern as to whether it is becoming fragmanted, less reliable, and urgently needs an infusion of financial and research support in order to remain viable.
These and related concerns have been discussed in a variety of books, journals as well as the web media. Of particular interest to many is the National Academy of Sciences Report on Forensics which addresses directly many of the points mentioned above. While I cannot link directly to that Report here I can link to the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) catalog where you can purchase a copy: http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=12589 . There may be a free summary available at that site. The NAS Report is also discussed in some depth in an American Judicature Society Editorial at http://www.ajs.org/ajs/ajs_editorial-template.asp?content_id=797 Also recommended is the Comments on the Release of the NAS Report on Forensic Sciences by the American Society of Crime Laboratory Directors (ASCLD).
Recognizing the growing concern and importane of viable forensics, the New York Times has devoted most of the Science Section of its May 12, 2009 issue to what it calls the “New Forensics”. This issue contains a wide selection of articles addressing various aspects of forensic science as related to criminal justice. Links to a few are included in the listings below:”
We received the following announcement today which is being posted for your information.
As regulators in the U.S. and around the world are issuing more stringent rules and strengthening their oversight, the current economic conditions are creating more challenges for compliance programs. At no time has promoting and maintaining an ethical corporate culture been as challenging and as essential for a companys survival, well-being, and success.
At PLI’s Corporate Compliance and Ethics Institute 2009, scheduled to be held in Chicago on May 20-21, 2009, in New York City and via Live Webcast on June 4-5, 2009, a distinguished faculty, drawn from major corporations, ethics organizations, law firms, academia, and the government, will give you the tools you need to advance or develop an effective compliance program. Experts in the field will discuss how to ensure that your companys compliance program satisfies the rigorous new standards.
Amazon has now released Kindle DX, a larger, more versatile veriion of its wireless Kindle ebook device. The new DX version has a larger display and a screen which rotates from portrait to landscape to view Web pages and spreadsheets, etc.
Kindle DX and other wireless ebook reading devices certainly do not portend the end of the tradional book as we know it; they are simply useful, but additional, methods of conveying information to readers.
Here are some of the features of the Kindle DX as listed by Amazon:
Spencer S. Hsu writes in the May 7, 2009 Washington Post that according to U.S. officials “the Department of Homeland Security is dismanteling a next generation biological attack warning system in New York City subways because of technical problems. Click here to see entire article.
Rob Richards, a law librarian and legal information consultant in Philadelphia writes: “A list of empirical studies of law-related information behavior is now available at http://home.comcast.net/~richards1000/InformationBehavior.html . If you know of additional studies not listed, I’d be grateful to learn of them. Persons interested in this topic may be interested to know of the availability of a major new dissertation on this topic:
Stephann Makri, A Study of Lawyers’ Information Behaviour Leading to the Development of Two Methods for Evaluating Electronic Resources (2008) (unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, University College London), also available at http://eprints.ucl.ac.uk/14729/ .” We are always grateful to Rob for sharing such insights with us.
A quarterly journal published by John Wiley and Sons, Inc. on behalf of the American Bar Foundation.
Law & Social Inquiry is a multidisciplinary quarterly that publishes original research articles and wide-ranging review essays that contribute to the understanding of sociolegal processes.
Law & Social Inquiry’s combination of empirical and theoretical research with critique and appraisal of the sociolegal field make the journal a useful source for the latest research and commentary. Law & Social Inquiry’s ambit spans law and sociology, criminal justice,economics, political science, social psychology, history, philosophy and other social science and humanities disciplines. The journal publishes a wide range of scholarship on specific topics in law and society, including but not limited to law, legal institutions, the legal profession, and legal processes.
Below is a message, useful to law librarians and others, from the current Chair of the ABA Criminal Justice Section. It includes information about new books and some discussion about publication activities within the Section :
Message from the Chair:
The Criminal Justice Section is comprised of a number of committees charged with the responsibility of addressing a broad array of criminal law topics. While each committee tends to focus on issues related to their special interest, when needed they all work in unison to make clear that we serve as the voice of criminal justice in the nation.
A Service from the ABA Criminal Justice Section, http://www.abanet.org/crimjust
Flores-Figueroa v. United States (No. 08-108)
Decided: May 4, 2009
