Libraries are bridges to information and knowledge.

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April 27 – May 1, 2009
To view the full-text of cases you must sign in to FindLaw.com. All summaries are produced by Findlaw.

U.S. Supreme Court, April 28, 2009 Cone v. Bell, No. 07-1114 In a capital habeas proceeding, the denial of Petitioner’s habeas petition is reversed where the state courts’ rejection of Petitioner’s Brady v. Maryland claim did not rest on a ground that barred federal review, and the lower courts failed to adequately consider whether the allegedly withheld evidence was material to Petitioner’s sentence. .

U.S. Supreme Court, April 29, 2009 Kansas v. Ventris, No. 07-1356 The state supreme court’s reversal of defendant’s burglary conviction is reversed where the state obtained a confession from a confidential informant but defendant’s statement to the informant, concededly elicited in violation of the Sixth Amendment, was admissible to impeach his inconsistent testimony at trial.

U.S. Supreme Court, April 29, 2009 Dean v. US, No. 08-5274 Defendant’s firearm conviction is affirmed where defendant claimed he unintentionally fired his gun during a robbery, but 18 U.S.C. section 924(c)(1)(A)(iii) requires no separate proof of intent, and its 10-year mandatory minimum applies if a gun is discharged in the course of a violent or drug trafficking crime, whether on purpose or by accident.
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April 27 – May 1, 2009
To view the full-text of cases you must sign in to FindLaw.com. All summaries are produced by Findlaw.

U.S. 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals, April 28, 2009 Molinari v. Bloomberg , No. 09-0331 In an action challenging amendments to New York term limits legislation, district court’s grant of summary judgment for defendant is affirmed where: 1) plaintiffs do not have a viable First Amendment claim as any chilling of plaintiffs’ First Amendment activity is self-imposed and thus incidental and constitutionally insignificant; 2) the challenged law does not violate plaintiffs’ substantive due process rights guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment; 3) New York Municipal Home Rule Law sec. 23(2)(b) does not require a referendum to enact the challenged law; and 4) court properly dismissed plaintiff’s claim that defendants violated the conflicts of interest provisions of the City Charter as any any conflict of interest was not in the terms and conditions of public office.

U.S. 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals, April 27, 2009 McTernan v. City of York , No. 07-4437 In a First Amendment action, district court’s judgment is affirmed in part and vacated and remanded where: 1) the court erred in granting summary judgment in favor of the officer on plaintiff’s free exercise claim as a reasonable jury could conclude that the restriction imposed on plaintiff failed the general applicability requirement; 2) the court erred in granting summary judgment on plaintiff’s free speech claim as significant fact questions persist as to whether the restriction was narrowly tailored and burdened no more speech than necessary to protect traffic safety; and 3) the court properly dismissed plaintiff’s municipal liability claims against the defendant and co-defendants in their official capacity.

U.S. 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals, April 27, 2009 Holman v. City of York , No. 07-4438 In a First and Fourth Amendment action, district court judgment is affirmed where: 1) plaintiff failed to demonstrate a cognizable First Amendment violation; 2) plaintiff’s Fourth Amendment claim fails as the officer had probable cause to arrest plaintiff for trespass at the scene; and 3) the court properly dismissed plaintiff’s municipal liability claims against the defendant and co-defendants in their official capacity.
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The U.S. government’s CIO recently appointed by President Obama told Congress this week that obsolete regulations are blocking agencies from serving the people by participating in top Web sites and social media. Regulations governing the use of cookies and — ironically — disclosure laws are keeping government stuck in the 20th Century. See:

Obsolete Regulations Block Government Adoption Of Social Media

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According to C.G. Lynch’s provocative artice in the CIO Insider Newsletter,Twitter’s growing popularity is exposing a considerable “fraility” of writing among those tweet. He observes that Twitter’s 140 character message format demands concise, engaging writing “and that’s a skill that a lot of people don’t have. To read more of Mr. Lynch’s practical, expert advice click here.

As for where to write, sometimes it seems as though tweeting or twittering is almost universal. Amy Hale-Jenke, Head of Reference at the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals has found many fellow twittering, or tweeting, law librarians by going to the Twitter Yellow Pages. To “meet” all types of legal professionals, including law librarians who like to tweet, you can also go to Justia’s Legal Birds, a “Twitter Community.” Perhaps all of this gives the quotation, “birds of a feather flock together” a special meaning. Thinking of all this one wonders if tweets are becoming sort of information age variations of haiku that are being spread around the web.

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April 29, 2009.

An e-publication of the American Library Association (ALA)

HIGHLIGHTS:

OCLC challenges ILS vendors In what clearly represents a challenge to the integrated library system industry, OCLC announced April 23 that it has created what it calls “the first web-scale cooperative library management service,” inviting member libraries to “take the first step to realizing this cooperative service model with a new, ‘quick start’ version of the OCLC WorldCat Local service.” The service expands WorldCat Local’s cataloging and discovery tools to include functions now performed in most libraries by a locally installed integrated library system. Andrew Pace, OCLC’s executive director for networked library services, explains why this service is a “sea change” in this exclusive interview….
American Libraries Online, Apr. 24
Groups submit comments in favor of access ALA, ACRL, and the Association for Research Libraries jointly submitted comments (PDF file) to the U.S. Copyright Office April 28 on the topic of facilitating access to copyrighted works for the blind or persons with other disabilities. The associations believe they should be afforded the same access to materials as sighted persons. Currently, only about 5% of published books are available in accessible formats for the visually impaired. Some materials are not available at all, particularly scholarly journals, research materials, professional resources, and local history materials….
District Dispatch, Apr. 28
Congress supports National Library Week The U.S. House of Representatives passed H. Res. 336, a resolution in support of National Library Week, April 22. During the floor debate, Reps. Paul Tonko (D-N.Y.), Vern Ehlers (R-Mich.), and Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) made statements highlighting the significant role libraries and librarians serve in communities across the country….
District Dispatch, Apr. 23 Continue reading

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Volume 2009, Issue 4 April 30, 2009

Published by the American Association of Law Libraries (AALL) Government Relations Office

Through its Washington E-Bulletin, the AALL Government Relations Office keeps the AALL membership abreast of governmnt policy news important to law libraries and law law librarians.

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Library of Congress Report: Information Technology Strategic Planning: A Well Developed Framework is Essential to Support the Library’s Current and Future Information Technology (IT) Needs

The Library of Congress Office of the Inspector General.

Library-Wide

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