March 2009 Issue
The Law Library Association of Maryland (LLAM) is a chapter of the American Association of Law Libraries (AALL):
The March 2009 issue of LLAM News is available for viewing at:
AALL: Technical Services Law Libraries Newsletter
March 2009 Volume 34 Number 3.
The March 2009 TSLL issue is published and now available for your viewing. Check out the current news.
News from the Metropolitan New York Library Council
March-April 2009 Issue:
The Metropolitan New York Library Council (METRO) is the largest of New York State’s nine reference and research systems, multi-type library organizations often known as “3R Cooperatives” METRO serves a region that includes the five boroughs of New York City and Westchester County.
METRO has a broad and expanding array of member libraries, including law libraries, METRO provides services to its members and assists them to work together and meet the reaearch and informational needs of the people in the region; it is committed to resource sharing, library professional development, and has one of the largest and most effective library advocacy programs in the region.
Findlaw Case Summaries: Constitutional Law 10
To view the full-text of cases you must sign in to FindLaw.com. All summaries are produced by Findlaw.
March 16 – 20, 2009:
U.S. 1st Circuit Court of Appeals, March 19, 2009 Levesque v. Doocy , No. 08-1814
Findlaw Case Summaries: Criminal Law and Porcedure
To view the full-text of cases you must sign in to FindLaw.com. All summaries are produced by Findlaw.
March 16 – 20, 2009:
U.S. 1st Circuit Court of Appeals, March 17, 2009 US v. Vargas, No. 08-1377
From the Library Journal Academic Newswire
March 19, 2009
Intentional Upheaval: ACRL Report Says Libraries Must Turn Crisis into Opportunity
New FOIA Guidelines Issued In Memorandum By U.S. Attorney General Holder
In his memorandum of March 19, 2009 to heads of executive departments and agencies, Attorney General Holder rescinds former U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft’s October 12, 2001 memorandum which states that records could be witheld by the Department of Justice “unless they lack a sound legal basis or present an unwarranted risk of adverse impact on the ability of other agencies to protect other important records” Topics included in the Attorney General Holder memorandum include: A presumption of openess; FOIA is the Responsibility of Everyone, and the importance of agencies working productively and properly.
To quote from a statement on the U.S. Department of Justice website:
“By restoring the presumption of disclosure that is at the heart of the Freedom of Information Act, we are making a critical change that will restore the public’s ability to access information in a timely manner,” said Attorney General Holder. ‘The American people have the right to information about their government’s activities, and these new guidelines will ensure they are able to obtain that information under principles of openness and transparency.’ “
ABA Journal Weekly Newsletter. March 20, 2009.
Top Ten Stories of the Week ending March 20, 2009:
Law Practice Management Layoff ‘Herd Mentality’ Ignores Greater Savings of Pay Cuts, Prof Says
Mar 17, 2009, 08:19 am CDT
Q&A: To What Extent and Under What Conditions Are Congressional Research Reports Official Documents? *
Q\UESTION::
In a recent e-mail, someone from Canada asked asked how she could obtain an “official copy” of a Congressional Research Service report, “one from Congress,” not one from the website of an organization such as the Federation of American Scientists. The responses which follow are very interesting; they address a variety of related issues including the following: Are Congressional Research Service (CRS) reports that contain added designations such as watermarks, trademarks, or copyright notices official and are they in the public domain? Does the U.S. Government have any special rights to use copyrighted materials? and can CRS reports always be freely disseminated as government documents?
RESPONSES:
West Announces Changes to the Topic and Key Number System
On March 1, West released significant changes to the Key Number System. Attorney editors have completed the reclassification of over 300,000 headnotes. The improvements include the following:
· Two new digest topics: The topic PRIVILEGED COMMUNICATIONS AND CONFIDENTIALITY encompasses privilege issues arising in discovery and at trial and contains expanded classifications covering attorney-client privilege, physician-patient privilege, and executive privilege. The topic PROTECTION OF ENDANGERED PERSONS covers such areas as restraining orders and other protection from domestic violence, harassment, and stalking; guardian ad litem appointments; agency investigations and liabilities; and criminal and civil liability.
· Complete revision of four topics: The topics CONVICTS AND PRISONS are completely revised, with many lines afforded to concepts increasingly important in modern cases, e.g., boot camps. The topic DISORDERLY CONDUCT is greatly expanded to include breach of the peace (a similar offense recognized in most state jurisdictions). In the PRODUCTS LIABILITY topic, many points of law are classified once under the product type and again under the legal concept or procedure.