New Publications______________________________________
Bluebook Online.This fee-based online publication offers access to the full content of The Bluebook with dynamic searching and annotation features for individuals and groups.
State of Sentencing 2007: Developments in Policy and Practice (Sentencing Project 2007). This report highlights a number of important criminal justice policy developments that occurred at the state level during 2007.
America Online Compliance & Investigations. This is a law enforcement training manual that describes retention and preservation practices and interpretive information.
The Library Problem, HackitoErgoSum, December 11, 2007. This blog posting describes methods for cataloging a small size library (the author's example was based on a 3500 volume collection) as well as the software products available.
MySpace.com: Official Law Enforcement Officers Investigators Guide (2006). The Guide is designed to provide information and assistance to law enforcement officers about what information is collected, how it is collected and how long it is retained by MySpace. It is also designed to assist law enforcement investigators to understand how to request properly the information they are subpoenaing. This guide has been prepared with the assistance of Parry Aftab of WiredSafety.org.
Benchbook for U.S. District Court Judges (5th ed. 2007). An ongoing compilation of information that federal judges have found useful for immediate bench or chambers reference in civil and criminal proceedings. The Benchbook contains sections on such topics as assignment of counsel, taking guilty pleas, standard voir dire questions, sentencing, and contempt. The fifth edition includes new entries for the Crime Victims' Rights Act and preliminary injunctions, a revised grand jury charge, and updated plea and sentencing colloquies followingUnited States v. Booker.
Law Clerk Handbook: A Handbook for Law Clerks to Federal Judges (2nd ed. 2007). This handbook provides an overview of chambers operations and the work of the federal courts.
New York Law Reports Style Manual (Official ed. 2007)
This 2007 Edition has been revised to provide updated and expanded examples of citation formats, including those for electronic sources; to conform to modern style practices; to further reduce unnecessary style variations from standard sources; and to resolve residual style inconsistencies. This edition further promotes the use of plain English and a writing style respectful of the privacy and dignity of persons referred to in decisions.
National Institute of Justice Journal. The NIJ Journal, published several times a year, features articles to help criminal justice policymakers and practitioners stay informed about new developments.
Justice Initiative Legal Resources Database. This database provides access to the growing collection of research studies from around the world published by the Open Society Justice Initiative.
CasePrepPlus.com. This is a new free weekly service highlighting and summarizing the most recent and significant New York appellate cases (with links to the full opinions), plus recent legislation and practice rules changes for New York’s trial bar.
Broken Promises (ACLU 2007). This comprehensive report from the ACLU documents the terrible conditions and dangerous lack of planning at the Orleans Parish Prison, and details other increases in police abuse, racial profiling, housing discrimination, along with other civil liberties violations and the ACLU's continuing response.
Starting a Website (ABA). In this article, the ABALegalTechnologyResourceCenter provides a step-by-step guide to ensuring that an organization or firm builds the right web site the first time.
Law and Technology Podcasts, LLRX, August 27, 2007. Numerous high-quality podcasts covering topics such as technology policy, law, and web development are collected and reviewed in this article.
Creating Documents for All to Read, Wall Street Journal (US), August 8, 2007. This article describes free and low cost options for creating and converting documents into PDFs.
Federal Sentencing Study. Since the fall of 2002, Professor David Zlotnick at the Roger Williams University School of Law has undertaken to create a set of case studies of federal sentencings that captures judicial dissatisfaction with the sentencing laws in effect during the mandatory Guidelines era.
Guide to Short Form Open Access Legal Publications, LLRX (US), July 27, 2007. This article is a collection of emerging short form law review journals.
How Lawyers Can Improve Search Results, National Law Journal (US), July 25, 2007. This article discusses some advanced search techniques in Google that can improve the relevance of search results. It also examines ways to determine the reliability of a website.
Scanning and OCR With Acrobat 8, LLRX (US), July 27, 2007. This article describes the benefits of Adobe Acrobat 8.0 for creating and converting documents into PDFs in a law practice.
Do-It-Yourself Forensics, Law Technology News (US), July 12, 2007. This article describes methods for simple, low cost computer discovery and investigation.
Law Hacks, American Bar Association Journal, June 27, 2007. 101 tips, tricks and tools to make you a more productive, less stressed-out lawyer.
The Liberty Legend. The Association of Federal Defenders publishes a quarterly newsletter containing various articles covering new and significant case law and trends in the law.
Doing Time Times. This publication focuses on the federal Bureau of Prisons, and particularly on administrative rules and policies that affect clients directly and practically. It is published by the Federal Defender Services of Eastern Wisconsin.
Legal Wikis Are Bound to Wow You, Legal Technology News (US), May 7, 2007. This article describes the increasing use and influence of the latest social networking tool, Wikis, among lawyers.
National Criminal Background Checks: Myths, Realities & Resources, Virtual Chase, 2007. This article discusses the pitfalls in attempting a comprehensive criminal background search, and offers tips on using available sources to compile criminal history data.
Where to Click When You Need to Buy New (Legal) Tech, Legal Technology News (US), March 19, 2007. This article examines resources for evaluating new law office technology products.
Wikis for the Legal Profession , Law Practice Today (US), February 2007. This article describes the benefits of Wikis, a web-based collaborative authoring tool, for law related projects and scholarly works.
RSS Resources You Can Use: Automated Web Surfing for Lawyers, Law Practice Today (US), November 2006. This article describes the benefits of subscribing to RSS news feeds and makes recommendations on feed readers and monitoring techniques.
Criminal Law Brief (CLB). This is a journal dedicated to the complex and constantly evolving world of the criminal justice system. Our audience includes judges and practicing attorneys, students with a strong interest in criminal law, and professors of varied criminal law disciplines. We are dedicated to an open and balanced dialogue on all aspects of criminal law representing all possible perspectives. The CLB is made available and distributed to federal, state and local government agencies, courts, law firms, and law schools throughout the country. This publication is produced by the Washington College of Law.
Federal Practice Manual for Legal Aid Attorneys. The first five chapters of the 2006 Federal Practice Manual for Legal Aid Attorneys, edited by Jeffrey S. Gutman, Professor of Clinical Law and Associate Dean of Academic Affairs at George Washington University Law School and published by the Sargent Shriver National Center on Poverty Law, are available now in HTML format. Chapters 6-9, as well as a documentary supplement that includes annotated model pleadings, are still being edited and will be posted online soon.
Criminal Justice Blogs, Law Library Resource Exchange (LLRX), December 17, 2006. This article is a collection of web logs that provide news and analysis of current developments in criminal justice. Authorship ranges among lawyers, law professors, law librarians, public defenders, criminal justice professionals and observers and commentators on the justice system.
United States Attorneys' Bulletin. This is a publication of the Executive Office for United States Attorneys (EOUSA), which includes articles on various issues in federal criminal litigation. Bulletins are available from 1996 to the present.
Spanish Language Style Guide and Glossaries for US Government Web Sites. This is a collection of resources for web publishers providing access to government legal information in Spanish. The guide contains information on grammar and style, glossaries and other translation materials. It was peer reviewed by New York-based independent translators and language professionals Leticia Molinero, Maria Cornelio and Jack Segura.
Guide to Public Opinion Poll Web Sites: Polling Data From Around the World , C&RL News, October 2006. This is a collection of state, national and international survey and polling organizations. It is an excellent resource for locating archival opinion data worldwide.
The Advocate . The Kentucky Department of Public Advocacy has created a comprehensive electronic archive of their publication, The Advocate, from 1978 to the present. While many of its features concern local issues, the publication includes a rich collection of articles on criminal trial practice.
Directory of Judges of State Courts of Appeal (West 2005). This is a national directory of appellate judges published by the Council of Chief Judges of Courts of Appeal. It provides contact and background information on the courts, chief clerks and websites.
Gumshoe Librarian 2006, LLRX (US), May 20, 2006. This article presents an annotated list of some excellent research tools and databases for general and background research.
Cardiff Index to Legal Abbreviations . This is a web-based reference tool for interpreting English language legal abbreviations and acronyms. It covers Anglo-American terms, and a substantial number of foreign language legal publications. This site is maintained by CardiffUniversity, located in Wales.
Introduction to Basic Legal Citation (LII 2006 ed). This is a revised version of the manual created by Peter W. Martin at the Legal Information Institute at Cornell University School of Law. It reflects changes appearing in the eighteenth edition of The Bluebook, published in 2005, and the second edition of the ALWD Citation Manual, published in 2003.
Faulkner's Practical Web Strategies for Attorneys: Maximize Your Browsing Experience: Toolbars, Bookmarklets, and Extensions, Law Library Resource Exchange (US), February 15, 2006. The webmaster for the American Bar Association offers advice on web-based tools that can make web browsing more efficient and productive.
Interpreter Manual. The Kentucky Department of Public Advocacy has created an online manual focusing on legal issues surrounding the use of interpreters, and guidelines for communicating with non-English speaking and deaf defendants in the criminal justice system.
Electronic Surveillance Laws . This is a summary analysis of federal and state laws concerning wiretapping and eavesdropping through electronic means. It was prepared by the National Conference of State Legislatures.
A Jailhouse Lawyer's Manual (6th ed. 2005). The sixth edition of the Manual, published by the Columbia Human Rights Law Review, is available online. It covers basic legal research, criminal law and post-conviction issues, and prisoners' rights.
Improving Access to and Integrity of Criminal History Records (BJS 2005). This report examines the problem of missing dispositions in State criminal history records and the availability of State records to support the National Instant Criminal Background Check System. It was prepared by the Bureau of Justice Statistics
Sources of United States of America Legal Information in Languages Other Than English, LLRX (US), March 27, 2005. This article describes resources for multilingual versions of government documents and information.
Practical Guide to Taping Phone Calls and In-Person Conversations in the 50 States and DC (RCFP). This guide provides information about federal and state laws that govern tape recording phone conversations, including case law references. Among the topics covered are: wiretap laws, consent requirements, interstate phone calls, and cellular and cordless phones. The guide was published by the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press.
How to Conduct a Background Check. (Virtual Chase) This article describes strategies and resources for uncovering information on people from public records databases. The article was written by Genie Tyburski, Web Manager, The Virtual Chase.
Beware of Search Scams, Dallas Morning News (US), January 31, 2005. This article offers cautionary advice about using people finder services, and provides a list of reputable vendors.
Crawford v. Washington: Reframing the Right to Confrontation (2004). This is an update and analysis of cases interpreting the Supreme Court's decision in Crawford v. Washington, 541 US 36 (2004). It was prepared by Jeffrey L. Fisher, an attorney at Davis Wright Tremaine LLP, Seattle,WA, who was lead counsel for Michael Crawford in the US Supreme Court.
New Services_________________________________________
Language Line Services offers phone access to translators in over 140 languages. They have experience working in different settings including the criminal justice system. As part of the Interpreting Justice Partnership between Language Line and the National Legal Aid & Defender Association (NLADA) special subscription pricing is available for public defense work. For more information about their services and price schedule, visit their web site: http://www.languageline.com/
New Events and Announcements_________________________
To Be Announced
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