Holiday and Semester Break Hours

Pace Law Library is open 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM on Monday Dec. 21 and Tuesday Dec. 22. Wednesday Dec. 23 we are open from 9:00 AM to noon. We will be closed from Thursday Dec. 24 through Sunday Jan. 3, reopening at 9:00 AM on Monday Jan. 4. Library hours are available here, and at 914-422-4272. Happy Holidays to all!

New Addition To Laws And Regulations At USA.gov

One of USA.gov sites dedicated to Laws and Regulations has been updated with a link titled Open Congress.

Open Congress brings together official government data with news coverage, blog posts, public comments, and more.

Open Congress is a free, open-source, not-for-profit, and non-partisan web resource with a mission to make Congress more transparent and to encourage civic engagement. Open Congress is a joint project of the Participatory Politics Foundation and the Sunlight Foundation.

See About OpenCongress to read more about this project's mission. And see How To Use OpenCongress.

Don't forget that you can subscribe to the USA.gov automatic updates via email or RSS feeds.

Notes From Copenhagen

Follow daily updates from the Copenhagen Conference by a Pace Law School Dean Emeritus, Richard L. Ottinger, as he writes about his experiences from the conference. Happy reading!

New Releases from Bureau Of Justice Statistics

The following are some of the new releases by the Bureau Of Justice Statistics (BJS).

Indicators of School Crime and Safety: 2009

Presents data on crime and safety at school from the perspectives of students, teachers, and principals. A joint effort by the Bureau of Justice Statistics and the National Center for Education Statistics, this annual report examines crime occurring in school as well as on the way to and from school.

Prisoners In 2008

This report presents data on prisoners under jurisdiction of federal or state correctional authorities on December 31, 2008, collected from the National Prisoner Statistics series. This annual report compares changes in the prison population during 2008 to changes from year end 2000 through year end 2007. These are the only comprehensive national-level data on prison admissions and releases. Findings cover data on decreasing growth in state and federal prisons through declining admissions and increasing releases; imprisonment rates for prisoners sentenced to more than 1 year by jurisdiction; the number of males and females in prison; age, race, and gender distributions; the number of inmates in custody in state and federal prison and local jails; and custody incarceration rates.

Probation and Parole In the United States, 2008

This report presents the number of adults under community supervision (probation or parole) at year end 2008 and the growth rates in these populations during the year and since 2000. The report examines factors associated with changes in the probation and parole populations, such as the number of entries and exits, the rate at which probationers and parolees exit supervision, changes in the populations within jurisdictions, and compositional changes in both populations.

Jails In Indian Country, 2008

Presents findings from the 2008 Survey of Jails in Indian Country, an enumeration of 82 jails, confinement facilities, detention centers, and other facilities operated by tribal authorities or the Bureau of Indian Affairs. The report includes data on the number of adults and juveniles held, type of offense, number of persons confined on the last weekday of each month, average daily population, peak population, and admissions in June 2008.

HIV In Prisons, 2007-08

Presents year end 2007 and 2008 data from the National Prisoner Statistics and the Deaths in Custody series, including data on the number of female and male prisoners who were infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) or had confirmed AIDS. Findings include the number of AIDS-related deaths in state and federal prisons, a profile of those inmates who died in state prison, and a comparison of AIDS rates between prison inmates and the general population.

Capital Punishment, 2008 - Statistical Tables

Presents characteristics of persons under sentence of death on December 31, 2008, and persons executed in 2008. Preliminary data on executions by states during 2009 are included. Tables present state-by-state information on the movement of prisoners into and out of death sentence status during 2008, status of capital statutes, and methods of execution. Numerical tables also summarize data on offender characteristics such as gender, race, Hispanic origin, age at time of arrest for capital offense, legal status at time of capital offense, and time between imposition of death sentence and execution.

Prof. Leslie Garfield Is Featured On Legal Theory Blog

Article titled Don't Count Them Out Just Yet: Toward the Plausible Use of Race-Preference Student Assignment Plans by professor Lesli Garfield, Professor of Law at the Pace University School of Law is featured on the Legal Theory Blog.

Contrary to conventional wisdom, the Supreme Court's recent decision in Parents Involved in Community Schools v. Seattle School District No. 1 could serve to broaden the permissible use of race beyond the boundaries presently permitted by the Court. in this highly fractionalized decision, five justices ultimately agreed that the race-based student assignment plans before their review could not withstand judicial scrutiny. One of these justice, Justice Kennedy, agreed with the plurality's conclusion, but rejected the plurality's assessment that it is never permissible to use race-preference student assignment plans absent evidence of de jure segregation. His concurrence, when read together with the reasoning of the Court's four dissenting justices, offers a plausible scenario under which future courts could find precedential support to uphold challenged race-preference student assignment plans as constitutionally permissible.

The article is published in Rutgers Race and the Law Review, Vol. 10, p. 340-361, 2008/2009.

New Blogs From The U.S. Government

The Reference and General Government Blogs via the USA.gov website added the following new blogs:

• Office of the United States Trade Representative Blog covering U.S. trade issues.
• United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) where David Kappos, the director of the USPTO, discusses the work of the agency.
• White House Office of Public Engagement blog that aims to engage the American public in a dialogue with the current Administration.

The Environment, Energy, and Agriculture Blogs via the USA.gov website added the following new blogs:

• Energy Empowers blog where readers can learn more about building a new energy economy by improving efficiency, building sustainable businesses, and using old skills in new ways to generate clean energy.
• White House Council on Environmental Quality blog discussing the Council's efforts to coordinate Federal environmental efforts.

The Business and Economic Blogs via the USA.gov website added the following new blogs:

• Inside Adams is a blog from the Library of Congress that points readers to the Library’s collections of books, journals, prints, photographs, digital collections, finding aids, and Webcasts related to science, technology, and business.
• President's Economic Recovery Advisory Board Blog covers the efforts of the advisory board that meets periodically and solicits information and ideas to promote the growth of the economy, establish a stable financial and banking system, and create jobs.
• The Small Business Watchdog blog is the official blog of the U.S. Small Business Administration's Office of Advocacy providing the forum of discussion and inviting readers to post their thoughts, ideas, and comments regarding the small businesses across the US.

Don't forget you can subscribe directly to any updates and news via email or via RSS feeds. Happy reading!

Intersession Class at Pace: Advanced Health Law Research

Pace Law School is offering an intersession class titled Advanced Research Skills for Health, Disability, and Elder Law. Margaret Moreland, a Reference Librarian and Adjunct Professor of Law at Pace, will be teaching this class during the January intersession.

Don't hesitate and take advantage of this incredible opportunity to learn advanced research skills in the area of health law, spend one on one time with the expert in this area, and earn 2 credits over just six days. You can take this class to lower your load in the Spring semester, or you can take this class as an overload.

To learn more about this class or how to sign up, please visit our Podcast site and listen to the podcast discussing what this class is all about, contact Ms. Moreland directly or click the picture to the right.

Google Translation Dictionary

Google Dictionary translates to and from 27 different languages (so far) including: Arabic, Bengali, Bulgarian, Chinese (traditional), Chinese (simplified), Croatian, Czech, Dutch, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Gujarati, Hebrew, Hindi, Italian, Kannada, Korean, Malayalam, Marathi, Portuguese, Serbian, Spanish, Russian, Tamil, Telugu, and Thai. It also provides dictionary definitions of words in the following languages: Chinese, Czech, Dutch, English, French, German, Italian, Korean, Portuguese, Spanish, and Russian. The response to a query includes the translation of the word and, where applicable, the web dictionary definition, derivative, audio pronunciation, related phrases, related languages, and synonyms. You can read more about the Google Dictionary.

What Makes a Good Law School Exam Answer?

From the WSJ law blog, law professors from around the country complete this sentence: A good law exam answer is ____________. Responses include

• "evaluative"
• "answers the question"
• "does more than tells me what the law is (more or less well) and applies the law to the facts (more or less well) and then stops"
• "honest and perceptive"
• "like a poem"

Pace Environmental Notes -- November

The latest issue of Pace Environmental Notes is now available.

Alexander Greenawalt On Radovan Karadzic

Alexander Greenawalt, Associate Professor of Law at Pace University School of Law, regularly contributes to the New York Times Microblog: Latest On Radovan Karadzic. You can view the microblog here or you can directly subscribe to it via RSS feed.

Exam Time

Getting ready for exams? Don't forget the availability of the following tools and assistance:

• Guide to First Year Law Students aiding new law students in preparing for the first year of law school, including books, audio and video resources, and websites on survival skills and first year courses.
• Food For Thought: Exam Prep is a short podcast discussing helpful ideas on how to get prepared.
• CALI Lessons offer number of great interactive exercises, organized by legal subjects, where students can test their knowledge and receive an immediate feedback. (Contact us via email for an authorization code, or visit the Pace Law Library on TWEN to get the authorization code).
• Property Tutorials for Exam Prep
• Old Final Exams Available under Pace Law Library on TWEN in the exam folder.
• Extended Library Hours
  

GOOD LUCK TO ALL!

2008 Emissions of Greenhouse Gases In the US

The December 2009 report on Emissions of Greenhouse Gases in the United States for the year 2008 is available.

This report—the seventeenth annual report—presents the Energy Information Administration’s latest estimates of emissions for carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and other greenhouse gases. Documentation for these estimates is available online at www.eia.doe. gov/oiaf/1605/ggrpt.

Get Involved in Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen

Via Official Google Blog, you can connect with the world leaders on climate debate.

[Starting on December 3, 2009], 192 countries will participate in the Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen — the first step in setting new international commitments for carbon reduction.

You can submit and vote on questions to ask world climate leaders during a televised town hall on CNN. With Google Moderator on YouTube for the first time, you can view, add and vote on video or text questions in one spot.

Questions will be translated into numerous languages using the Google Language API. Voting and submissions will be accepted until December 14. You can also track the conversation and vote on new questions.

CIETAC Arbitration And CISG Podcast

The Pace Law Library Podcasts has a new addition. Today we present an exciting round table discussion about the China International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission (CIETAC) and the CISG (UN Convention for the International Sale of Goods) titled CIETAC & the CISG. Kathleen Scanlon, Esq. moderated this engaging discussion with Prof. A. Kritzer and Prof. M. R. Shulman, the Assistant Dean for Graduate Programs and International Affairs, both from Pace Law School. Click here or the image to the right to access the podcast. Check it out and happy listening!

Copyright Watch

Copyright Watch is a new initiative to provide access to copyright laws around the world. According to the news release,

The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), Electronic Information for Libraries (eIFL.net), and other international copyright experts joined together to launch Copyright Watch - a public website created to centralize resources on national copyright laws.

Copyright Watch is the first comprehensive and up-to-date online repository of national copyright laws. To find links to national and regional copyright laws, users can choose a continent or search using a country name. The site will be updated over time to include proposed amendments to laws, as well as commentary and context from national copyright experts. Copyright Watch will help document how legislators around the world are coping with the challenges of new technology and new business models.

Read more about the Copyright Watch, search for copyright laws, subscribe to the Copyright Watch blog, or contact Copyright Watch.

Google Scholar Offers Case Law

It has been talked about, written about on listservs, blogged about, and twittered since the word got out. Google Scholar now offers full text search of legal opinions and journals. Users can perform Google Advanced Search allowing full text searching with optional limits by federal and state jurisdictions intending to provide access to the governing laws of the country. Most opinions display pagination, which is very nice. Google also included a tab "How Cited" that displays subsequent judicial decisions citing the original opinion. Not quite Shepard's, but it can be found very helpful. Judicial opinions are full of citations to other cases and Google hyperlinked all of those that are available at Google, just for our convenience. Happy Searching!

The Library Newsletter For December

Click here or the picture to the right for the latest issue of D-Brief, the Pace Law Library Newsletter. Vicky Gannon, Head of Circulation and Reference Librarian writes about the study rooms and extended services during the exam time, the availability of Bar Journals on HeinOnline, the recycling efforts at Pace Law School, and in the end she adds a recipe for delicious Holiday Anisette Cookies. Enjoy reading!

Library Hours

The library hours are changed during the Thanksgiving Holiday as follows:

• Today, Wednesday Nov. 25th, the library closes at 5:00 pm;
• Tomorrow, Thursday Nov. 26th, the library is closed;
• On Friday, Nov. 27th, the library is open 9:00 am to 5:00 pm; and
• On Saturday, Nov. 28th, we are back to our regular hours.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

Changing Face of Labor 1983-2008 Report

Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR), John Schmitt and Chris Warner published November 2009 report titled Changing Face of Labor 1983-2008.

Over the last quarter century, the unionized workforce has changed dramatically. In 1983, over half of all union workers were white men, few union workers had a college degree, and almost one-third were in manufacturing. In 1983 – the earliest year for which comparable data are available – over half (51.7 percent) of the unionized workforce were white men. Today, white men account for only about 38 percent of union workers. In the intervening years, the shares of women, Latinos, and Asian Pacific Americans in the total union workforce have surged, while African Americans have held a roughly steady share of the union workforce.

In this report, we review consistent, nationally representative data for the last quarter century on the composition of the unionized work force. For key demographic groups, we first provide a detailed picture of current union composition and document how these patterns have changed since 1983, when the government first began collecting systematic annual data on workers’ union status. We then compare these trends for union workers with those in the U.S. workforce as a whole. Finally, for each group, we present trends in the unionization rate (the share of workers in each group who are a member of, or represented by, a union) over the period 1983-2008.

Public Defender Offices 2007 statistics

The U.S. Department of Justice the Office of Justice Programs, Bureau of Justice Statistics published the 2007 Statistical Tables on Public Defender Offices.

[The report] examines offices that provide representation for indigent defendants through a salaried staff of full-time or part-time attorneys who are employed as direct government employees or through a public, nonprofit organization. Public defender offices are categorized according to whether they are principally funded and administered at the state government level, county level, or through a combination of county and state government. Topics include public defender office staffing, caseloads, expenditures, and standards and guidelines used by the nearly 1,000 public defender offices found across 49 states and the District of Columbia.

The site provides information about the source data and offers the report in Adobe PDF, ASCII file or the Spreadsheet formats.

Google Translate

Via Official Google Blog, New Look for Google Translate presents some new features, such as translate instantly, read and write any language, or text to speech. Although automatic translations can be very useful in helping to understand the overall idea or at least to get a sign that a researcher might be on the right path, one should remember no to mindlessly rely on them.

2009 Federal Sentencing Guidelines Manual

The 2009 Federal Sentencing Guidelines Manual is available. It is effective as of November 1, 2009.

[The manual] is available in HTML and Adobe .PDF formats (large file and broken into chapters), which can be viewed, downloaded or printed via the website.

Green Websites

Via Telegraph.co.uk, the following is a list of Best Green Websites providing online advice to help to live green, buy green, and change the world.

• RecycleNow
• WhatDoTheyKnow
• TheHungerSite
• Blackle
• FixMyStreet
• Worldchanging
• BBC Bloom
• KarmaWish
• Do-it
• FreeRice

European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction - Annual Report 2009

The 2009 Annual Report is available in 15 languages.

In this publication the reader will find the latest facts, figures and trends on drugs in Europe, collected in the annual report of the EU drugs agency, the EMCDDA. The report offers an overview of the drug situation across the 27 EU Member States, Croatia, Turkey and Norway, and details the current legal, political, social and health responses.

Lexis App For iPhone

Via Lexis announcement, Lexis has released its first application called "Get Cases and Shepardize." This free application allows users to retrieve cases from Lexis and Shepardize them. Users must currently have a Lexis account.

The application allows users to:

• Find and review case instantly by reading the Case Brief - an overview of the issues, rules, and reasoning (written by LexisNexis experts) just by entering its citation
• Get an at-a-glance indication of how closely they need to evaluate the case with Shepard's Signal Indicators
• Get an overview of a case's legal treatment up front by viewing the Shepard's Summary, right at the top of your Shepard's reports

Also check out Legal Geekery for a review, WisBlawg, Robert Ambrogi's Law Sites, or AppStore.

GotReception: Data On Cellular Reception

GotReception, is a website aimed to provide data on cellular reception throughout United States. Users can look up reception data by a cell phone carrier (AT&T, Sprint, Nextel, T-mobile, Verizon Wireless), location (state, city, zip code) or map data (consumer reviews, cell phone towers, buildings, and dealers). Users can also create a customized widget to embed in their websites.

Appellate Legal Arguments Available on iTunes U

Via Legal Blog Watch, Appellate Oral Arguments Are Available For Free On iTunes U.

The Tex Parte Blog reports here that St. Mary's University School of Law will now be making recordings of Texas Supreme Court oral arguments available, for free, on iTunes U, Apple's online repository of free educational content and lectures, presentations, videos and podcasts from all over the world.

A quick look at iTunes U shows that the Texas oral arguments are not the only ones available on the site. In fact, dozens -- if not hundreds -- of U.S. Supreme Court argument are also available, for free, through the Oyez Project.

Also, for Pace students, don't forget that the Law Library subscribes to AudioCaseFiles.

AudioCaseFiles, a service of Courtroom Connect, is the premier audio and video training and research resource. Our trial video features some of the best litigators in the nation. Our audio opinions are of the most commonly assigned cases for first and second year law students.

Tort Bench and Jury Trials in State Courts, 2005

U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Bureau of Justice Statistics has posted a statistical addition covering the tort bench and jury trials in state courts in 2005.

[The report] discusses tort cases concluded by a bench or jury trial in a national sample of jurisdictions in 2005. Topics include the types of tort cases that proceed to trial, the differences between tort cases adjudicated by judges and juries, and the types of plaintiffs and defendants represented in tort trials. The report also covers plaintiff win rates, punitive damages, and the final award amounts generated in tort trial litigation. Lastly, trends are examined in tort trial litigation in the nation’s 75 most populous counties, based on comparable data in 1996, 2001, and 2005.

Fundraiser For the Criminal Justice Society at Pace

On behalf of the Criminal Justice Society (CJS) at Pace Law School, please come and support the students' fundraising efforts by participating in any of the following exciting events:

Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Please join the Criminal Justice Society for dinner and conversation starting at 7:00 pm in the Antipasti Restaurant located at 1 North Broadway, White Plains, NY.

Thursday, November 19, 2009
Attend a showing of the movie Dead Man Walking with a follow up lecture and discussion led by the Associate Professor of Law at Pace Law School, David D. Dorfman. The event is scheduled at 3:00 - 6:00 pm in Preston Hall, Room 401. Bring your friends!

Monday, November 23, 2009
It's bake sale time! Please stop by the CJS table located in the hallway outside of cafeteria anytime between 10:00 am and 6 :00 pm to get yourself a sweet dessert. What will be available is a surprise!

Please note that none of these events are sponsored by Pace.

Kindle for PC

Via Wired Gadget Lab, Kindle for PC Ships, Hints At Future Color Kindle features Kindle for PC. For those who don't have Kindle or Kindle for iPhone but still desire to read the more then 360,000 of Kindle e-books, you can get a free application for your Windows PC and your e-books on your computer. The free application is for Windows 7, Vista, and XP, and available at the above link.

The application does pretty much what the iPhone version does: your place is synced with other devices by Whispersync, and there is support for your bookmarks and annotations. You can browse and buy from the Kindle Store, but you can’t access blogs, newspapers or magazines.

... This may mean a color Kindle is on its way. ... [Y]ou can now buy and read Kindle books without buying a Kindle.

Any thoughts or comments?

FAOLEX Legal Office

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations has online legal office called FAOLEX.

A multilingual team summarizes and in many cases translates laws and regulations on topics falling within FAO's mandate - agriculture, cultivated plants, environment, fisheries, food, forestry, land and soil, livestock, water and wild species and ecosystems. Legal information is received by FAO from Member Nations pursuant to Article XI of the FAO Constitution.

The website offers advanced search, which allows a user to narrow search by the following subjects: agriculture, forestry, cultivated plants, environment generally, air & atmosphere, fisheries, land & soil, water, mineral resources, energy, food, livestock, wild species & ecosystem, sea, and waste & hazardous substances. The website is available in English, Spanish, French, and Arabic. It also offers Basic Texts, Fishlex, Waterlex, Water Treaties, Publications, Right to Food, and Treaties generally.

Happy Birthday Mozilla Firefox

Via The Mozilla Blog, the popular browser Mozilla Firefox celebrates its 5th birthday today!

Five years ago today, Mozilla launched Firefox 1.0 with belief that, as the most significant social and technological development of our time, the Internet is a public resource that must remain open and accessible to all. Within the first four days of launch, more than 1 million people had downloaded a brand new browsing experience.

In just five years, that number has swelled to over 330 million users worldwide; almost a quarter of Internet users worldwide choose Firefox. Today, Firefox ships in more than 70 languages and offers users more than 7,000 add-ons to help customize their browsing experience.

Congratulations and Happy Birthday Mozilla!

U.S. Supreme Court Database Is To Extend To 1792

Via Law.com, Law Schools Help Extend Court Database to 1792, "[a] group of law schools will help expand an online U.S. Supreme Court database so that it reaches back to the court's first recorded decision in 1792."

The schools received an $874,000 National Science Foundation grant in September to begin the four-year project, which will add 19,675 cases to a database that now extends from the Court's 1953 term through 2008, said Lee Epstein, a professor at Northwestern University School of Law. The group will post 4,400 cases by next summer and add more in installments each year, she said.

The other schools involved are the University of Pennsylvania Law School, Washington University Law School, Michigan State University College of Law and the political science departments at Princeton University and Stony Brook University in Stony Brook, N.Y

Alexander Greenawalt On Radovan Karadzic

Alexander Greenawalt, Associate Professor of Law at Pace University School of Law, regularly contributes to the New York Times Microblog: Latest On Radovan Karadzic. You can view the microblog here or you can directly subscribe to it via RSS feed.

Splitting the Infinitive

Via the (new) legal writer, Raymond Ward's post titled Sure, You Can Split an Infinitive, But This Is Ridiculous points out the absolute NO way to split an infinitive. Those who are involved in any type of legal writing might find this useful and perhaps humorous.

This blog's official position on split infinitives is that they're okay. The Star Trek catch phrase - 'to boldly go' - as A-okay with us. But please, please don't use your freedom from the no-split-infinitives superstition to write a sentence like this:

'Is it kosher for a law enforcement agency to, pursuant to a lawfully granted search warrant, search your G-mail account without telling you?' [Wall Street Journal Law Blog].

Visit the original post (referenced above) to read a full post and be aware of those infinitives!

Statistical Reports of the U.S. Courts

The U.S. Courts website includes a page listing various statistical reports.

• Annual Report of the Director: Judicial Business of the United States (available online since 1997)
• Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act Statistics (tables are available for 2008 calendar year)
• Bankruptcy Statistics (Some tables date back to 1990s. Additional statistics are available via PACER.)
• Federal Court Management Statistics (available online since 1997)
• Federal Judicial Caseload Statistics (available online since 2001)
• Judicial Facts and Figures (available online since 2005 and now including caseload statistics and judgeship totals for fiscal year 2008)
• Statistical Tables for the Federal Judiciary (available online since 2001)
• Wiretap Reports (available online since 1997)

JOTWELL - Journal of Things We Like (LOTS)

JOTWELL, the Journal of Things We Like (LOTS) is a new blog that aims to collect/post/highlight the "leading academics and practitioners providing short reviews of recent scholarship to the law that the reviewer likes and thinks deserves a wide audience."

Jotwell is a special type of law review housed on a set of inter-linked blogs. As a law review, Jotwell has only mission: to bring to readers' attention great recent scholarship related to the law. As a blog we invite your comments, and hope that some of our reviews will spark a conversation.

Jotwell features information in the following areas of law:

• Administrative law
• Constitutional law
• Corporate law
• Criminal law
• Cyber law
• Intellectual property law
• Legal profession
• Tax law

To access information, a reader can directly visit the Jotwell blog where browse and search features are both available. Jotwell offers RSS feed subscription to the main Jotwell section or to the individual subject sections. Readers can also subscribe via email to receive a message every time a new article is available. Happy Reading!

2009 Global Fraud Report

The 2009/2010 annual edition of Global Fraud Report is available.

Kroll commissioned The Economist Intelligence Unit to conduct a worldwide survey on fraud and its effect on business during 2009. A total of 729 senior executives took part in this survey. A little over a third of the respondents were based in North and South America, 25% in Asia-Pacific, just over a quarter in Europe and 11% in the Middle East and Africa. Ten industries were covered, with no fewer than 50 respondents drawn from each industry. The highest number of respondents came from the financial services industry (12%). A total of 46% of the companies polled had global annual revenues in excess of $1billion. This report brings together these survey results with the experience and expertise of Kroll and a selection of its affiliates. It includes content written by The Economist Intelligence Unit and other third parties.

National American Indian Heritage Month

The Law Library of Congress featured the National American Indian Heritage Month (November) resource guide as part of their Commemorative Observations, which also includes African American History Month, Asian Pacific Heritage Month, Jewish American Heritage Month, Law Day, or Women's History Month.

National American Indian Heritage Month celebrates and recognizes the accomplishments of the peoples who were the original inhabitants, explorers and settlers of the United States.

The article provides an overview and features legislative branch documents, executive branch documents, and web resources.

New Additions to LLRX

Law and technology resources for legal professionals (LLRX.com) added new guides to its collection during the October month of 2009.

The following are some of those included:

• Pretexting, Legal Ethics and Social Networking Sites (By Ken Strutin)
• Competitive Intelligence - A Selective Resource Guide - Updated and Revised October 2009 (By Sabrina I. Pacifici)
• Legal Implications of Cloud Computing - Part One (The Basics and Framing the Issue) (By David Navetta, published in September 2009)
• Legal Implications of Cloud Computing - Part Two (Privacy and the Cloud) (By Tanya Forsheit)
• The Government Domain: A Handful of Classics (By Peggy Garvin)

Google Maps Navigation For Android 2.0

Via the Official Google blog, Google announced Google maps navigation for Android 2.0. Google Maps have guided millions of people since 2005. However, the printed directions have stopped cutting it; people demand access to directions even when behind the wheel.

Google has announced the next step for Google Maps for mobile: Google Maps Navigation (Beta) for Android 2.0 devices.

This new feature comes with everything you'd expect to find in a GPS navigation system, like 3D views, turn-by-turn voice guidance and automatic rerouting. But unlike most navigation systems, Google Maps Navigation was built from the ground up to take advantage of your phone's Internet connection.

The following are some of the offered features:

• The most recent map and business data
• Search in plain English
• Search by voice
• Traffic view
• Search along route
• Satellite view
• Street view

Law Library Newsletter for November

Click here or the image to the left for this month’s issue of D-Brief, the Law Library Newsletter, written by Cynthia Pittson, Head of Reference Services. Cynthia writes about the fictional Don Draper from her favorite TV show Mad Men and the very real Lilly Ledbetter, tips for finding paper topics using BNA databases, and old final exams available on the Law Library TWEN site.

Tomorrow, Nov. 3, is Election Day. The League of Women Voters of Westchester has a combined ballot listing all local races. Smartvoter.org from the League of Women Voters has nonpartisan election information for federal, state, and local elections.

E-mail Is Not Protected By 4th Amendment

Via Legal Blog Watch, Robert Ambrogi writes in a post titled E-mail Is Not Protected By 4th Amendment, Judge Says that the 4th Amendment protection against unreasonable searches and seizures does not include email. U.S. District Judge Michale W. Mosman, in his ruling, writes that email is outside one's home and further notes:

When a person uses the Internet, however, the user’s actions are no longer in his or her physical home; in fact he or she is not truly acting in private space at all. The user is generally accessing the Internet with a network account and computer storage owned by an ISP like Comcast or NetZero. All materials stored online, whether they are e-mails or remotely stored documents, are physically stored on servers owned by an ISP. When we send an e-mail or instant message from the comfort of our own homes to a friend across town the message travels from our computer to computers owned by a third party, the ISP, before being delivered to the intended recipient. Thus, "private" information is actually being held by third-party private companies.

Take a look at the full article and the following comments, definitely thought-provoking!

New Blogs From the Government

Via USA.gov, the following are some new blogs that have been added to the government blogs site.

Jobs, Education, and Volunteerism Blogs added ED.gov blog (the official blog from the U.S. Department of Education), Disability.gov blog (attempts to connect disability community to information and opportunities), and Collaborate (serving as a virtual meeting place for members of the National Archives education team and colleagues from schools, institutions, and organizations across the nation).

Travel and Recreation Blogs added TSA.gov blog (providing ongoing discussion on innovations in security, technology and the checkpoint screening process) and Fast Lane (providing forum for discussing the nation's transportation system and making announcements about future projects).

Business and Economics Blogs added Business Law Advisor (helping to comply with business laws and regs), In the Loop (information about business.gov plans and status), Small Business Cents (small business grants, loans, and finance), Small Business Matters (information about a range of small and home business issues), and The Industry World (small business professionals sharing their small-business expertise).

Science and Technology Blogs added OSTIblog, which is a place where members of OSTI community discuss personal perspectives, national impacts, OSTI products and content, and technology.

You can subscribe to automatic updates from the USA.gov website via email or RSS feeds.

Where To Get Help For Victims Of Domestic Violence

The USA.gov website posted information about getting help for people who are victims of domestic abuse. Visit this site for more information including National Domestic Violence Hotlines where instances of domestic abuse can be reported. The website also provides additional information and resources.

You can receive updates from the USA.gov website automatically via email subscription or RSS feeds.

Making Summary Judgment Motion More Effective

Via the (new) legal writer, Raymond Ward posted a blog titled How to make your summary-judgment motion more effective. In this post, Mr. Ward features an article by Michael Reitzell, and he writes:

If you’d rather write your summary-judgment motions with the goal of having them granted, then you’ll benefit from reading Michael Reitzell’s article, Focus on the Material Facts for a Successful Motion for Summary Judgment. Michael gives good advice not only on how to focus your motion on the facts that matter, but also on how to respond to an opposition loaded with irrelevant factual assertions. The article is written from a defendant’s perspective, but its advice applies just as well to a plaintiff’s summary-judgment motion.

Environmental Blog From the Government

Via USA.gov, a new blog of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Marine Debris Program (NOAA Marine Debris Blog) has been added to the Environment, Energy, and Agriculture blogs generated by the U.S. government.

The NOAA Marine Debris Program serves as a centralized marine debris capability within NOAA in order to coordinate, strengthen, and increase the visibility of marine debris issues and efforts within the agency, its partners, and the public.

You can subscribe to automatic updates of the USA.gov site via email or RSS feeds.

Green Google

Via the Official Google Blog, A Green Tour of the Google Campus blog post features Google's efforts to be environmentally friendly. Read for yourself about environmental sustainable measures Google implemented regarding its employees coming to work, lighting and buildings issues, or employees need to run daily errands.

History of the New York County Supreme Court Libraries

Via Criminal Law Library Blog published by David Badertscher, features an article by Julie Gick, History of the New York County Supreme Court Libraries. Readers can learn about the beginnings of the court, the buildings (including great photographs), the staff, early Supreme Court, Supreme Trial Court, Court of General Sessions, Bronx court, New York County Courts Public Access Law Library, the collection, administrative changes, and innovations.

Defining Terms of Art

Via the (new) legal writer, Raymond Ward writes about defining the terms of art.

Legal writers often must use terms of art—technical words or phrases unique to a profession. Sometimes these terms come from the legal profession; sometimes they come from other professions, such as medical or engineering. But they all have one thing in common: not everyone knows what they mean. So to make sure that your reader understands a term of art in your writing, define it.

You can define terms of art unobtrusively, without interrupting the flow of your writing. To learn how, read Robert Fugate’s recent article in the Texas Bar Journal, Defining Terms of Art in Legal Writing.

Blogs From U.S. Government

The blogs from U.S. Government are now organized by subject. The list of topics include the following:

• Business and Economics Blogs
• Defense and International Relations Blogs
• Environment, Energy, and Agriculture Blogs
• Family, Home, and Community Blogs
• Health and Nutrition Blogs
• History, Arts, and Culture Blogs
• Jobs, Education, and Volunteerism Blogs
• Public Safety and Law Blogs
• Reference and General Government Blogs
• Science and Technology Blogs
• Travel and Recreation Blogs

You can subscribe to updates to this page via email or via RSS feeds.

$100 Fine For a Wrong Case Citation

Via ABA Journal Law News, the Wisconsin Court of Appeals fined an attorney a $100 for a wrong citation to a case in the submitted brief.

The lawyer cited an unpublished case that supposedly upheld a stipulated damages clause in a vending machines contract. But a search for the case based on the name provided by the lawyer turned up a misrepresentation case brought by newlyweds against a wedding photographer.

The cite wasn’t helpful, either. It was listed as “2005 AP 160,” which sent the appeals court to 2005 WI App 160 and another “dead end,” the footnote said. When the court finally found the real case—which had an entirely different name—it learned “2005 AP 160” was the docket number.

Live Video-Tweeting By Twitter

Via Telegraph.co.uk, Twitter is to introduce live video-tweeting.

Twitter users may soon be posting real-time video tweets in addition to text tweets under plans to modernize the site.

The upgrade, which is being discussed by Twitter's founders, will enable Twitter users to upload brief video snippets to their profiles directly from mobile phones, laptops and other devices.

Bing vs. Google Search Engine

Bing vs. Google search engine searches both engines simultaneously and displays the results side by side on the screen. Check it out for yourself!

Can't choose default search engine? Want to compare Bing & Google results? This is the right place to be. Just put your query in the search box and press Enter. You'll see results from both engines side by side. Search provider for Internet Explorer 7/8 and Firefox is also available - search both engines from your browser!

Law.gov

Publicresource.org is part of group of legal scholars hosting a series of workshops with the ultimate goal of developing an open source repository of authenticated primary legal materials to be know as Law.gov.

Law.Gov would be similar to Data.Gov, providing bulk data and feeds to commercial, non-commercial, and governmental organizations wishing to build web sites, operate legal information services, or otherwise use the raw materials of our democracy.

The goal is to deliver a detailed report by mid 2010 on exactly what it would take to create this repository, including technical specifications and an economic impact statement.

Children's Exposure To Violence: A Comprehensive National Survey

October 2009 issue of the Juvenile Justice Bulletin features the 2009 National Survey of Children's Exposure to Violence.

[The survey] was sponsored by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) and supported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Conducted between January and May 2008, it measured the past-year and lifetime exposure to violence for children age 17 and younger across several major categories: conventional crime, child maltreatment, victimization by peers and siblings, sexual victimization, witnessing and indirect victimization (including exposure to community violence and family violence), school violence and threats, and Internet victimization.

The survey confirms that most of our society’s children are exposed to violence in their daily lives. More than 60 percent of the children surveyed were exposed to violence within the past year, either directly or indirectly.

Crime Against People With Disabilities, 2007

U.S. Department of Justice, the Bureau of Justice Statistics released the 2007 findings on Crime Against People With Disabilities.

Presents the first findings about nonfatal violent and property crime experienced by persons with disabilities, based on the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS). The report includes data on nonfatal violent victimization (rape/sexual assault, robbery, aggravated and simple assault) and property crime (burglary, motor vehicle theft, theft) against persons with disabilities in 2007. It compares the victimization experience of persons with and without disabilities, using population estimates based on the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey (ACS). Data are presented on victim and crime characteristics of persons with and without disabilities, including age, race and gender distribution; offender weapon use; victim injuries; and reporting to the police.

Data includes the following:

• Persons with disabilities were victims of about 47,000 rapes, 79,000 robberies, 114,000 aggravated assaults, and 476,000 simple assaults.
• Age-adjusted rate of nonfatal violent crime against persons with disabilities was 1.5 times higher than the rate for persons without disabilities.
• Females with a disability had a higher victimization rate than males with a disability; males had a higher rate than females among those without a disability.

The page provides information about the source data. The data is available as a PDF file, an ASCII file, or a spreadsheet. Users may also order a paper version of the report.

Nov 9 Deadline For Google Books Deal

Via Telegraph.co.uk, a judge has set November 9 of this year to be the deadline for Google books deal.

Google is having to renegotiate a previous deal it struck with publishing companies last October, because the US government ruled that it violated antitrust laws.

The original agreement, between Google and the Authors Guild and Association of American Publishers, was a response to a class-action lawsuit in which Google was accused of copyright infringement after it started scanning books from university libraries.

Lawyers representing US authors and publishing groups said they fully expected to have a new deal in place with Google by the Nov 9 deadline set by Judge Denny Chin. Paul Aiken, executive director of the Authors Guild, said that he expected the core agreement "to stay the same".

'Poking' Facebook User Led To An Arrest

Via Telegraph.co.uk, a woman was arrested for 'poking' a Facebook user.

Police deemed that 36-year-old Shannon Jackson violated a protection order – similar to a restraining order – by using the site's feature to attract the attention of another user.

The order previously obtained by the woman who received the poke banned Jackson from "telephoning, contacting or otherwise communicating with the petitioner".

We blogged about using Facebook to fire an employee, court papers being served by Facebook, court order served over Twitter, and now we write about a violation of a restraining order by using one of the Facebook applications to virtually poke another user. Any thoughts anyone?

Global Corruption Report 2009

The 2009 Global Corruption Report is available.

The private sector plays a pivotal role in fighting corruption worldwide. Transparency International’s Global Corruption Report 2009 documents in unique detail the many corruption risks for businesses, ranging from small entrepreneurs in Sub-Saharan Africa to multinationals from Europe and North America. More than 75 experts examine the scale, scope and devastating consequences of a wide range of corruption issues, including

• bribery and policy capture
• corporate fraud
• cartels
• corruption in supply chains and transnational transactions
• emerging challenges for carbon trading markets
• sovereign wealth funds and
• growing economic centres, such as Brazil, China and India.

The Global Corruption Report 2009 also discusses the most promising tools to tackle corruption in business, identifi es pressing areas for reform and outlines how companies, governments, investors, consumers and other stakeholders can contribute to raising corporate integrity and meeting the challenges that corruption poses to sustainable economic growth and development.

You can download the 2009 report by chapters or as a single document, or you can order the report.

Social Media Copyright Quiz

Via Robert Amrbogi's LawSites, Robert Ambrogi, Esq. compiled Social Media Copyright Quiz, which he presented at the Social Media: Risks and Rewards program. Bellow is embedded a smaller scale of the quiz; a larger scale of the quiz is available here. Thank you for sharing!

The quiz doesn't take long to complete. After all, see for yourself, brush up on your knowledge of copyright, and have fun.

Bloomberg Law

Legal Blog Watch has this article about Bloomberg Law, a new legal research service that competes with Westlaw and Lexis. Bloomberg's service is marketed to law firms, and integrates legal content with news and business information.

This new service is scheduled to be introduced later this month at a party at Wilkie Farr & Gallagher in NYC. It offers a citator, docket search, a law digest, law reports that integrate primary and secondary legal research with financial and business news, and the ability to search across multiple databases.

The Legal Blog Watch article includes reviews by beta testers (mixed verdicts) and questions the need for yet another proprietary legal research service.

UK Cybercrime Report 2009

The 2009 UK Cybercrime Report was published in September this year. It is the third consecutive report published by Garlik.

The report, which analyzes publicly available data to build a comprehensive view of cybercrime in the UK, revealed that during 2008 cybercriminals adapted to the social and economic changes in the UK to exploit victims in new ways and commit over 3.6 million criminal acts online (that’s over one every 10 seconds). In addition, the researchers believe that there is a growing complacency amongst consumers, demonstrating poor understanding of their responsibility to protect their personal information against fraud.

One of the most significant changes in cybercrime has been the 207% increase in account takeover fraud indicating that criminals have now shifted their efforts from opening new accounts with stolen identities to accessing existing accounts.

The report also highlights that online banking fraud has increased by a staggering 132%, with losses totaling £52.5 million, compared to £22.6 million in the previous year. This sharp rise can be mostly attributed to nearly 44,000 phishing websites specifically targeting banks and building societies in the UK.

The total number of cybercrimes has increased annually between 2006 and 2008, however, the good news is that sexual offences have decreased as a category each year. All other categories dipped in 2007 but then in 2008 bounced back above their 2006 figure.

Pace Law Library D-Brief

The October 2009 issue of D-Brief, written by the Pace Law Library, is available. Gail Whittemore, a reference and special collections librarian at the Pace Law Library, wrote about the new library drop box that is available off hours, Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty Resolution, library hours for the fall semester, and suggested some fun activities to do. Enjoy reading!

October 2009 Briefcase

The October 2009 issue of the Briefcase, a newsletter written by the Pace University School of Law Center for Career Development, is available. This issue features some important deadlines, emissions trading, energy and climate law resources, relevant CLE classes, and upcoming programs and events. Enjoy reading!

The UK Supreme Court Launched a New Blog

Via SCOTUSBlog, New United Kingdom Supreme Court Launched, the UKSCblog is dedicated to the UK Supreme Court.

The UK Supreme Court is the UK's highest court; its judgments bind lower courts and thus shape the development of English Law. Since 1399, the Law Lords, the judges of the most senior court in the country, have sat within Parliament. From October 2009, however, they have moved to an independent court in the Middlesex Guildhall. To mark this historic development, this blog has been set up to provide commentary on the UK Supreme Court and its judgments.

The Supreme Court is to be made up of 12 Justices. The first Justices will be the Law Lords who made up the Appellate Committee of the House of Lords as at July 2009. The Justices will be housed in the Supreme Court and are disqualified from sitting or voting in the House of Lords. The current Justices are Lord Phillips, Lord Hope, Lord Saville of Newdigate, Lord Rodger, Lord Walker, Lady Hale, Lord Brown, Lord Mance, Lord Collins, Lord Kerr and Lord Clarke.

The UKSC's blog also links to the Archive, information About the blog, information About the UK Supreme Court, and many useful links such are the House of Lords Judgments, the BAILII Court of Appeals decisions, or the Court of Appeals listing calendar.

LegalTube

Bonnie Shucha at WisBlawg, via the new video matchmaking site for lawyers and clients, and Robert Ambrogi at LegalBlogWatch, via a video matching site for lawyers and clients, write about a new site called LegalTube.

LegalTube is the only legal directory where finding a lawyer or the answers to your law-related questions is as easy as channel surfing. It’s a way to connect attorneys and potential clients by offering “face time” in the comfort of your living room. On LegalTube, not only can you search by location and area of practice to find the perfect attorney for your needs, but you can get answers to common questions and find out more about important legal topics. And it’s as easy as watching TV!

LegalTube promises users to find a lawyer, shortlist, expert questions and answers, law laughs, law tales, law after dark, hot topics, LegalTube blog, off the record, and legal links. a user can log in as a member or as an attorney. Check it out for yourself and let us know what you think?

New York City Bar New Exhibit

The New York City Bar announced the opening of a new exhibit titled "Before Mad Men" Advertising in 19th Century New York.

The New York City Bar has an extensive collection of business directories from the 19th century. Many of these books contain vintage advertisements that open a window to a city that was on the verge of greatness. This nostalgic tour takes a look at how small businesses and innovative entrepreneurs shaped the landscape of New York and built the foundation for the city to become the economic capital of the world.

Some of the other featured exhibits include:
The Ultimate Penalty
Crimes of Passion
Women and the Law
Slavery in the Courts
Hail to the Chiefs

Court Order Server Over Twitter

Via BBC News | Technology, an article featuring UK High Court allowing an injunction to be served via social-networking site Twitter to serve an unknown Twitter user who anonymously posts to the site using the same name as a right-wing political blogger.

The order demands the anonymous Twitter user reveal their identity and stop posing as Donal Blaney, who blogs at a site called Blaney's Blarney. The order says the Twitter user is breaching the copyright of Mr Blaney.

UK law states that an injunction does not have to be served in person and can be delivered by several different means including fax or e-mail.

Comments anyone?

CALI: New York Primary Legal Research

CALI, the Center for Computer Assisted Legal Instruction, produces new lessons daily. One that caught my attention is intended to practice and review NY primary legal research. It takes about an hour to complete. A user is given a hypothetical in the beginning of the lesson. After that, he gets to explore secondary sources, statutes, cases, and regulations (both online and in print) to try to answer the questions posed in the hypothetical.

This lesson is intended to acquaint students with basic information regarding sources of primary law in New York state: case law, statutes and regulations. It can be used to supplement instruction in introductory Research and Writing courses or as a freestanding introduction to doing New York legal research.

There are more lessons to chose from; they organized by topic, author, or by lessons recommended to 1Ls and to 2 and 3 Ls. See for yourself.

America's National Parks

The Recreation and Tourism page of the USA.gov Web site has been updated by a new link National Parks: America's Best Idea Today.

For nearly 100 years, this best idea has been nurtured by the National Park Service. Over time, the number of national parks has increased and our mission has become more complex as the range of services we offer has grown beyond parks to meet the needs of thousands of towns and cities across the country. Filmmaker – and Honorary National Park Ranger – Ken Burns tells the story of the national parks and the people who helped create them in his new PBS film The National Parks: America's Best Idea.

Thoughts or comments?

Fifty Tips For Writing Contracts That Stay Out Of Court

This article written by James Martin gives some helpful tips on drafting contracts. These tips may be applied to all legal writing.

Google MP3 Search

Google offers custom designed search engine that searches for MP3 download sites. Search sites include: http://www.kvaz.com/, http://funkysouls.com/, http://www.welove-music.net/, http://music.cooltoad.com/music/, http://kpnemo.ru/.

Any comments?

USCIS Unveiles New Website

The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) unveiled a new website. User can subscribe to new updates via RSS feed or updates can be received via email. The site seems clean and easy to navigate through. It offers information about USCIS related topics, forms, laws, resources, and news.

What do you think? Comments?

Microsoft Windows 7 For Students

Via Telegraph.co.uk, Microsoft Windows 7 Will Cost £30 For Students.

Microsoft is offering college and university students a reduced price version of its Windows 7 operating system. Both the Windows 7 Home Premium edition and Windows 7 Professional edition will be available for £30 each, compared to the normal retail prices of £79.99 and £189.99 respectively.

Via Ars Technica, Microsoft Offers Windows 7 to students for $30.

[On September 17, 2009] Microsoft announced students would be able to purchase upgrade versions of Windows 7 for a significantly reduced price until January 3, 2010 at 12:00am CST. A valid e-mail address given by a college or university must be used. An e-mail will be sent telling the student if he or she qualifies for the discount. Eligible students are allowed to purchase one copy of either Windows 7 Home Premium or Windows 7 Professional from the online store.

Click here to find more information.

International Right to Know Day

Today (Sept. 28) is International Right to Know Day.

The 7th International Right to Know Day on 28th of September 2009 will mark a year of historic advances for the right of access to information and will be celebrated by the Freedom of Information Advocate’s Network which has around 200 organisations in 75 countries who are calling for universal respect for the public’s right to know.

The aim of Right to Know Day is to raise awareness of every individual's right of access to government-held information: the right to know how elected officials are exercising power and how taxpayers' money is being spent. Freedom of information advocates have used the day to share ideas, strategies, and success stories about the development of freedom of information laws and the goals of open government.

National Public Lands Day

National Public Lands Day (NPLD) is this Saturday, September 26, 2009. The USA.gov site provides information about when people can volunteer their time to improve and enhance public lands.

This day is the nation's largest hands-on volunteer effort. In addition to NPLD being a fee-free day in many federally managed lands, all NPLD volunteers who work at a site managed by the FWS, Bureau of Land Management (BLM), National Park Service (NPS), U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) or Forest Service (FS) will receive a coupon good for a "fee-free" day at any site managed by those agencies. For more information, or to register and/or find an event, please visit the NPLD's website. You may also wish to view a full listing of NPS events.

You can find more volunteering opportunities and information at the links below:

Recreation.gov's web page on recreation-related employment
Serv.gov
Take Pride in America Initiative
The Fish and Wildlife Service's (FWS) Volunteer Opportunities
Public Services and Volunteerism

Criminal Victimization, 2008

The U.S. Department of Justice, the Bureau of Justice Statistics presents the annual estimates of rates and levels of personal and property victimization.

The report describes the year-to-year change from 2007 as well as trends for the ten-year period from 1999 through 2008. The National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) collects information on nonfatal crimes, reported and not reported to the police, against persons age 12 or older from a nationally representative sample of U.S. households. During 2008, 42,093 households and 77,852 individuals were interviewed twice for the NCVS. The report includes data on violent crimes (rape/sexual assault, robbery, aggravated assault and simple assault), property crimes (burglary, motor vehicle theft and property theft), and personal theft (pocket picking and purse snatching), and the characteristics of victims of these crimes. The report also includes estimates of intimate partner violent crime and use of firearms and other weapons in the commission of violent crime overall.

The page provides access to victims characteristics and crime characteristics. Information about the source data is also available as well as the press release and related spreadsheets.

Free Web-based Microsoft Office 2010

To follow up on our previous post featuring the free web-based Microsoft Office 2010, here is a YouTube demo video previewing the Office web application in Windows Live.

Prof. John A. Humbach Is Featured on Legal Theory Blog

Article titled 'Sexting,' the First Amendment and Prosecuting Teens by professor John. A. Humbach, Professor of Law at the Pace University School of Law is featured on the Legal Theory Blog.

'Sexting' and other teen autopornography are becoming a widespread phenomenon, with perhaps 20% of teenagers admitting to producing nude or semi-nude pictures of themselves and an ever greater proportion, perhaps as many as 50%, having illegally received such pictures from friends and classmates. It is, moreover, beginning to result in criminal prosecutions, and the statutory penalties are severe. Given the reality of changing social practices, mores and technology utilization, today’s pornography laws are a trap for unwary teens and operate, in effect, to criminalize a large fraction of America’s young people. As such, these laws and prosecutions represent a stark example of the contradictions that can occur when governmental policies and initiatives built on past truths and values collide with new and unanticipated social phenomena.

The focus of anti-pornography enforcement in recent years has been the child pornography laws. The landmark cases of New York v. Ferber and Osborne v. Ohio have established and defined a categorical exclusion that denies First Amendment protection to sexually explicit visual depictions of minors. Even though Ferber and Osborne may not strictly speaking require a conclusion that sexting and other autopornography are unprotected speech, at least some lower courts and prosecutors appear to regard them that way.

By contrast, the language and reasoning of the more recent case of Ashcroft v. Free Speech Coalition gives strong reason to believe that the scope of the categorical exclusion for child pornography should be closely aligned with the governmental objectives that Ferber and Osborne relied on - which would mean constitutional protection for teen sexting and autopornography that occur on the teens’ own initiative. Ashcroft strongly implies, though does not quite say, that the categorical exclusion should be limited to materials that are produced by means of criminal child abuse and exploitation. Also, current standards of strict scrutiny for content-based regulations, if applied, would probably prevent (on the present state of the studies and research) self-produced teen materials from being subsumed into the Ferber categorical exclusion. How this issue will be decided, however, remains to be seen.