2010 Manual on Recurring Problems in Criminal Trials

Federal Judicial Center (FJC), created in 1967, is the education and research agency for the federal courts. On its website it provides information about its publications & videos, international judicial relations, federal judiciary history, and educational programs & materials.  Recently, it has published the sixth edition of the Manual on Recurring Problems in Criminal Trials.

This Manual is not meant to be a comprehensive treatise on criminal law, but rather a basic guide to the law governing many of the procedural matters that arise frequently in criminal trials.  Consequently, it should not be cited as authority in opinions or other materials, nor should the case summaries, which have been updated through August 15, 2009, be considered substitutes for the judicial opinions they reference. 

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)

Internet Materials In Opinions: Citations and Hyperlinking

In the July 2009 Newsletter of the Federal Courts, titled The Third Branch, is an interesting article titled Internet Materials In Opinions: Citations and Hyperlinking mentioning some "suggested practices" to assist courts on how to deal with citations to Internet materials.

The Judicial Conference has issued a series of “suggested practices” to assist courts in the use of Internet materials in opinions. The recommendations follow a pilot project conducted by circuit librarians who captured and preserved webpages cited in opinions over a six-month period.

The guidelines suggest that, if a webpage is cited, chambers staff preserve the citation by downloading a copy of the site’s page and filing it as an attachment to the judicial opinion in the Judiciary’s Case Management/Electronic Case Files System. The attachment, like the opinion, would be retrievable on a non-fee basis through the Public Access to Court Electronic Records system. When considering whether to cite Internet sources, judges are reminded that some litigants, particularly pro se litigants, may not have access to a computer.

How and Where Are You Getting Your Songs?

Via Legal Blog Watch, U.S. sides with RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) in filesharing case. Read the entire post here.

Purchase a song online and it will cost you, at most, 99 cents. Download the song via filesharing and it can cost you anywhere from $750 to $30,000. That is the range of statutory damages allowed under federal law for copyright infringement. Can so disproportionate a penalty be constitutional? In a brief filed yesterday in a filesharing case pending in U.S. District Court in Boston, the U.S. Justice Department says yes.

Lawyers Taking Court-Appointed Cases Got a Raise

Via Legal Blog Watch, by R. J. Ambrogi in his post titled "Good News for Court-Appointed Lawyers," private lawyers who take court-appointed cases in the federal system just got a pay raise.

Last week, James C. Duff, director of the Administrative Office of the United States Courts, issued a memorandum directing the federal courts to increase the hourly rates and case maximums.

In Gideon v. Wainwright, 372 U.S. 355 (1963), the Supreme Court rendered a decision holding that states have a constitutional obligation to provide court-appointed lawyers for indigent criminal defendants. "In our adversary system of criminal justice, any person haled into court, who is too poor to hire a lawyer, cannot be assured a fair trial unless counsel is provided for him," Justice Hugo L. Black wrote for the court.

U.S. Court of Appeals For The 1st Circuit Implements RSS

United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit announced the implementation of RSS feed on their official website. The audio recordings of the court's oral arguments and electronic versions of the court's opinions are now available via RSS (Real Simple Syndication).

Until now, electronic versions of the court's opinions were available only through e-mail with an opinion attached. We will soon be phasing out this method and strongly encourage current subscribers to convert to RSS, which will allow you to search, sort, and filter information.

Please click here to read the full announcement of the court and to learn how to set up your RSS reader that collects the information for you. Standard web browsers, such are FireFox, Safari, Opera, or Internet Explorer have RSS readers embedded within, or you can set up other readers such as Google Reader. Once you have your reader set up, add the URL for desired RSS feed to your reader which will automatically deliver the information without cluttering your email inbox.

This is the RSS feed URL for the U.S. Court of Appeals 1st Circuit opinions: http://www.ca1.uscourts.gov/

The site also offers news updates under What's New.

Plain English Forms from USCourts.gov

Judges, clerks, and staff from the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts teamed up to rewrite a number of civil and criminal forms in Plain English. The 56 forms include complaints, summonses, warrants, juror information cards, appearance bonds and many others.