Obama's First Day On The Job!

Via Legal Blog Watch, President B. Obama did not waste any precious minutes on his first day on the job; executive orders and policy pronouncements keep flying out of his office. Check out the first few right here. Now, that is a work ethic; perhaps something to think about? Any Comments?

Alternative Source Citing

How about this one!? Post Modern Language Association (PMLA) has a funny section covering possible alternative sources of citing. In case your Bluebook was not completely up to date, check out the new ruling on alternative source citing including sources like Rest-Stop Restroom Graffiti, Magic 8-Balls, Tattoos, or Alien Mind Transmissions.

Top 30 Blogs On Writing

The Delaware Employment Law Blog has a post listing the top 30 blogs on writing, ranging from funny blogs to dictionaries. Check it out! Just to mention few:

• Business Writing
• Legal Writing Prof Blog
• Legal Writing Net
• Writing Clear and Simple

Obama White House website

With the new administration came a new White House website. The Obama administration website includes, among other things, video from the inauguration, President Obama's inaugural address and his first proclamation calling for a national day of renewal and reconciliation, a blog, and the agenda of the Obama-Biden administration.

Authenticated Bills on GPO Access

Authenticated bills from the House and Senate are available on the GPO Access site for the 110th and 111th Congresses. These PDF files have been digitally signed and certified to assure users that the online documents are official and authentic.

GPO offers other authenticated digital documents, including the 2009 official budget and public and private laws (beginning with the 110th Congress). Read more about the GPO authentication initiative here.

Limited Definition of 'Violent Felony'

As posted on SCOTUS Blog titled Court limits 'violent felony' definition, the Supreme Court ruled on January 13, 2009 that the crime of failure to report to jail or prison to serve a sentence is not the same as an escape, and is not a 'violent felony' that can lead to a longer prison term under federal law. In Chambers v. United States, No. 06-11206, 2009 U.S. Dist. Westlaw 63882 (Jan. 13, 2009) Justice Breyer delivered the opinion of the Court, and Justice Alito with whom Justice Thomas joined, concurred in the judgment. More information can be found on the SCOTUS WIKI.

Canadian / U.S. Law Outline Wiki

As posted on Law is Cool, a new Wikipedia-type site for law outlines has been created by law students at Queen's University. Law students across Canada and the USA can post to the wiki, which works just like Wikipedia; anybody can post and anybody can edit. What do you think? This could be a great opportunity for students to collaborate and share ideas. Anybody here at Pace would like to become a part of it? Check out the post and let us know what you think!

New Haven Discrimination Case

Suits & Sentences strikes again with an excellent post, this time it's a hot discrimination case from New Haven. The Supreme Court is about to hear what might be the biggest discrimination case of its Term. Take a moment and read this piece that one of the blog readers commented on as "an affirmative action at its best."

Seventy seven New Haven firefighters tested for promotion to lieutenant in late 2003. Forty three white firefighters, 19 African-Americans and 15 Hispanics took the written and oral exams. None of the African-American or Hispanic scored well enough to win promotion. There were eight vacancies for lieutenant, but the top 10 exam scores were all white. The top Hispanic candidate ranked 27th and the top African-American Candidate ranked 14th. So, New haven opted not to promote any of the candidates. The city said it feared an employment discrimination lawsuit.

The 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals opinion that ruled in favor of New Haven is available here. Any thoughts or comments?

Who Owns the 'Fruits' of Prisoner's Labor?

Suits & Sentences Blog has an excellent post discussing the question, which is not a question anymore, of who owns the fruits of prisoner's labor. Well, a recent Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit says that by virtue a prisoner's work belongs to Uncle Sam. More so, a federal prisoner is "in service" of the United States. The story is about Robert James Walton who is a very talented federal prisoner.

James Walton, the Vietnam veteran, convicted bank robber and well-trained desktop publishing expert designed a 2001 desk-blotter calendar, as well as several other calendars, while imprisoned at Leavenworth. Federal Prison Industries then distributed millions of copies of the calendars to Government Services Administration warehouses.

Now serving out his 210-month sentence in Colorado, Walton sued on the ground that the government had stolen his intellectual property. The government retorted that he didn't own the copyright. He got a lawyer, and obtained the copyright. Nonetheless, last January, the Court of Federal Claims ruled against him. Copyright infringement suits can't succeed if the work was prepared "in the employment or service" of the federal government.

The Less You Sound Like a Lawyer, The Better Off You'll Be

ABA Journal Blog has an excellent article titled Persuasive Direct by Jim McElhaney. Jim McElhaney is the Baker and Hostetler Distinguished Scholar in Trial Practice at Case Western Reserve University School of Law in Cleveland and the Joseph C. Hutcheson Distinguished Lecturer in Trial Advocacy at South Texas College of Law in Houston. He is a senior editor and columnist for Litigation, the journal of the ABA Section of Litigation. Take a minute and read this piece to learn how no to talk as a lawyer. Leave your comments!