Feminist Legal Theory Research Guide

The Feminist Law Professors blog (2/16/2007)
brings our attention to Researching Feminist Legal
Theory, a web research guide prepared by Pace University
Law Librarian and Adjunct Professor Cynthia Pittson.

"Using NPR Archives for Research"

The LibrarianInBlack blog (2/20/2007) reminds
us that the National Public Radio audio archives can be
a fruitful research source for tracking how an issue
- and coverage of that issue - has unfolded over time.

The archives comprise NPR programs and news
stories dating from 1996 to the present. You can
search the database by keyword and limit results
by program, topic and date range. For each entry,
you are given an abstract and a link to open the
audio file.

New Directory for Legal Podcasts

Justia Blawgs.FM has developed a handy directory
of legal podcasts. Browse the subject list or search the site
for podcasts. The newest and most popular podcasts are
highlighted on the home page. All entries include
links to the feed and iTunes subscription.

New Research Articles on GlobaLex

The following new research articles on foreign,
comparative and international law topics are
now available at GlobaLex (NYU Hauser Global
Law School Program):

Research Guide on TRIPS and Compulsory Licensing:
Access to Innovative Pharmaceuticals for Least Developed
Countries (Do Hyung Kim)

Guide to Legal Research in Honduras
(José Miguel Álvarez and Jessica Ramos)

Researching Icelandic Law
(Rán Tryggvadóttir and Thordis Ingadóttir)

A Guide to the Singapore Legal System and Legal Research
(Tzi Yong Sam Sim)

The Law in Zimbabwe (Otto Saki & Tatenda Chiware)

UPDATE: Guide to Caribbean Law Research (Yemisi Dina)

2006 U.S. Sentencing Commission Annual Report and Sourcebook

From the U.S. Sentencing Commission:

"The 2006 Annual Report presents an overview of major
Commission activities and accomplishments for fiscal year
2005. See the Commission's 2006 Sourcebook of Federal
Sentencing Statistics for descriptive figures, tables, and
charts, and selected district, circuit, and national sentencing
data."


There is also a "Reader Friendly" Version of the 2007
Proposed Amendments to the Sentencing Guidelines,
Policy Statements, and Official Commentary that
contains unofficial text of amendments to the sentencing
guidelines provided for the convenience of the user.
Official text of the amendments can be found in the
January 30, 2007, edition of the Federal Register
(72 FR 4372).

Hat tip to the beSpacific Blog.

Entry Level Law Faculty Hiring Report

Lawrence Solum (Illinois) at the Legal Theory Blog
is compiling a list of entry level, tenure-track law faculty
hires at U.S. law schools. The entries, submitted by new
hires, consist of hiring institution, name, graduate level
degrees, and post-doctorate positions.

To date, there are seventy entries in the list.

The report and instructions on how to submit
an entry are on the Legal Theory Blog.

New Foreign & Comp. Law Research Guides from GlobaLex

The following new research guides have been posted
to the GlobaLex (NYU Hauser Global Law School
Program) web site:

Transnational and Comparative Family Law:
Harmonization and Implementation
(Marylin Johnson Raisch)

Guide to Latvian Law and Legal Resources
(Ilona Ceica, Baiba Bebre and Ligita Gjortlere)

An Overview of the Sudanese Legal System and
Legal Research (Sharanjeet Parmar)

US v. I. Lewis Libby - Documents

The Associated Press web site has launched
a collection of defense and government exhibits from the
2007 trial of I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, who was indicted
in 2005 for obstruction of justice and perjury arising
from investigation of the "outing" of undercover CIA
agent Valerie Plame. Exhibits are organized by date
introduced.

The U.S. Department of Justice has also created a
collection of documents from the Libby trial, including
the indictment, pre-trial and trial exhibits, and related material.

Syracuse University's TRAC Expands Services

Syracuse University's TRAC is expanding its public
access to information.

According to a recent news release,

"For several months, TRAC has offered on its
public website very timely month-by-month reports and
data tracking changes in the government's enforcement
activities against white collar criminals, illegal drug peddlers,
immigration violators and unlawful gun users and dealers.

TRAC has greatly expanded the offerings available at the
bulletins link just above. For the latest available month,
there are now twelve new reports containing information
about both the recorded filings (prosecutions) and
convictions for six specialized and revealing subjects:
civil rights, environment, official corruption, organized
crime, child pornography and government regulation.

In addition, TRAC is offering an entirely new service that
provides a printer-ready PDF report containing detailed
"listing" information about each defendant in a selected
subject of special interest — for example, those convicted
of an environmental offense in a recent month in a
particular federal judicial district. Although the Justice
Department is withholding names and docket numbers
(an action which TRAC has under appeal), the new listings
still provide unique and very detailed information,
organized by district, by statute and by judge."

Google Loses Belgian Copyright Case

Businessweek.com (2/13/2007) reports that a Belgian
court reaffirmed a September 2006 ruling that prohibits
Google from reproducing certain copyrighted titles and
summaries on its Belgian Google news or Google.be Web
site. A spokesman for the plaintiffs, Copiepress (a group
of Belgian newspapers), is quoted in the article as saying,
"All publishers are worried that they have developed too
great a dependence on portals, which now makes it hard
to oppose them and get a fair deal."

The Official Google Blog (2/13/2007) offers its own
perspectives on the case.

Justia Launches Free Federal District Court Filings Database Search

The beSpacific Blog (2/12/2007) reports that
Justia.com is launching a database of free federal
district court filings. The database, which is
still under development, provides access to
recently filed Federal District Court civil cases.
Researchers can browse by state, nature of suit and
cases, or search by party name, jurisdiction, type of
lawsuit, and date range.

Amnesty International Report on U.S. Executions

Amnesty International has released part one of
a new report on U.S. executions over the past thirty years,
The Experiment That failed; a Reflection on 30 Years of
Executions.

New on the Law Professor Blogs Network

The Law Professor Blogs Network announces
the launch of the following new blogs:

Food Law Prof Blog
edited by Donna Byrne (William Mitchell)
Law Blog Metrics
edited by Joe Hodnicki (Cincinnati)
Reproductive Rights Prof Blog
edited by Caitlin Borgmann (CUNY)
Securities Law Prof Blog
edited by Barbara Black (Cincinnati)

In addition, the Antitrust Prof Blog has re-
launched as Antitrust & Competition Policy Blog,
with Shubha Ghosh (SMU) and Daniel Sokol
(Wisconsin) as co-editors.

The Litigation-Filled Life of Anna Nicole Smith

Joanna Grossman (Hofstra) untangles the
complex legal aftermath of Anna Nicole
Smith's death in a Findlaw commentary
posted on 2/12/2007.

Syracuse University College of Law
Professor Terry Turnipseed will also
address the topic in a program at the
law school today, scheduled to take
place from 11:45am - 1:00pm in
Room 200.

"Alito Recaps First Year on High Court"

In today's Law.com, Supreme Court Justice Samuel
Alito Jr. speaks about his first year on the Court
and about the docket, clerks, and cameras in the
courtroom.

Abraham Lincoln Historical Digitization Project (Lincoln/Net)

The Abraham Lincoln Digitization Project (Lincoln/Net)
offers research materials from Abraham Lincoln's
Illinois years (1830-1861), supplemented by resources
from Illinois' early years of statehood (1818-1829).

Researchers may search the collections using a toolbar
(text, image, video, sound, interactive resource, or all)
at the top of every page. The site also offers a selection
of interpretive materials, including a Lincoln biography
and discussions of eight major historical themes.

Lincoln/Net, based at Northern Illinois University,
collaborates with the University of Chicago, the
Newberry Library, the Chicago Historical Society,
Illinois State University, the Illinois State Archives,
Lewis University, and Knox College.

White House Project: Advancing Women's Leadership

The Librarians' Index to the Internet (2/8/2007)
points us to The White House Project: Advancing
Women's Leadership, a web collection of reports
on women's leadership roles in areas such as
politics and the media.

The White House Project is "a national, nonpartisan,
not-for-profit organization, [that] aims to advance
women’s leadership in all communities and sectors."

WSJ Op-Ed Piece, "Law Schools Rarely Teach Students How to Be Lawyers"

New York Law School Professor Cameron Stracher
launches a blistering attack on the state of legal
education in an op-ed piece published in the
online Wall Street Journal (1/26/2007).

Web Resource Reviews from Cornell InSite

The Cornell Law Library online current awareness
service, InSite, describes the following web resources in their
February 5, 2007, issue.

Child Welfare Information Gateway
Early Recognized Treaties with American Indian Nations
International Labor Rights Fund
Moving Ideas: the Electronic Policy Network
National Youth Gang Center (NYGC)

More than 500 Law Review Articles Cite Wikipedia

Last week I blogged about judicial rulings that
cite Wikipedia. Apparently, law faculty love the
online reference tool, too!

According to Paul Caron at the TaxProf Blog
(2/5/2007), "545 law review articles cite Wikipedia
and an additional 125 articles mention Wikipedia
but do not cite it as authority." Caron's research
assistant used Westlaw's JLR database as
his source for the data.

Michigan Affirmative Action Suit Settled

The New York Times (2/2/2007) reports that
the University of Michigan affirmative action
law suit has been settled. According to the article,
lead plaintiffs Jennifer Gratz and Patrick Hamacher
have agreed to "drop all claims under a... class-action
lawsuit against the university over its former
affirmative action admissions policies." In exchange
for dropping the suit, Gratz and Hamacher will each
receive $10,000 from the university to cover
"miscellaneous costs."

Database of Open Source Educational Content

The Open Educational Resources (OER) Commons
database provides instructional materials that have
been shared by teachers of all educational levels.
Materials include full courses, course materials,
webcasts, audio files, discussion forums, games,
assignments, lesson plans and more. Although
many of the resources here are most appropriate for
high school or undergraduate classes, there are items
of potential interest to law teachers. For example, UC
Berkeley's forum on "National Security, the War on
Terror, and the Constitution" is available here as a web cast.

You can browse the database by tag, subject matter, or
grade level or use the advanced search function to
select resources by multiple factors.

You can also contribute your own materials to share
through the web site.

Hat tip to Research Buzz.

Special Master Reports Now Available on U.S. Supreme Court Site

Special Master Reports are now posted on the Supreme
Court's website. Special masters are selected and
appointed by the Court to perform special actions such
as summoning witnesses, issuing subpoenas, taking
evidence, and submitting investigative reports.

Hat tip to the beSpacific blog.

I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby Trial Documents

The beSpacific blog (1/30/2007) links to
sources for current documents and exhibits
from the I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby trial.

UK Statute Law Database Online

The UK Statute Law Database (SLD), released
in December, 2006, is the official revised edition
of the primary legislation of the United Kingdom
made available in electronic format.

Hat tip to the Law Librarian Blog.