Legal Research

Selections From the National Law Journal Front Page February 25, 2008

By David Badertscher, PLL

Source: Nlj.com: Top Headlines, February 25, 2008.

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POLICING THE BENCH  |  Little public airing of abusive judges
"Judicial discipline procedures exist and permit punishment of intemperate or abusive behavior on the bench, but these procedures have rarely been employed in public discipline. And nothing in the 29 proposals up for a vote next month by the U.S. Judicial Conference would alter the current standards, including a proposed rule which states that misconduct includes "treating litigants or attorneys in a demonstrably egregious and hostile manner." The rule merely spells out a standard that already exists"

A new push for electronic access, filing
"The Cook County Circuit Court ? the second-busiest in the country ? is making case files accessible on the Internet. Cook County is one of many U.S. counties, including San Diego in California and Kings in New York, that hasn't kept pace with 21st century technological advances that have enabled electronic systems to come to some state courts. The highly wired courts have set a higher standard for electronic access and are drawing other state courts toward technological benefits."

IP LAW  |  Suits a new weapon to fight cybersquatters
"Top corporations are using lawsuits instead of arbitration to fight increasingly sophisticated cybersquatters profiting from their trademarks and brand names. Filing domain-name arbitration disputes with the National Arbitration Forum and World Intellectual Property Organization is no longer enough. They are increasingly filing lawsuits claiming violation of the Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act, which became law in 1999."

CRIMINAL LAW  |  'Reasonableness' splits circuits
"The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, in a recent 9-6 en banc decision that included three separate dissents, has held that defendants must object ? at the time of sentencing ? to any perceived procedural error that renders the sentence unreasonable. Failure to object will forfeit the defendant's ability to do so later, except in the case of a plain error, which is a very high standard to meet."

CRIMINAL LAW  |  Faulty bullet-test cases finding way to court
"Several years after the FBI admitted the bullet analysis test was invalid, cases in which the evidence played a central part are making their way through the courts. FBI officials confirmed that they have identified cases involving the faulty testing from as far back as the 1970s."

Appellate law  |  Amicus Briefs
"Amicus curiae briefs have become a prominent feature of virtually every U.S. Supreme Court case and the subject of considerable scholarly attention. The rules, trends and practices concerning amicus briefs in the federal circuits are more varied and controversial."

Full post as published by New York Supreme Court Criminal Term Library on February 25, 2008 (boomark / email).