Articles Posted in United States Federal Resources

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Not all U.S. Circuit Courts of Appeals (or federal district or bankruptcy courts for that matter) make full (or almost full) runs of their opinions available at their websites. See, e.g. the blog post at Gallagher Law Library (University of Washington Law Schools): Circuit Courts Archiving Cites to Online Sources.

The Administrative Office of the Courts is a one place to begin when researching federal court practice and procedure, but for cases, you need to do a little detective work if you want to use a free database.

The primary method for finding federal court case documents is PACER (registration required – some fees), but opinions from the Courts of Appeals, and other federal courts, may also appear elsewhere on the Internet. The AOC has links to federal courts.

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Let’s say I wanted to find this case, Mayfield vs. United States (a December 10th, 2009, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit opinion). (And I might want to find the case so I can write a postscript to this Shaggy (Law Librarian) Dog Tale.)

When I use Google Legal Scholar, specifying federal court and 2009, and the search <brandon mayfield united states> I get nothing. When I use the same search in native Google, with only the date limiter, I get in the first page of results several links to the actual case, including the link on the court’s website.

There are a number of technical reasons for this (and a few flawed human being reasons, too), and I will leave those to be explained by Search Engine Scientists, but woe to the untrained (or unthinking) legal researcher who thinks that Google (or that other “I looked it up on The Internet” place) is where one researches an actual case.

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No, this is a not a blog post about how people in other English-speaking countries find our use of the English language – they think we are hilarious. And they are right!

(Of course, this isn’t to say that we don’t return the compliment: Our Australian and British and Scottish and Irish earth-mates leave us in stitches.)

Now, about Tiny Thomas: This is a post about a U.S. Congress website, specifically, the official website of said body: Thomas dot gov or Thomas dot loc dot gov (whichever takes your fancy).

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Oregon doesn’t have a lot of options when it comes to researching Oregon RICO laws in secondary sources. (Legal secondary sources are awash with articles, essays, commentary, etc. on federal and other state’s RICO law and practice.)

There is, however, a chapter on Oregon RICO law in this book, “RICO state by State,” 1998 edition, starting on page 739.

1) Try this direct Google Books link to see a chapter from the 1998 edition.

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I was thinking, for obvious reasons, about previous Presidential statements on sweeping changes to the Health and Welfare (and happiness pursuit) of the nation:

1) Presidential Statement on Signing the Social Security Act, August 14, 1935 (Roosevelt)

“Today a hope of many years’ standing is in large part fulfilled. The civilization of the past hundred years, with its startling industrial changes, has tended more and more to make life insecure. Young people have come to wonder what would be their lot when they came to old age. The man with a job has wondered how long the job would last.

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An idea whose time has come, maybe, soon:

Law.Gov: A Proposed Registry and Repository of All Primary Legal Materials of the United States

PACER, CRS, eCourt, eFiling, caselaw, statutes, superseded laws, dockets, state, federal, international, etc., etc., etc.? One can dream.

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Constitution Day is Thursday, September 17, 2009. I won’t be celebrating in my usual way, but will acknowledge the day by giving out free pocket U.S. Constitutions at the Washington County Law Library, in Hillsboro.

For more information about Constitution Day:

1) Constitution Day is Every Day, at the Law Librarian Blog.

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We hear they are at it again (or even still), so put your shields up – and alert anyone who answers the telephone for your business.

FTC Sues to Halt Three Cross-Border Business Directory Scams

“The Federal Trade Commission has filed suit to halt the illegal operations of three telemarketing boiler rooms in Montreal, Canada. The agency alleged that the telemarketers bilked thousands of small- and medium-sized U.S. businesses and non-profits, including churches, schools, and charities, out of millions of dollars by deceiving them into paying for listings they never ordered in worthless business directories….” (link to FTC story)

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This National Law Journal article about the case, Stop the Beach Renourishment v. Florida (S. Ct. Docket number: 08-1151) caught my eye:

“Setting boundaries for property rights: The Supreme Court will decide whether Florida ran roughshod over beachfront landholders,” by Timothy Sandefur, August 31, 2009

Excerpts: ‘The U.S. Supreme Court surprised many when it decided it would review an unusual Florida property rights dispute this fall. That case, Stop the Beach Renourishment v. Florida, involves some of the most profound questions about the judiciary’s role in protecting private property rights.
…

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