Articles Posted in Legal Research

Religious Exemptions from Mandatory Vaccinations Updated: by

All states require children to be immunized or to be in the process of receiving immunizations against certain contagious diseases before a child care facility or a school may admit them. For each state, the immunization schedule may be found in the state code or its administrative regulations, usually in…

EME Homer and the Problem with the U.S. Supreme Court’s Electronic Publishing Updated: by

By now, you’ve all read that Justice Antonin Scalia made a series of mistakes in the dissenting opinion of EPA v. EME Homer City Generation, L.P. The Supreme Court issued a corrected version of the opinion on its website. For more on the story, read the coverage in the WSJ…

Courthouse News Wins First Amendment Case for Access to Court Records Updated: by

Courthouse News Service won a ruling in the Ninth Circuit recently for access to court filings. CNS went to federal court last year to challenge the Ventura County Superior Court policy of delaying the release of court opinions.  A U.S. district court judge dismissed the case, finding that it was…

Rails-to-No-Trails – Justia Weekly Writers’ Picks – March 14, 2014 Updated: by

Marvin M. Brandt Revocable Trust v. United States, United States Supreme Court (3/10/14) Real Estate & Property Law, Transportation Law, Zoning, Planning & Land Use The General Railroad Right-of-Way Act of 1875 provides railroad companies “right[s] of way through the public lands of the United States,” 43 U.S.C. 934. One…

Oklahoma – It’s “Official” Updated: by

HT to Professor Peter Martin who posts in his blog, Citing Legally, the news that, as of January 1, 2014, “sixty years after the Oklahoma Supreme Court designated the West Publishing Company as the ‘official publisher’ of its decisions, it [has] revoked that designation.”  Going forward, the electronic versions of…

New Best Practices for Open Government Data Updated: by

Josh Tauberer recently announced the release of “Open Government Data: Best Practices Language for Making Data ‘License Free.’ That document sets forth recommendations for federal agencies issuing data, and sample Creative Commons Zero (public domain) licensing statements.

Justia Weekly Writers’ Picks Updated: by

MaineToday Media, Inc. v. State, Maine Supreme Court (11/14/13) Civil Rights, Constitutional Law, Criminal Law This case involved three Enhanced 9-1-1 (E-9-1-1) calls regarding an altercation that resulted in three people being shot. MaineToday Media, Inc. sent a series of requests to inspect and copy the three transcripts to the…

FDSys Opinion Coverage Increases, But Is Still Lacking Updated: by

The Administrative Office of the Courts announced yesterday that FDSys will now include opinions from 64 federal courts.  The program to integrate federal court opinions into FDSys began in 2011.  In 2011, they added opinions from 12 courts. In 2012, they increased that number to 28 courts.  In February…