Legal Research News and Information with an Emphasis on Wisconsin
Beginning in November, the US Supreme Court will require electronic filing of case documents. According to a SCOTUS press release, counsel will initially submit filings both in print and electronically. An exception will be made for pro se parties; Court personnel will scan and make their filings available electronically. Once the system is in place, …
A new study on SSRN examines whether law clerks exert any influence on voting by Supreme Court justices. According to authors Adam Bonica, Adam Chilton, Jacob Goldin, Kyle Rozema, & Maya Sen, there is indeed “strong evidence that clerk ideology does affect judicial voting behavior.” The authors examined political donations made by Supreme Court clerks …
My Own Words by Ruth Bader Ginsburg Law Library Stacks: KF8745 .G56 A3 2016 Book Review by Eric Taylor, Evening Reference Librarian My Own Words is a delightful read. The words and stories are hers. A woman ahead of her time. Lucky in love to have met life partner, Marty, who was her champion in …
There is a good piece on the latest in the Pacer litigation on Quartz. Several non-profits claim that fees charged by Pacer, an online database of papers filed by litigants in the US federal courts, exceed the cost of providing the records. While the 10 cents a page that most people are charged to view …
Last month, the Wisconsin Supreme Court approved a new rule requiring mandatory electronic filing statewide. (Wis. Stat. § 801.18) According to a recent edition of The Third Branch, the quarterly newsletter of the Wisconsin court system, the mandatory eFiling rule takes effect July 1 but will be phased in gradually over the next three years. …
From Robert Ambrogi’s Law Sites: A class action lawsuit filed yesterday in federal court in Washington, D.C., challenges the fees charged by PACER, the federal courts’ online court records system, as excessive. The lawsuit seeks to obtain relief on behalf of “all individuals and entities who have paid fees for the use of PACER within …
The Wisconsin State Bar has recently published a newly updated edition of the Wisconsin Guide to Citation. The new eighth edition reflects recent changes made to The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation, now in its 20th edition. New developments discussed in this edition of the Wisconsin Guide include: A new section on how to …
Today, the Third District Court of Appeals affirmed that library patrons do not have a constitutional right to view pornography on library computers. The defendant was cited for disorderly conduct in 2014 after a couple of students reported he was watching pornography on a UW Eau Claire library computer. From Channel 3000: Reidinger argued he …
Beginning in January, the Dane County Clerk of Court’s office will convert to electronic record-keeping. All records must be filed electronically or scanned in on receipt. However, print copies may be obtained at the usual statutory rate of $1.25 per page using the office’s public terminals. According to the Isthmus, Dane County had already been …
Yesterday, a federal three-judge panel unanimously decided that a lawsuit challenging Wisconsin’s last legislative redistricting plan as an example of “extreme partisan gerrymandering” may proceed. According to the Wisconsin State Journal: “Although we believe that plaintiffs face significant challenges in prevailing on their claims, we conclude that plaintiffs’ complaint is sufficient to state a …