Novalawcity

Bing vs. Google

Bing vs. Google is a great new resource that allows you to search both Bing and Google, and lets you compare the results. You can format the results as a split screen, either horizontally or vertically; you can also look at only Google results or only Bing's. Just one minor inconvenience about the split screens: each half appears to have its own scroll bar, but they don't operate independently; scrolling up or down on one automatically moves the other as well. Because related searches are displayed on the top left portion of the screen in Bing, and at the bottom of the screen in Google, it's really hard to compare those, unless you have a photographic memory! Over all, however, this is a very useful site that can help you find what you might be missing by using only one of these two search engines.

ABA Sends Letter to Attorney General Holder Supporting Federal Trials for Guantanamo Detainees

Saying that the alternative, trials before the original military commissions, "would have failed to provide the credibility that is essential to acceptance of any final verdict", ABA President Carolyn Lamm expressed the ABA's support of the Justice Department's decision to move the trials to federal court.  Read the BLT blog post for more details, including a link to the full text of the letter.

Tarlton Library Joins the Blogosphere

Welcome, Tarlton Library News! This new blog, from the Tarlton Library at the University of Texas at Austin School of Law, promises commentaries on Supreme Court cases, legal research tips and legal news for Texans (and the rest of us!)

Rethinking the Law Governing the Structure and Operation of the Supreme Court

This is the name of the conference held at the George Washington Law Center on November 20. ScotusBlog has a great recap of the proceedings, and you can read many of the participants' papers at the GWU Law website.

Got a Bluebook question? Check Blue Tips!

The editors of The Bluebook provide a great FAQ page, Blue Tips. Organized by topic, the page explains puzzling questions such as "When is it OK to use the abbreviation "U.S.?", and "How do I cite an act that forms part of a broader statute?". If you don't see the answer to your question, submit it to the editors. If they think the answer would be useful to others, it could become the newest Blue Tip.

Thanks to Joe Hodnicki at Law Librarian blog for his post on this resource.

It's OK to Talk About ... The Snitching Blog

The Snitching Blog was created by Alexandra Natapoff, a professor of law at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles. She wants it to be "a comprehensive resource on criminal informants ...[covering] legal developments, legislation, news stories, cultural reactions, commentary and more." A recent entry recounts the story of a young woman recruited into an informant program to avoid an overnight jail stay for failure to pay her traffic tickets. When her father, an attorney, tries to get the police to change their recruitment policies, neither the police nor the Village Board are willing to budge.  A post in September 2009 discusses "Rachel's Law", a recent Florida law that provides some protections to confidential informants. In addition to regular posts, there are links to a number of government and private resources, and a place to share personal experiences.

Media Alerts on Federal Courts of Appeals

Media Alerts on Federal Courts of Appeals is a pilot project of the ABA Standing Committee on Federal Judicial improvements. The website currently offers summaries of noteworthy cases from the Third, Fifth and Ninth Circuits, with plans to expand coverage to all 13 Circuits. Providing summaries for the pilot are faculty and students from Temple University's Beasley School of Law (3rd Circuit), the University of Texas School of Law (5th Circuit), plus the University of San Diego School of Law and the University of Arizona James E. Rogers College of Law (9th Circuit). The site is open to the public, and although it requires sign-up to use, ABA membership is not required.

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Newspaper Archive of Florida

The full-text collection of Florida newspapers hosted by UF is a rich source of articles and research, and free to the public. Newspapers.  

Reaction to Berring

Some strong reaction to the Free Legal Information comments of Berring are discussed here and especially here.

YouTube Videos and Webcasts from the United Nations

The United Nations offers a channel on YouTube, "featur[ing] videos on a wide range of global topics including current news, peace and security, social and economic development, human rights and climate change." If you're a member of YouTube, you can add your own comments, subscribe to the channel, and/or become a friend.

For official business, "United Nations Television and UN Webcast provide daily live coverage of meetings, briefings and events from the United Nations Headquarters in New York".