USA

Wrongful conviction and attorney-client confidentiality

Online article looking at the conflicts arising for lawyers when they find out their client has committed a crime ascribed to someone else. The article was written by Ken Strutin who is Director of Legal Information Services at the New York State Defenders Association and was published on LLRX.com in January 2010.The article focuses on United States law and provides links and commentary to ethics codes and rules, legal articles and examples of miscarriages of justice where a lawyer has known the identity of the real perpetrator.

National Institute of Corrections Library

This site provides access to the library of the National Institute of Corrections (NIC) which is an agency of the US Department of Justice. The library contains books, journals, newsletters and video and audio tapes along with unpublished materials produced by correctional agencies and all NIC publications. These materials include research reports and analyses, program descriptions and evaluations and training materials. The catalogue can be searched by keyword or browsed by subject heading.

Center for Effective Public Policy

The Center for Effective Public Policy (CEPP), an American non-profit organisation, works with local, state and tribal jurisdictions in the US to improve their criminal justice systems and enhance the well-being of communities. Its website provides information about CEPP projects. It includes a collection of guides, training curriculums, frameworks and other tools and resources focusing on subjects such as collaborative justice, evidence-based decision-making, parole and probation, women in the justice system, racial equity and community engagement.

Employment Law Guide

Website of the Employment Law Guide a freely available resource provided by the United States Department of Labor (DOL). The Guide provides information on major statutes and regulations administered by the DOL that affect businesses and workers. The Guide is arranged into sections which include wages and hours worked, health and safety standards, health benefits, retirement and workersã compensation, work authorisation for non-US citizens and federal contracts. Reference is also made to laws relating to the agriculture, construction and mining industries.

Legal opinions and journals on Google Scholar

Google Scholar, Google's search engine for scholarly literature, now includes full text legal opinions from US federal and state district, appellate and supreme courts. To restrict searches to legal materials users should click the radio button "Legal opinions and journals" before entering search terms. Opinions can then be searched by case name, keyword, phrase or citation. Using the advanced search option enables searching of just US federal court opinions or opinions for individual states.

Strengthening forensic science: the next wave of scholarship

Online guide highlighting recent reports and scholarly articles on forensic evidence written by Ken Strutin who is Director of Legal Information Services at the New York State Defenders Association. The guide was published in November 2009 on the features page of LLRX.com (Law Library Resource Xchange) the free online web journal for legal information professionals. The guide features a key report by the National Academy of Sciences called Strengthening Forensic Science in the United States: A Path Forward.

Criminal Justice Profiles

Criminal Justice Profiles is a site providing information on careers in criminal justice and law enforcement in the United States. The site is intended for criminal justice professionals, job seekers and students. Profiles contain information on what the job involves, qualifications required and salaries. Careers profiled include police officer, prison warder, probation officer, CIA agent and court reporter along with less obvious careers including coast guard, fish and game warden and forensic accounting.

Amicus

AMICUS is a free online supplement to the Harvard Civil Rights-Civil Liberties Law Review (CR-CL). It seeks to offer a space for online debate about the latest research on civil rights (with a special emphasis on the civil rights of African-Americans). Although a broad range of other areas of civil rights are also covered including freedoms, online rights. The site includes articles, opinion pieces and a conversations area containing organised debates amongst scholars.

Supreme Court Database

The Supreme Court Database provides data and analysis on Supreme Court cases from 1953 to 2008. The Database was created by Harold Spaeth who is Research Professor of Law at Michigan State University College of Law and Emeritus Professor of Political Science at Michigan State and is hosted by the Center for Empirical Research in the Law School at Washington University in St. Louis. The original aim of the Database, which was created in the late 1980ãs, was to "include and classify every single vote by a Supreme Court justice in all argued cases over a five-decade period".

Energy and Mineral Law Foundation

Website of the Energy and Mineral Law Foundation (EMLF) an educational organisation which promotes the study of law relating to energy and natural resources. EMLF membership is drawn from law firms, law schools, mineral companies and trade and professional associations supporting the mineral industry. The site provides a directory of members and details of educational events. The publications page has brief details of Annual Institutes of the Energy & Mineral Law Foundation and full-text documents can be purchased online. Parts of the site are restricted to members.

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