Supreme Judicial Court Announces New Opinion Publishing Procedures

In order to provide greater predictability in the publication of Law Court opinions, and to make it easier for the public to know when to look for opinions, the Supreme Judicial Court will publish opinions two days per week, beginning October 31, 2006. Opinions will be published at 11:00 a.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Source: Maine Judicial Branch website http://www.courts.state.me.us/news/index.html

A New Way to Stay Current--Law In 10

Here’s an interesting way to stay current on the latest legal issues. California Western School of Law has created Law In 10, 10 minute podcasts on current legal issues. The show is divided into two segments, each featuring a different legal expert and topic of interest. Listeners are able to receive a free weekly subscription using RSS feeds, with aggregators such as iTunes, Google, and Yahoo. Listeners may also listen to podcasts directly from the California Western Web site.

Source: Law Librarian Blog

Same day availability of USSC Oral Arguments Available on Court's Website

The court reporter of the United States Supreme Court has made transcripts of the oral arguments available on the Court's website on the day of the argument. These transcripts are considered "official" but subject to final review. The transcripts are available for cases from the October 2000 term forward.

AALL has commended Chief Justice Roberts for making these available on the day of the argument, saying it is evidence of his desire to take advantage of the technology available and to promote greater access to Court information.

Click here to explore Court's database.

Click here to read AALL President Sally Holterhoff's letter to the Chief Justice.

United States Supreme Court Rules on Use of Unpublished Opinions

The Supreme Court adopted a rule change that will allow lawyers to cite unpublished opinions in federal courts starting next year.

Here is the article from law.com.

Finding Better Results on Google

From Google Librarian comes a downloadable document that provides tips and tricks to help Google users get better search results. You may be familiar with some of these, like putting phrase in quotation marks to search on the exact phrase. But some of them were new to me. For example you can find the meaning of words by typing define: followed by the word you would like defined. You can search for web pages that link to a specific page by typing link: followed by the web address of the page you are interested in.

Check it out and try some of the searches!

http://www.google.com/librariancenter/librarian_download.html.

Source: Google Librarian Newsletter

You can subscribe to the Google Librarian Newsletter by going to
http://www.google.com/librariancenter/index.html

Looking for New Things To Try

In his most recent column, 43 Things I (or You) Might Want To Do This Year, Steve Abrams, writes about the website 43 Things which allows you to put your "To Do" list online, edit it and check things off as you do them. You can keep your list private or have it available for the public to see. If you can't think of 43 things to do, Mr. Abrams makes suggestions.

The URL for 43 Things is http://www.43things.com. Check it out!

You can read Mr. Abrams article at http://www.sirsi.com/Pdfs/Company/Abram/InfoTech_Feb2006.pdf

Enjoy!

Source: LLNE News (http://llne.blogspot.com/)

USSC Hears Arguments in S.D. Warren Case

On February 21, 2006, the United States Supreme Court heard arguments in S.D. Warren Company v. Maine Board of Environmental Protection. A brief summary of the facts and the question before the Court follow.

The Facts:

In order to obtain a federal license to operate the dams it owns along the Presumpscot River in Cumberland County, SD Warren was required to obtain a water quality certification from the State of Maine. This certification established conditions to ensure the physical, chemical, and biological integrity of the river and these requirements were incorporated into the federal license that FERC issued to the company. The S.D. Warren Company filed a series of appeals opposing this certification, ending with the Maine Supreme Judicial Court, which upheld the Superior Court decision in favor of the State of Maine and the certification requirements.

Question Before The Court

The question before the United States Supreme Court is whether hydroelectric facilities, which block rivers to form reservoirs and divert, channel and release that water through pipes, gates, and canals into the river downstream, result in “any discharge into the navigable waters” within the meaning of Section 401 of the Clean Water Act.

Law Court Opinion & Briefs to the USSC

The opinion of the Maine Supreme Judicial Court can be accessed at http://www.courts.state.me.us/opinions/2005%20documents/05me27sd.pdf


The following links provide access to the briefs in the case.

Brief of Respondent American Rivers and Friends of the Presumpscot River

Brief of Respondent Maine Board of Environmental Protection

Brief for Petitioner S.D. Warren

Amicus Brief from State Attorneys General

Amicus Brief from Former Assistant Admin. of the EPA

Amicus Brief from Senator Jeffers in Support of Respondent

Amicus Brief from Tribes in Support of Respondent

Amicus Brief from Scientists in Support of Respondent MBEP

Amicus Brief from NGO’s in Support of Respondent

Amicus Brief from Anglers in Support of Respondent

Amicus Brief from Edison Electric, et al in Support of Petitioner

Amicus Brief from Western Urban Water Coalition

I was unable to find a free version of the Amicus Briefs from Augusta, Georgia, from the National Association of Homebuilders or from the Salt River Project Agricultural Improvement and Power district. They are available on LexisNexis but a password is required to access the briefs.