Vincent G. Rinn Law Library

DOJ Inspector General Report on US Attorney Firings

Yesterday the report of the joint investigation by Dept of Justice Office of the Inspector General (OIG) and Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR) on the removal of nine U.S. Attornyes in 2006 was released. The investigation was begun in March 2007 and was directed at " the reasons for the removals of the U.S. Attorneys and whether they were removed for partisan political purposes, or to influence an investigation or prosecution, or to retaliate for their actions in any specific investigation or prosecution.” and "... whether the Attorney General or others intended to bypass the Senate confirmation process in the replacement of any removed U.S. Attorney through the use of the Attorney General’s appointment power for Interim U.S. Attorneys."

The report has 13 chapters : Ch. 1 Introduction and Methodology; Ch. 2 Background on the office ofU.S. Attorney; Ch.3 Events surrounding the removals; Ch.4 - 12 Discuss each individual case; Ch. 13 Conclusions & Recommendations.

It is noteworthy that in three of the cases, the report concludes that the attorneys were removed for valid reasons: " Margaret Chiara from the Western District of Michigan and Kevin Ryan from the Northern District of California – we found that the Department had reasonable concerns about their performance and management, and that they were removed for those reasons." and " With regard to Carol Lam, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of California, we also found no evidence to support speculation that Lam was removed in retaliation for her prosecution of certain public corruption cases."

However, major questions are raised in the other cases. In the concluding chapter,the report strongly criticizes former Attorney General Gonzales and recommends that  a special prosecutor be appointed to follow up on their investigation:

"Most remarkably, Gonzales told us he had “no recollection” of the November 27, 2006, meeting in his conference room during which he approved the plan to request the resignations of the U.S. Attorneys on December 7. At the meeting, the other participants discussed the steps necessary to implement the plan. Gonzales was present, received a copy of the 3-page implementation plan, and gave his approval to proceed. Yet, only a few months later Gonzales stated that he did not remember this critical meeting."
( Ch 13, p. 340 )

"In short, we believe that senior Department officials – particularly the Attorney General and the Deputy Attorney – abdicated their responsibility to safeguard the integrity and independence of the Department by failing to ensure that the removal of U.S. Attorneys was not based on improper political considerations."
( Ch 13, p. 331 )

"However, we were unable to fully develop the facts regarding the removal of Iglesias and several other U.S. Attorneys because of the refusal by certain key witnesses to be interviewed by us, as well as by the White House’s decision not to provide internal White House documents to us. Therefore, we recommend that counsel specially appointed by the Attorney General work with us to conduct further investigation and ultimately to determine whether the totality of the evidence demonstrates that any criminal offense  was committed."
( Ch 13, p. 326 )

An Investigation into the Removal of Nine U.S. Attorneys in 2006
September 2008        ( PDF 392 p. , HTML available soon )

Passing of Law Professor Brian Havel's Father, Miroslav Havel

On September 5, Dean Weissenberger informed us of the death of Miroslav Havel, the father of DePaul law Professor Brian F. Havel.Yesterday,the Chicago Tribune had a story about his father:
Glass artist, designer 'Maestro of Crystal' traveled from Czechoslovakia, helped revive Ireland's long-dormant Waterford operation
The September 5 obituary from the Irish paper, The Irish Independent, has more background information about his restoration of the Waterford Crystal name and products to international prominence.

Here is a link to the publisher's web page for Brian Havel's biography of his father,"Maestro of Crystal".

The Financial Services Breakdown - Some Recent Legal Views

Attorney Bob Ambrogi conducts a conversation with two top legal experts about the  unprecedented Lehman Brothers, Holdings, Inc. chapter 11 bankruptcy filing and its implications, in the podcast, The Legal Side of the Lehman Brothers Collapse.

A Georgetown University Law Center research paper by Adam J. Levitin and  Joshua S. Goodman, entitled, Resolving the Foreclosure Crisis: Mortgage Modification in Bankruptcy, which argues for the modification of the bancruptcy law on first home mortgages, as an effective way to ameliorate the current finacial services crisis.

Book Discussion: "The Challenge: Hamdan v. Rumsfeld and the Fight over Presidential Power"

The DePaul College of Law International Human Rights Law Institute is sponsoring a discussion of the book with its author Jonathan Mahler, a writer for The New York Times Magazine.

The publisher's web site says about the book, "At its center are a Navy JAG and a young constitutional law professor who, in the aftermath of 9/11, find themselves defending their nation in the unlikeliest of ways: by suing the president of the United States on behalf of an accused terrorist in order to prevent the American government from breaking the law and violating the Constitution."

Friday, October 17, 2008, 12 – 2pm
DePaul Lewis Center,  Room 904
25 E. Jackson,  Chicago, IL 60604

The book will be available to purchase. Lunch and light refreshments to be included.
RSVP with Thomas Chernick at Tchernic@depaul.edu

"A Day Off The Desk"

Maria Willmer, one of our reference librarians has written an article entitled, "Working Smarter...A Day off the Desk" from the Spring issue of the CALL Bulletin. It is mentioned on the first page of Law Librarian's Bulletin Board, v. 20, no. 1, August 1, 2008.  The paragraph tells about her article and that reference librarians should try to schedule time away from the reference desk.

Her suggestions for how to make good use of that sometimes elusive "Day off the desk", for catching up, connecting and chilling out, can be useful to any reference librarian.

( Thanks to Sheri Lewis of the U of C  D'Angelo Law Library for the tip)

U of C Law Teachers respond to Justice Scalia's Comments

Scalia says U. of C. has gone liberal
BY ABDON M. PALLASCH  Chicago Sun Times, September 17, 2008

Justice Scalia, in comments to the  conservative Federalist Society, at Chicago's Union League Club said that, "I took nothing but bread-and-butter classes, not "Law and Poverty," or other made-up stuff, Scalia said to laughter. He said his advice to law students was: "Take serious classes. There's so much law to learn. Don't waste your time."

Two of the adjuncts who teach the course that Justice Scalia was referring to, responded with a Letter to the Editor in the September 19, 2008 Sun Times.

Lawyers duty bound to serve the poor

Lawrence D. Wood,  Richard M. Wheelock
Legal Assistance Foundation of Metropolitan Chicago

If "equal justice under the law," a phrase that Scalia knows is engraved on the front of the United States Supreme Court building, is to have any meaning, our nation's lawyers are duty-bound to commit themselves to serving the less fortunate through pro bono service. Poverty and the laws that can be used to help the impoverished are anything but "made-up stuff."

( Thanks to Professor Len Cavise for the information)

Digital Alternatives For Legal Course Books ?

A September 22, National Law Journal article, "Are E-Books the Future of Legal Casebooks?" by Amanda Bronstad, in which one of our reference librarians, Mark Giangrande, is quoted, takes look at  some of the issues at the upcoming, "Workshop on the Future of the Legal Course Book", hosted by the Seattle University School of Law.

Some of the key areas that law professors and publishing executives will be exploring, include : Alternative Course Book Contents, Online data options, Receptacles( devices for reading content), Impact on law libraries and school bookstores. The NLJ article seems to focus on the present capabilities of commercial "readers" (Sony Reader, Amazon Kindle). Some of the deficits described, may not be accurate for the Kindle.See the original Kindle news release for information on annotating, highlighting, clipping & exporting passages & notes.

The article goes on to say that law professors would like more control over the materials that they use in the classroom. Digital textbooks could provide the ability to make their own modifications. Some professors are already doing some of their own micro-publishing via selecting & posting material on such teaching support technologies like Blackboard and  Westlaw's TWEN.

While the Seattle conference is scheduled to have 14 commercial publisher participants, hopefully the participants will also look to the opportunities available beyond the existing commercial models. A study by the The Student PIRGs ( Public Interest Research Groups) , released  in August 2008, makes a case for moving to the adoption of open content licenses. An arstechnica  news story states, "A study published this month by a coalition of student public interest research groups (PIRGs) has identified key problems with e-textbooks, and it calls for schools and publishers to adopt open content licenses, such as those offered by Creative Commons.

"The report explains that the high cost of textbooks represents a significant financial burden for many students. Although digital textbooks have the potential to mitigate this problem, a survey conducted by the student PIRGs found that e-textbook services offered by mainstream publishing companies fail to provide a compelling alternative to conventional print books."

From the report's introduction: "The rapid digitization of industry is generating new products and new business models that offer enormous benefits to consumers. If the textbook industry recognizes the benefits of digital technology to reduce costs and to fuel innovation, textbooks could become significantly more affordable and accessible."

The full report can be found at this link, "COURSE  CORRECTION - How Digital Textbooks are Off Track and How to Set Them Straight" , Nicole Allen, The Student PIRGs, August 2008

Center for Art, Museum & Cultural Heritage Law Symposium

Acquiring and Maintaining Collections of Cultural Objects: Challenges Confronting American Museums in the 21st Century - 8th Annual Symposium.
Presented by the DePaul University College of Law, and Co-Sponsored by the Lawyers' Committee for Cultural Heritage Preservation.

"Museums face increasingly difficult challenges in collecting cultural objects—challenges that must be dealt with in ways that are consistent with best practices. On October 16, 2008, DePaul University College of Law will hold a major conference where leading experts will examine the basic rules of nonprofit museum governance and how those rules apply to the growing challenge of collecting cultural property in light of new laws, court decisions and professional ethical guidelines; evolving museum practices and standards in collecting antiquities; sovereign immunity and immunity of art works; and the need for further standards for donor/collector museum relationships."

October 16, 2008, 8:30 AM - 5:30 PM
DePaul Center, Room 8005
1 E. Jackson Boulevard, Chicago, Illinois

REGISTRATION & MORE INFORMATION:http://www.law.depaul.edu/museum
CONTACTS:
  *  Ellen Gutiontov, Esq., Associate Director CIPLIT, egutiont@depaul.edu or (312) 362-5124
  *  Vadim Shifrin, Assistant Director, CIPLIT, vshifrin@depaul.edu or (312) 362-8415

Scalia Critic Praises Professor Landsman

An anonymous comment was made in response to the posting entitled, "Nino Scalia shares some thoughts on legal education  - No "law and" nonsense for you." by Paul Campos on the "Lawyers, Guns and Money" blog. Both the posting and the comment (the 3rd one) take strong exception to Justice Scalia's view that taking any courses in law school that diverge from the "bread-and-butter classes" are "exotic" and a "waste of time" .

In the comment the author tells of a class taken years ago,  with our Professor Landsman, "When Justice Fails", that Scalia would have disdained but which he found tranformative for his law school experience and even his subsequent law practice.

The comment begins, "The best class I took in law school was taught by a man named Stephan Landsman (who now is at DePaul, to my alma mater's great loss). It was titled "When Justice Fails," and it was what Scalia undoubtedly would have called a fluffy and useless class." ...

(Thanks to Lenore Boehm on our library staff for the tip)

Google's New Browser - Chrome

What You Need to Know About Chrome, Google's Shiny New Browser

LAWTECH GURU BLOG by Jeff Beard

Includes link to Google video on Chrome features