On January 1, the editor-in-chief position at the LII’s VoxPopuLII blog changed hands. Rob Richards, whose incredible work over the last two and a half years has defined VoxPop as an important resource for anyone working in legal informatics, has decided to devote more time to his PhD studies at Penn State.  Somehow, he continues to read, understand, and tweet everything in the field, thus giving weight to some of the wilder theories about him (one of the more popular ones is that he is really Thomas Pynchon, and also never sleeps).  We are immensely grateful to him.

Rob is succeeded by two people:  Stephanie Davidson (currently at the University of Illinois) and Christine Kirchberger (from Stockholm University). Each will be familiar to VoxPop readers from their earlier posts, and we are delighted that they have agreed to take the helm.

Stephanie earned her J.D. at Notre Dame Law School and her M.L.S. from Indiana University. After 5 years of reference and instruction at Yale Law School, Stephanie returned to the midwest to be Head of Public Services at the University of Illinois College of Law Library, where she has been since 2005. Her current scholarship focuses on informing law librarianship through a greater understanding of the research methods and practice of legal scholars and other legal researchers.

Christine Kirchberger earned her Law Degree from the University of Vienna, Austria, in 1997. In 2001 she joined the Swedish Law and Informatics Research Institute (IRI) at Stockholm University. Christine has been teaching legal informatics to law students and computer scientists, both in Sweden and at King’s College in London, England. Since 2006 she has been writing her doctoral thesis ‘Legal Information as a Tool’ focusing on legal information retrieval, the concept of legal information and the information-seeking behaviour of lawyers. In 2010 she authored Cyber Law in Sweden, as part of Kluwer’s International Encyclopaedia for Cyber Law.

We’re feeling a little guilty about this belated announcement… and trust that you’ll join us in welcoming Stephanie and Christine.  We’re looking forward to their contributions!

This week the Court hears 4 arguments including one regarding immigrants who were convicted of crimes prior to the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act. The Supreme Court’s decision could restrict their ability to travel internationally, possibly affecting their ability to maintain family ties or fulfill religious obligations. Another case of particular interest with tax season upon us involves the possibility of imposing limitations on the time frame in which you can be audited by the IRS.

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

• 10-1018 FILARSKY, STEVE A. v. DELIA, NICHOLAS B.
• 11-139 UNITED STATES v. HOME CONCRETE & SUPPLY

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

• 10-1542 HOLDER, ATT’Y GEN. v. GUTIERREZ, CARLOS M.
• 10-1543 HOLDER, ATT’Y GEN. v. SAWYERS, DAMIEN A.

SCOTUS starts the year out with arguments regarding gender discrimination in The Family Medical Leave Act, Nude Scenes and Expletives on TV, and why falling on the ice at work can hurt more than your ego.

This week the Supreme Court hears 6 cases including a couple of health care issues involving drug patents and research, healthcare costs and the generic drug manufacturing industry. Also being discussed will be DNA testing, expert witnesses and the Sixth Amendment’s Confrontation Clause.

This week the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in 6 cases. The topics range from insider trading and Securities Regulation, to the Privacy Act and whether emotional and other noneconomic damages are “actual damages,” raising broad implications for future suits under the Privacy Act.

This week the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in 6 cases. The topics range from immigration, deportation and the IRS, to the largest beef recall in U.S. history, to how citizens can protect themselves from government officials’ possible abuse of new technologies, for instance: when the FBI places GPS  devices on vehicles suspected of drug trafficking.

This week the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in 6 cases. The topics range from the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act (AEDPA) to ineffective counsel and whether eyewitness testimony should be allowed as evidence.

It’s a short week for the Supremes this week — Monday is a legal holiday — but they’ll be hearing 5 new cases on Tuesday and Wednesday:

By the way, if you ever have questions about upcoming oral arguments, you can find a complete listing here, with links to docketing information and to the LIIBULLETIN analyses as they become available.

Today is the first day of the new Supreme Court term.  This week the Court hears cases on topics ranging from copyright to habeas corpus and the registration of sex offenders.  Here’s the calendar; as always, you can read our LII Supreme Court Bulletin case analyses by clicking on the name of the case:

Monday, October 3, 2011

• 09-958 MAXWELL-JOLLY, DAVID v. INDEP. LIVING CENTER OF S. CA
• 10-6549REYNOLDS, BILLY J. v. UNITED STATES

Tuesday, October 4, 2011

• 10-1001 MARTINEZ, LUIS M. v. RYAN, DIR., AZ DOC
• 10-63 MAPLES, CORY R. v. MAPLES, INTERIM COMM’R, AL DOC
• 10-680 HOWES, WARDEN v. FIELDS, RANDALL L.

• 10-545 GOLAN, LAWRENCE, ET AL. v. HOLDER, ATT’Y GEN., ET AL.
• 10-553 HOSANNA-TABOR CHURCH v. EEOC, ET AL.