Justia – Our Most Excellent 2011

It’s been a great year for us at Justia, as we hope it has been for all of our Onward readers.  We thought it might be fun to re-cap (not to be confused with RECAP ) some of the various new projects, pages and products we’ve worked on in 2011. Verdict – In mid-2011, we launched our new legal commentary

Congress Recruiting Founding Fathers to Save the Republic

Last month, Representative Don Young of Alaska introduced the DebtPatriots.Gov Act of 2011, which calls for the creation of a website dedicated to collecting donations to reduce the public debt of the United States. The website, which will be hosted at www.DebtPatriots.gov, will collect donations and publicly recognize the patriotism of those who “are willing to contribute additional funds, above

The Re-Styled Federal Rules of Evidence

I’m a little behind on this, but in September of this year, the AOC announced revisions to the Federal Rules of Evidence in the form of “re-styling.” The Judicial Conference Advisory Committee on Evidence Rules explains: “The revision is intended to make the Evidence Rules easier to read, and to clarify, simplify, and modernize them without altering their substantive meaning,” said

“Paging the Pot and the Kettle” – CRS Issues Report on Secrecy and Transparency in Congressional Lawmaking

From the Free Government Information Blog (by way of beSpacific) comes word that the Congressional Research Service issued a report on November 30, 2011, titled “Congressional Lawmaking: A Perspective on Secrecy and Transparency.”  The 19-page report briefly outlines the history of the tension between secrecy and transparency in Congress, reviews the issues that emerged on this front during the formation

Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day

Each year, on this fateful date, we remember the sacrifices of those we lost on December 7, 1941. In observance of National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day, President Barack Obama has issued a proclamation honoring those patriots who gave their lives in defense of our nation during the attack on Pearl Harbor. Today, we join our fellow Americans in saluting and

Ninth Circuit Questions for Certification – There’s A Chart for That

Writ columnists Vik Amar and Alan Brownstein recently wrote an interesting article on the latest ruling in the litigation regarding Proposition 8, California’s anti-gay-marriage initiative. Using the process known as certification, the Ninth Circuit, in trying to figure out if the the proponents of Prop. 8 had standing to defend the case in federal court, asked the California Supreme Court