ZiefBrief

Alito on Wiretapping - and More: Additional Documents from the National Archives

Late this month the National Archives released two small batches of documents written by Supreme Court nominee Samuel A. Alito, Jr. during his 1980s stint at the Department of Justice.

Despite the size of the collections (45 and 17 documents, and less than 1000 pages all told), and despite the holidays, the press has taken note — particularly of two documents released on December 23. In one of these documents Alito argues that the Attorney General should be immune from liability for illegal wiretapping. Given the latest revelations about warrantless NSA intercepts and Senator Spector's plans to question Alito about his views on Presidential powers, this memo is sure to be examined from every angle. The December 23 collection also contains a memo in which Alito asserts that Roe should be overruled.

These and other documents (as well as links to papers from the Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush presidential libraries) are available at the National Archives page Records Pertaining to Judge Samuel A. Alito, Jr.

[Thanks to Howard Bashman's How Appealing for the tip.]

Jus in Bello - International Courts & Crimes

Marie Newman, reporting in Out of the Jungle, tells of Jus in Bello, a new blog about international criminal law, courts, and prosecutions.

Jus in Bello, a project of Pace University School of Law, features commentary from Pace professors Thomas McDonnell, Gayl Westerman, and Mark Shulman, as well as news reports prepared by Margaret R. Moreland, Pace's Lawyer⁄Librarian for Research Services. Jus in Bello also sports a well-thought-out collection of links to blogs and other web sites relevant to international criminal law.

Tracking Down Treaties - Help Arrives From the Dep't. of State

In Where Have All the Treaties Gone?, Duncan Hollis, one of the law professor authors of  the international law and politics blog Opinio Juris, reports that (after a big nudge from Congress), the Department of State has added almost 1500 bilateral and multilateral treaties and other international agreements to its web site. 

This is good news for legal researchers, since up until this point free government sources of recent U.S. treaties were very thin on the ground.

The collection begins in 1998, which almost takes you back to the most recent issues of TIAS (now current through 1996). The treaties are part of the United States Department of State's FOIA Electronic Reading Room.

You can see all 1480 treaties and agreements by checking the box to left of "International Agreements" and then clicking  the "List All" button under the search box.

Or, more practically, you can run a variety of searches.  You can search by key word or phrase (e.g., lumber or ozone or "mutual defense"); by country name  with or without key words (e.g., Canada, or, e.g., Russia and nuclear); or by a phrase from the title of an agreement (e.g., Surrender of Persons to the International Criminal Court). Adding the term "multilateral" to any search helps limit results to multilateral treaties.

The treaties and agreements are exact page images in PDF format.

[A virtual tip o' the hat to: Terri Gallego O’Rourke, the Reference and International Law Librarian at Boston University.]

Following "Plame-Gate" - Scooter Libby Documents on Westlaw

Westlaw subscribers who are following the ongoing investigation in to the leak of CIA agent Valerie Plame Wilson's identity might want to turn to the new Libby CIA Inquiry Materials (LIBBY-INQUIRY) database on Westlaw.

Westlaw reports that LIBBY-INQUIRY contains "contains documents from numerous news publications regarding I. Lewis 'Scooter' Libby's criminal indictment and related CIA leak incident. The database also contains Libby's indictment and radio and television broadcast transcripts discussing the incident and related parties."

The Supreme Court Takes Up Military Recruiting and the Solomon Amendment

Yesterday the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Rumsfeld v. Fair, and once again this fall, researchers can hear the audio right away, rather than having to endure the more typical wait until the end of the Court's term.

C-SPAN has archived yesterday's broadcast of the Rumsfeld v. Forum for Academic & Institutional Rights (04-1152) oral argument audio file; all you need to listen in is the free RealPlayer.

(A tip of the e-hat to Howard Bashman, whose How Appealing post on the Rumsfeld v. Fair oral argument links not only to the audio file but also to several news reports analyzing the argument.)

And those who prefer a different format will find an MP3 version of the Rumsfeld v. Fair oral argument at the Oyez's Rumsfeld v. Fair page. (A tip o' the hat to Liz Aloi of  SCOTUSblog on this one.)

Papers of Tom Clark -- US Supreme Court Justice and Texan

Next time you are playing Supreme Court Trivia ask how many Texans have served on the Court. The answer is one, Tom Clark. Appointed in 1949 by President Truman, Clark resigned from the Court in 1967 when his son Ramsey Clark was appointed Attorney General. Now the University of Texas is making J. Clark's personal papers available through the Web. The materials  "contain a comprehensive record of Justice Clark's activities as a U.S. Supreme Court Justice, public servant, and advocate for improved judicial administration. ... [F]rom ... 1949 until his death in 1977." This site features concentrates on selected court documents relating to desegregation, school prayer, voting rights, Mexican American civil rights, and more.

Tip of the ol' research cap to the Librarians' Internet Index.

Alito in His Own Words - Judiciary Committee Questionnaire & 1980s Documents

Yesterday the Senate Judiciary Committee released Alito's questionnaire on its web site. The document, Questionnaire of Samuel A. Alito, Jr., of New Jersey, Nominee to the Supreme Court of the United States, is a 64-page PDF file.

Also yesterday, the National Archives released a collection of memos and other documents written by Alito during his tenure at the Department of Justice. The latest releases in the Archives Alito collection, Records Pertaining to Judge Samuel A. Alito, Jr., are from the files of Charles Cooper and Attorney General Edwin Meese III. [A tip of the hat to BeSpacific.]

[Update, Jan. 26, 2006] Jurist - Gazette, in a post entitled Alito Responses to Additional Written Questions [US Senate], reports on and links to a letter from Judge Alito to Senator Specter, answering senators' written questions submitted after the confirmation hearings. Alito's letter answering the supplemental questions is a 41 page PDF file.