In another post I mentioned a service I used to subscribe to for Supreme Court updates as well as all higher court or even lower court rullings which could have an impact or was of interest to law enforcement. I couldn't remember the service at the time but I dug up one of my old "Law Enforcment Officer's Pocket Manual" and here it is:
The Bureau of National Affairs
WWW.BNA.COM
You can even sign up for a free trial for some of their publications.
Some of their publications which may be of interest in our industry:
Criminal Law Reporter
Homeland Security Briefing®
Media Law Reporter
Privacy & Security Law Report
There are a TON of stuff both criminal, civil, employment, etc. wise. If I am reading correctly there is even a service where they send you supreme court or appellate court opinions of only the particular topics you are wanting.
Very interesting. Check it out and see if anything would suit your individual needs.
I believe I was subscribed to the Criminal Law Reporter.
Here is an example of the weekly report they send you for that service:
HIGHLIGHTS
Police Can't Pat Down Article That Is Outside Reach of Terry Detainee
Just Because They Have Chosen to Give It to Him Without Being Asked
An investigative detention of a suspect pursuant to Terry v. Ohio may not include a protective frisk of a personal item police have decided to provide to the suspect on their own initiative, the Utah Supreme Court decides. To allow officers to pat down articles they themselves have chosen to place within a detainee's grab area without being requested to do so, when no grounds for searching the item existed beforehand, would invite "serious abuse" of the Terry doctrine by police, the court says. Page 551
Sentence Based on Alleged Misreading of U.S. Sentencing Guidelines Still
Must Be Reviewed De Novo, Not Under Booker's Reasonableness Standard
The de novo standard of review federal courts of appeals employed prior to United States v. Booker in appeals asserting that trial judges misinterpreted the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines continues to be the appropriate one despite the U.S. Supreme Court's announcement in Booker that sentences imposed under the now-advisory guidelines scheme must be reviewed for "reasonableness," the Fifth Circuit holds. The court notes, however, that it is not expressing any view on post-Booker cases in which a sentencing court has chosen to exercise its discretion to mete out a nonguidelines sentence. Page 551
Intrastate Production of Child Pornography for Personal Use Has Too
Little Impact on Interstate Commerce to Support Federal Jurisdiction
Production of child pornography within a single state for personal use only, like purely intrastate possession of such material, is not subject to federal prosecution, the Eleventh Circuit decides. Any impact of intrastate production solely for personal use on the nationwide commercial child pornography industry is insufficient to give rise to federal jurisdiction, the court says, opening up a circuit split on the issue. Page 553
Trial Court Order Barring Press From Publishing Jurors' Names Violated
First Amendment Right to Report on Events Taking Place in Open Court
The trial judge in a criminal case involving a prominent corporate executive violated the First Amendment by forbidding the media to publish the identities of potential jurors after their names had been revealed in open court, the Second Circuit rules. The order, which the judge apparently imposed in order to minimize the chances that jurors would be subjected to improper outside pressure, conflicted with the constitutional protection against prior restraints on speech based on its content and with the right of the press to report on events that transpire in open judicial proceedings, the court says. Page 554
IN THIS ISSUE
EVIDENCE: Police officers relying on specialized training and experience in drug interdiction should not have been allowed to testify as lay opinion witnesses that a transaction they witnessed was a drug deal, the Maryland Court of Appeals rules. Page 557
FEDERAL JURISDICTION: The federal statute forbidding the production of child pornography does not apply to a defendant who produced such material solely within one state for his personal use, the Eleventh Circuit rules. Page 553
FIREARMS: A determination as to whether a felon's possession of a bullet and a gun constitutes one or, instead, two violations of 18 U.S.C. §922(g) is to be made by focusing on the timing of authorities' seizures of the items, the Fourth Circuit says. Page 558
FIRST AMENDMENT: The Second Circuit rules that a federal trial judge's order forbidding the publication of jurors' names following their disclosure in the courtroom violated the First Amendment. Page 554
FIRST AMENDMENT: A Florida statute that makes it a crime for a participant in an active internal police investigation to reveal any information about it violates the First Amendment, the Eleventh Circuit rules. Page 554
FIRST AMENDMENT: The Ninth Circuit upholds Alaska's jury-tampering statute against an overbreadth challenge. Page 555
INTERNATIONAL LAW: The U.S. Supreme Court hears oral argument in a case that presents the question of the effect on U.S. courts of a ruling by the International Court of Justice concerning violations of the requirements set out in the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations that assure foreign arrestees access to their countries' consular missions. Page 2217
INVESTIGATIVE DETENTIONS: The Fourth Amendment does not allow police to frisk an item they unilaterally decide to place within the reach of a suspect during a Terry stop, the Utah Supreme Court holds. Page 551
PRISONS AND JAILS: The U.S. Supreme Court hears oral argument on the constitutionality of the federal law that sets a high bar for prison officials to clear in imposing restrictions that impinge on inmates' exercise of their religious beliefs. Page 2218
PRIVILEGES: A district court deciding whether the government has presented a prima facie case that the crime-fraud exception vitiates a party's attorney-client privilege must take into account the contents of allegedly privileged documents, but need not review the actual documents themselves, the Fourth Circuit holds. Page 556
SENTENCING: United States v. Booker did not change the de novo standard of review an appellate court should employ in deciding whether to overturn a sentence due to the trial court's mistaken reading of the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, the Fifth Circuit rules. Page 551
SENTENCING: New figures from the U.S. Sentencing Commission show that sentences being imposed in the wake of the United States v. Booker closely track those handed down prior to the U.S. Supreme Court's landmark decision making the federal sentencing guidelines advisory. Page 563
SUPREME COURT:
Summary of orders Page 2213
Journal of proceedings Page 2215
Arguments heard Pages 2217 , 2218
Summaries of docketed cases Page 2220
CASES IN BRIEF : Page 559
TABLE OF CASES
Cooper v. Dillon (11th Cir.) 554
Cutter v. Wilkinson (U.S.) (arg) 2218
Geiger v. Jowers (5th Cir.) 560
Medellin v. Dretke (U.S.) (arg) 2217
People v. Guzman (Cal.) 562
People v. Sharp (Ill. App. Ct.) 559
Ragland v. State (Md.) 557
State v. Acremant (Or.) 560
State v. Curtis (Wash. Ct. App.) 561
State v. Padua (Conn.) 559
State v. Peterson (Utah) 551
Turney v. Pugh (9th Cir.) 555
United States v. Brown (2d Cir.) 562
United States v. Chriswell (6th Cir.) 561
United States v. Goodine (4th Cir.) 558
United States v. Milstein (2d Cir.) 559
United States v. Musa (10th Cir.) 561
United States v. Quattrone (2d Cir.) 554
United States v. Sczubelek (3d Cir.) 560
United States v. Smith (11th Cir.) 553
United States v. Under Seal (4th Cir.) 556
United States v. Villegas (5th Cir.) 551
I was reading these things on a weekly basis, GREAT stuff.
As far as books/manuals etc... a ton of stuff there too and that is at:
WWW.BNABOOKS.com
