Excluding Voluntary Confessions: Corley v. United States
In this case, the defendant was convicted of robbing a bank and was questioned by the FBI for two days (29.5 hours) before officials brought him before a magistrate – and he’d signed a written confession.
The Supreme Court ruled Monday that even where a confession is voluntary, it may not be used in federal court if the defendant was held more than six hourse before confessing. The 5-4 decision stems from a rule stating that a suspect must appear before a magistrate as soon as possible.
As a result, for a voluntary confession to be valid, the defendant must appear before a magistrate within six hours. Writing for the majority, Justice Souter stated that “we have always known what custodial secrecy leads to,” and that without this ruling “federal agents would be free to question suspects for extended periods before bringing them out in the open.”
Source: SCOTUSBlog
Fastcase: Bigger than Blago in Illinois (not bigger than Bulls or Cubbies)
Fastcase, which is free to members of the Illinois State Bar Association, is gaining popularity in the Land of Lincoln. The cover story in today’s Illinois Bar Journal says it all:
Whether you make it your primary online research tool or use it to supplement Westlaw or Lexis, Fastcase can save you money if you’re an ISBA member. Lots of it.
So although it’s not bigger than, say, the Bulls or the Cubs, or certain politicians from Illinois, it sounds like Fastcase has its admirers in the state:
“I’m a long-time Westlaw guy,” [Huntley, Ill. solo practitioner T.J.] Thurston acknowledges up front. “For most of my years of private practice, and up until recently, I’ve had a Westlaw contract. But when I learned of the availability of Fastcase through ISBA, I figured I might as well get used to it. So, I went to the Fastcase training at the Solo/Small Firm Conference last September. Ever since then, I’ve used Fastcase almost exclusively.”
The article by Helen Gunnarsson highlights Fastcase’s visualization tools, including the patent-pending Interactive Timeline, which plots the search result on a 4D map, so users can see all of the results, and all of the data, on a single screen.
“Its graphic depiction of the cases that are most on point on the issue you’re looking at is a really useful tool. Sometimes you have to weed through dozens of cases on Westlaw to find the seminal case. The interactive timeline is a tool that makes that a lot faster and quicker.”
The article also includes a sidebar, which describes the rigorous process by which the Illinois State Bar Association evaluated different research options and ultimately selected Fastcase:
“You cannot believe the grilling we gave these people. Everyone on the committee went out and played with these things.” . . . Fastcase, [Committee chair John Phipps of Champaign, Ill.] says, emerged as the clear winner on all points. “Fastcase was very user-friendly, had a good search engine, and its company representatives were very responsive to our questions and concerns.”
We’ve seen a ton of usage from Illinois practitioners – and the usage is growing every month. More than 45 percent of active members of the ISBA have used Fastcase at least once, with more new users every day. We’re excited to work with the ISBA to provide this great, free benefit for its members!
Fastcase Webinar for NACBA, April 8th
Attention all NACBA members, register today to learn all about your member benefit along with some great how-tos, tips, and tricks for using Fastcase.
Click here to register for your webinar at 3pm on April 8th, 2009.
Should you have any questions, contact customer support from 8am- 8pm at 866-773-2782 or by emailing us at support@fastcase.com.
Notable Morning Stories ….
Protesters ‘take control’ of presidential offices
France 24
Twitter Roars Past 14 Million U.S. Users
Social Times
Join Fastcase on Twitter at www.twitter.com/fastcase
How Conflicts Escalate: Overreacting to Perceived Slights
Scientific American
Kadyrov says Chechens should take more than one wife
RIA Novosti
Keyword Advertising Takes a Hit
The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of appeals has ruled that Google must face a trademark infringement lawsuit for selling keywords that trigger ads. The IP world has long anticipated the Google trademark decision because of mixed rulings on keyword cases.
The three-judge panel reversed a lower court’s dismissal of Rescuecom v. Google, in which a computer-repair company Rescuecom claimed that Google users could be confused by the links to competitors’ ads that appear alongside Google search results for the company’s trademarked name.
In lower court, Google argued that use of Rescuecom’s trademark was internal and not a “use in commerce,” which constitutes trademark infringement. The lower court’s dismissal of the suit was celebrated by Google and other search engines, for which keyword advertising is a lucrative business.
The appeals court ruled that “Google’s recommendation and sale of Rescuecom’s mark to its advertising customers are not internal uses,” sending the case back to the trial court.
Eric Goldman, a professor of Santa Clara University School of law, said, “We are looking for definitive answers about the permissibility of keyword advertising — it’s a multi-billion-dollar- a-year industry. This says that Google may not be able to kick out trademark keyword cases with 12(b)6, motions, based on the use of commerce doctrine in the 2nd Circuit.”
The 2nd Circuit decision does not offer all the answers about the legality of keyword advertising. Rescuecom and others will still have to prove their trademarks were infringed in the end.
Every district court outside of the 2nd Circuit found that the purchasing of a competitor’s keyword to trigger ads at least met the threshold question of starting a claim, said Ian Ballon, an Internet lawyer. “This is a significant effort at harmonizing the law.”
Source: Law.com