If you feel inclined to vote for dioramas made out of sugary, marshmallow animals, please take a break from that other national election, and vote in the American Bar Association’s annual “Peeps in Law” contest. Voting will take less than a minute (no registration required – you just need to be on a desktop or laptop) and the deadline is midnight tonight!
Our extremely creative researcher, Ian Midiere, produced a fantastic diorama about the Apple vs. FBI iPhone dispute. Ian is off to law school at the University of California, Davis, next year and we will miss him! You can see additional images of the diorama, and see what Siri is saying on our blog.
Speaking of the Apple/FBI Dispute: We now know the FBI was able to hack the iPhone used by Syed Rizwan Farook, one of the perpetrators of the San Bernardino terrorist attack in December. Prior to the Justice Department’s request to drop the iPhone court order, a Federal district court magistrate judge had ordered Apple to come up with a software program to “unlock” the encryption on the phone. The order was made pursuant to the All Writs Act. The All Writs Act, codified at T.28 U.S.C. § 1651, was originally enacted as part of the Judiciary Act of 1789.
Fun Fact: The clause about the Supreme Court having the power to issue writs of mandamus, which was declared unconstitutional by Marbury v. Madison (1803), was also enacted by the Judiciary Act of 1789.
When George Washington signed the Judiciary Act on September 24, 1789, he likely had no idea that part of this law would be a hot topic 227 years later!
The FBI’s ability to unlock this iPhone raises other questions about unlocking phones related to crimes…
More on the Coastal Commission: We addressed the Coastal Commission’s potential ouster of its executive director in our last newsletter. That day, the Commission held a seven-hour hearing and ultimately voted 7-5 to fire Charles Lester. Since then, legislators have introduced or amended several bills that would address Coastal Commission member interactions. Assembly member Mark Stone sponsored Assembly Bill 2002 and Senator Hannah-Beth Jackson sponsored Senate Bill 1190, both of which were amended March 28, 2016, and would prohibit ex parte communications between commission members and an “interested person.”
A BIG Thank You to all of the law librarians who said hello at this year’s SCALL and NOCALL Institutes. I enjoyed getting to meet you in person! Many thanks to the librarians who worked extremely hard to put these events together.
In Case You Missed It on our Blog: Last year’s vaccine bill generated record-breaking files and six “easy” steps to create your own federal law.
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