Lawyers continue to adopt technologies common in other industries, underscoring the similar business needs lawyers have with other professions. More than 40 percent of respondents use personal digital assistants, up 10 percent from the 2001 survey. Nearly 20 percent use a laptop as their primary computer, and more than two-thirds have access to a laptop on a temporary basis.

Wireless networking is slowly gaining ground, particularly among solo lawyers, of whom 6 percent report using WiFi. Broadband access is increasingly popular, with 29 percent of respondents indicating they used DSL and 25 percent using a T1 line. Only 3 percent use ISDN for Internet access, and 2 percent use a wireless connection.

Fewer than 2 percent of lawyers use computers with a Macintosh operating system. Linux and Unix hold a similar slice of law firm network operating systems. Microsoft accounts for the majority of networks, with just over 14 percent of law firms still using Novell. There appear to be more law firms with local area networks this year, with 79 percent of firms indicating they have a LAN, up from 71 percent in 2001.

And now Attorney General John Ashcroft says the FBI has no interest in Americans’ reading records. While this may be true, librarians have a history with law enforcement dating back to the McCarthy era that gives us pause. For decades, and as late as the 1980s, the FBI’s Library Awareness Program sought information on the reading habits of people from “hostile foreign countries,” as well as U.S. citizens who held unpopular political views.

We are deeply concerned that the Attorney General should be so openly contemptuous of those who seek to defend our Constitution. Rather than ask the nations’ librarians and Americans nationwide to “just trust him,” Ashcroft could allay concerns by releasing aggregate information about the number of libraries visited using the expanded powers created by the USA PATRIOT Act.

Just for the record, your account of the motion voted on by Parliament regarding same-sex marriage is incorrect. Your text is of the motion as originally drafted; by the time it was voted upon, it had been amended to remove the last clause - the commitment to take 'all necessary steps'. This was to overcome concern that it would require the government to invoke the 'notwithstanding clause' of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms in order to overcome several recent court decisions confirming that the opposite-sex definition was unconstitutional.

I think it is great when law schools train lawyers how to mediate and solve problems between people - by negotiation as well as in court. When I went to law school, law schools didn't teach those things. Today, I think we are better off trying to solve some problems through mediation. Law schools today are trying to teach students how to solve problems through negotiation.

That, in the opinion of this House, it is necessary, in light of public debate around recent court decisions, to reaffirm that marriage is and should remain the union of one man and one woman to the exclusion of all others, and that Parliament take all necessary steps within the jurisdiction of the Parliament of Canada to preserve this definition of marriage in Canada.

The United States today vetoed a United Nations Security Council resolution specifically demanding that Israel not deport or threaten the safety of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat. Eleven members voted in favour and three abstained on the resolution, which was sponsored by Council members Pakistan and Syria, along with South Africa and the Sudan. The defeated text also demanded "the complete cessation of all acts of violence, including all acts of terrorism, provocation, incitement and destruction" and expressed full support for the Road Map peace plan.

A slowing international economy and inadequacies in governance have lessened the ability of Governments to uphold minimum standards of economic and social rights, as well as of civil and political rights. The Governments of some developed countries show signs of resentment as international human rights conventions are applied to them. At the same time, there is a corresponding disquiet on the part of developing countries in the Commission on Human Rights on the issue of how to deal with allegations of gross violations of human rights levelled at some of them.

“As lawyers, we have a responsibility to work to ensure the fair administration of justice in this country,” Archer says. “As we work through this very important balancing act between civil liberties and national security concerns, we need to ensure that Congress and the Administration work closely on these issues, and that they inform and engage the American people about how we proceed.”

“I appreciate that we need to be as aggressive as possible in pursuing the war on terror,” Archer says. “We do need expanded law enforcement power. But so must we ensure that our actions and policies reflect who we are and what we stand for. We need to pursue the war on terror, but to do so in the American way.”

Unfortunately, at this moment, Washington is involved in a debate where hysteria threatens to obscure the most important issues.

If you were to listen to some in Washington, you might believe the hysteria behind this claim: "Your local library has been surrounded by the FBI." Agents are working round-the-clock. Like the X-Files, they are dressed in raincoats, dark suits, and sporting sunglasses. They stop patrons and librarians and interrogate everyone like Joe Friday. In a dull monotone they ask every person exiting the library, "Why were you at the library? What were you reading? Did you see anything suspicious?"

According to these breathless reports and baseless hysteria, some have convinced the American Library Association that under the bipartisan Patriot Act, the FBI is not fighting terrorism. Instead, agents are checking how far you have gotten on the latest Tom Clancy novel.

Now you may have thought with all this hysteria and hyperbole, something had to be wrong. Do we at the Justice Department really care what you are reading? No.

The law enforcement community has no interest in your reading habits. Tracking reading habits would betray our high regard for the First Amendment. And even if someone in the government wanted to do so, it would represent an impossible workload and a waste of law enforcement resources.

The fact is that our laws are very particular and very demanding. There are strict legal requirements. A federal judge must first determine that there is an existing investigation of an international terrorist or spy, or a foreign intelligence investigation into a non-U.S. person, and that the business records being sought are relevant to that investigation. Without meeting these legal requirements, obtaining business records, including library records, is not even an option.

With only 11,000 FBI agents in the entire country, it is simply ridiculous to think we could or would track what citizens are reading. I am not in a position to know, but according to the American Library Association there are more than 117,400 libraries in the United States. The American Library Association tells me that Americans visit our nation's libraries more than one billion times a year-1,146,284,000, to be exact. While there, they check out nearly two billion books a year-1,713,967,000, to be precise.

The hysteria is ridiculous. Our job is not.

She said the principle of judicial independence is deeply embedded in virtually all the Arab constitutions. To drive home her point, she quoted the specific articles of the Bahraini, Egyptian and Jordanian constitutions to that effect.

The Cairo Declaration on Judicial Independence, formulated at the Second Arab Justice Conference in February 2003, "agree[d] that an independent judiciary is the main pillar supporting civil liberties, human rights, comprehensive development processes, reforms in trade and investment regimes, regional and international economic cooperation, and the building of democratic institutions," Justice O'Connor said, quoting the declaration.

"As we embark today on the work of the Judicial Forum, I hope that we shall keep in mind the importance of independence to the effective functioning of the judicial branch," the justice said.

If the California recall case should come to the Supreme Court, it would land first on the desk of Justice Sandra Day O'Connor.
O'Connor has jurisdiction over appeals from the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which includes California. She could act on an emergency appeal alone, or refer it to her eight colleagues.

On October 7, 2003, California voters will be asked to cast a ballot on some of the most important issues facing the State, including an unprecedented vote on the recall of a governor. However, forty-four percent of the electorate will be forced to use a voting system so flawed that the Secretary of State has officially deemed it “unacceptable” and banned its use in all future elections. The inherent defects in the system are such that approximately 40,000 voters who travel to the polls and cast their ballot will not have their vote counted at all. Compounding the problem is the fact that approximately a quarter of the state’s polling places will not be operational because election officials have insufficient time to get them ready for the special election, and that the sheer number of gubernatorial candidates will make the antiquated voting system far more difficult to use. Plaintiffs allege that the use of the obsolete voting systems in some counties rather than others will deny voters equal protection of the laws in violation of the United States Constitution. They seek to postpone the vote until the next regularly scheduled statewide election six months from now, when the Secretary of State has assured that all counties will be using acceptable voting equipment, and all the polls will be open. We agree...

Overall, coverage of the Supreme Court is declining. Studies culled from journalism journals show 30 percent fewer newsmagazine stories in the 1980s than in the 1970s; half as many broadcast stories in 1994 as in 1989; and a drop from thirteen to nine full-time Court reporters from 2001 to 2002. The pressroom is getting noticeably quieter.

Conservative commentators in Washington say the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee should stop handing the keys to constitutional protections to a Justice Department that wants as much power as possible to stop suspected terrorists yet won't divulge specifics on how that broad authority is being used to monitor law-abiding citizens.

Anchors
Anchors for JURIST's Paper Chase take rotating online shifts through the week, researching and reporting breaking legal news and other interesting law-related stories as they happen.

• Adam Henry is a 2L at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law. He is also JURIST's Law School News Editor. Adam holds an AB in Politics from Princeton University.
• Bernard Hibbitts is the founder and Director of JURIST, and a law professor at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law.
• Jeannie Shawl is a 2L at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law. She is also JURIST's International Law Editor. Jeannie holds a BA in Government from the College of William & Mary.
• Jen Nolan is a 2L at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law. She is also JURIST's Civil Rights Editor. Jen holds a BA in Sociology and Political Science from the University of Illinois.
• Justine Stefanelli is a 2L at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law. She is also JURIST's Department of Justice News Editor. Justine holds a BS in Psychology from Duquesne University.
• Matthew Jacobs is a 2L at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law. He is also JURIST's Cyberspace Law Editor. Matt holds a BS in Physics from Carnegie Mellon University.
• Ryan DeMotte is a 2L at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law. Ryan holds a BA in Economics from Grove City College.
• Timothy Lyon is a 2L at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law. He is also JURIST's Criminal Law and Punishment Editor. Tim holds a BA in History from the University of Pittsburgh.

• Adam Shapiro is JURIST's War Crimes Editor and a 3L at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law. He holds a BA in English Writing from the University of Pittsburgh.
• Amit Patel is JURIST's Corporations & Securities Law Editor and a 2L at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law. He holds a BS in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Michigan.
• Anjali Soi is JURIST's Human Rights Editor and a 1L at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law. She holds a BS in Electrical Engineering from Pennsylvania State University.
• Brandon Smith is JURIST's State Courts Editor and a 1L at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law. He holds an MA in English Literature from the University of Toledo.
• Chirag Shah is JURIST's Biotechnology Law Editor and a 1L at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law. He holds an MS degree in Biotechnology from Johns Hopkins University, an MA in Political Science, and a Certificate in International Public Health from Boston University.
• Chris Buell is JURIST's Media and Information Law Editor and a 1L at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law. He holds a BA in Journalism from Pennsylvania State University.
• Dana Goldfarb is JURIST's Judicial News Editor and a 3L at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law. She holds a BA in Politics from Ithaca College.
• Danielle Ducre is JURIST's Legal Profession Editor and a 1L at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law. She holds a BA in Economics from Spelman College.
• Hany Rizkalla is JURIST's Saturday News Editor and a 1L at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law. He is completing a Ph.D. in Biology at Pennsylvania State University.
• Jennifer Pierson is JURIST's Education Law Editor and a 1L at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law. She holds a BA in Journalism from the University of Missouri-Columbia.
• Jeremey Lundergan is JURIST's Labor & Employment Law Editor and a 2L at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law. He holds a BA in History from the University of Missouri-Columbia.
• Matt Shames is JURIST's Federal Courts Editor and a 2L at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law. She holds a BA in Political Science from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.
• Jeremiah Lee is JURIST's Webcites Editor and a 1L at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law. He holds a BS in Computer Science from Carnegie-Mellon University.
• Joseph Devine is JURIST's Environmental Law Editor and a 2L at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law. He holds a BA in Environmental Public Policy and Poltical Science from the University of Pittsburgh.
• Kirk Conway is JURIST's Election Law Editor and a 2L at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law. He holds a BA in History and Government from the College of William and Mary.
• Lang Johnston is JURIST's Senior Editor, JURIST's Immigration Law Editor and a 3L at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law. He holds a BS in Information Management & Technology from Syracuse University.
• Maryam Shad is JURIST's US Law & Business Press Editor and a 2L at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law. She holds a BA in General Studies from Wichita State University.
• Matt Shames is JURIST's Federal Courts Editor and a 2L at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law. She holds a BA in Political Science from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.
• Melanie Galardi is JURIST's Family Law Editor and a 3L at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law. She holds a BA in Business Administration from West Virginia University.
• Melissa Schneider is JURIST's Calendar Editor and a 3L at the University of Pitsburgh School of Law. She holds a BA in English from the College of William and Mary.
• Nicole Wingard is JURIST's Passages Editor and a 3L at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law. She holds a BA in Psychology from the University of Pittsburgh.
• Scott Levine is JURIST's PM Legal News Editor and a 3L at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law. He holds a BA in Legal Studies from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.
• Thomas Hockman is JURIST's Tax Law Editor and a 2L at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law. He holds a BS in Business Administration from Appalachian State University.
• Winston Collier is JURIST's Congressional News Editor and a 1L at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law. He holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of Michigan.
• Zak Shusterman is JURIST's Foreign Press Editor and a 2L at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law. He holds a BS in Developmental Biology from Cornell University.