What's New on the 'Net: Law and Criminal Justice

Robert D. Duval and Rebecca Barrett-Duval

 The rapid explosion of information available on the Internet includes a wealth of material available on legal studies. The Internet now provides a large number of sites for the courts, constitutional law, criminal justice and law enforcement. Although the growth of these resources has not been as spectacular as in other areas, such as computer science and health, the volume is now substantial, and will increasingly play a central role in the dissemination of judicial information to the public.

This "What's New on the 'Net" surveys several areas of interest that come under the general title of law, legal studies and criminal justice, including:

 

Constitutional Law

Constitutions are the principle building blocks upon which our legal system stand. So a look at Internet resources related to constitutions is a good place to begin our examination of law and legal studies' Web sites. After all, one should begin at the beginning.

The United States Constitution is provided on numerous sites, but the one maintained by the National Archives and Records Administration is a good place to start.

http://www.nara.gov/exhall/charters/constitution/constitution.html

Links in the text to the relevant amendments are provided, along with brief biographies of the delegates to the Constitutional Convention. And, for those who want to see the original script, the National Archives and Records Administration provides the Constitution in image format as well.

 The Constitution of the United States (images)

http://www.nara.gov/exhall/charters/constitution/conmain.html

 

For the practicing constitutional scholar, there is FindLaw's Annotated Constitution, with extensive annotations based upon Supreme Court cases.

 

Annotated U.S. Constitution

http://www.findlaw.com/casecode/constitution/

 

There are many other documents of significance for students of constitutional law. An extensive online library of many important historical documents is available from the Oklahoma University School of Law:

 

A Chronology of U.S. Historical Documents

http://www.law.ou.edu/ushist.html

 

Among the many historical documents worth reading are:

 

The Magna Carta (1215)

http://www.law.ou.edu/hist/magna.html

 

The Mayflower Compact (1620)

http://www.law.ou.edu/hist/mayflow.html

 

The Declaration of Independence (July 4, 1776)

http://www.law.ou.edu/hist/decind.html

 

The Articles of Confederation (Nov. 15, 1777)

http://www.law.ou.edu/hist/artconf.html

 

The Federalist Papers

http://www.law.ou.edu/hist/federalist/

 

All fifty state constitutions can be found on the Web as well.

 

For the full-text of state statutes and legislation on the Internet, see:

http://www.prairienet.org/~scruffy/f.htm

 

And, if comparative legal studies are of interest, most national constitutions are available as well.

Constitution Finder

http://www.urich.edu/~jpjones/confinder/

 

Lastly, the West Virginia Constitution is also available online.


Constitution of West Virginia

http://www.state.wv.us/const/default.htm

 

Law

 Constitutions represent the foundations of each nation's legal system. The actual embodiment of the nation's law usually resides in a much larger set of laws and legislation.

Thus, the United States Code is available at:

 

The Code of Federal Regulations

http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/index.html

 

Also of interest is:


The Federal Register

http://www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/aces/aces140.html

Likewise, the West Virginia State Code is published on the Web.


West Virginia Code

http://www.legis.state.wv.us/Code/toc.html

 

1998 Bill Summary (changes not yet in the online version of the West Virginia Code)

http://www.legis.state.wv.us/general/cla98.html

West Virginia Court Rules

http://www.legis.state.wv.us/Code/toc.html#allrul

 

If the user wishes to see national legislation in process, then a shift over to the legislative branch is called for. For a look at pending federal legislation


Thomas: Legislative Information on the Internet

http://thomas.loc.gov/home/thomas2.html

is the place to begin. West Virginia's legislation is also available.


West Virginia Legislature

http://www.legis.state.wv.us/

 

The Courts

There are a number of court Web sites of potential interest:

Federal

The federal court system, while slow to emerge as a substantial Web presence, does have some significant resources available on the Web. Unfortunately, official Web sites are not generally one of them. The U.S. Supreme Court remains one of the few government entities not to develop a Web site. There appears to be no Web page for the Supreme Court as of this writing.

On the other hand, one of the most exciting and innovative pages on the Web is the Oyez! Multimedia Database on the U.S. Supreme Court developed at Northwestern University. The site allows the browser to search by title, citation, subjects, or date. In addition, a large number of opinions and arguments may be heard via RealAudio multimedia files.


Oyez! Oyez! Oyez!

http://oyez.nwu.edu/

The Cases

http://oyez.nwu.edu/cases/cases.cgi

 

Justice Biographies

http://oyez.nwu.edu/justices/justices.cgi

 

If the browser is so inclined, one can take a Virtual Tour of the Supreme Court Building

http://oyez.nwu.edu/tour/index.html

 

Web sites like Oyez! demonstrate the Web=s power to deliver high quality multimedia information of significant practical relevance. This site represents what the future will bring us in many areas of endeavor, and warrants browsing by any reader.

There are other Supreme Court sites as well, including:


Legal Information Institute Supreme Court Opinions (Cornell University)

http://supct.law.cornell.edu/supct/

 

Although they may lack official Web pages, the opinions of the Federal Circuit Courts of Appeals are available on line, usually through law libraries.


First Circuit

http://www.ljextra.com/public/daily/XD1ca.html


Second Circuit

http://www.law.pace.edu/lawlib/legal/us-legal/judiciary/second-circuit.html

 

Third Circuit

http://www.law.vill.edu/Fed-Ct/ca03.html

 

Fourth Circuit

http://www.law.emory.edu/4circuit/index.html

 

Fifth Circuit

http://www.law.utexas.edu/us5th/us5th.html

 

Sixth Circuit

http://www.law.emory.edu/6circuit/index.html

 

Seventh Circuit

http://www.kentlaw.edu/7circuit/

 

Eighth Circuit

http://ls.wustl.edu/8th.cir/

 

Ninth Circuit

http://www.law.vill.edu/Fed-Ct/ca09.html

 

Tenth Circuit

http://www.law.emory.edu/10circuit/index.html

 

Eleventh Circuit

http://www.law.emory.edu/11circuit/index.html

 

D.C. Circuit

http://www.ll.georgetown.edu/Fed-Ct/cadc.html

 

There are several other federal court-related pages to consider as well:

 

The Federal Judiciary Home Page

http://www.uscourts.gov/

 

Among its pages of note are:

 

Links to the Circuit Courts

http://www.uscourts.gov/allinks.html

 

The Third Branch: The Newsletter of the Federal Courts

http://www.uscourts.gov/ttb/index.html

 

Frequently Asked Question about the Federal Judiciary

http://www.uscourts.gov/faq.html

 

Also of use is a brief description of the federal court system, including some simple diagrams of the typical process for civil and criminal trials.


Understanding the Federal Courts

http://www.uscourts.gov/understanding_courts/899_toc.htm

Also, of considerable importance is the


The Federal Judiciary Channel

http://www.uscourts.gov/channels/channel-info.htm

The Federal Judiciary Channel uses push technology to bring news about the federal judiciary right to the desktop. Push technology was described in an earlier "What's New on the 'Net" as a means of automatically receiving information by channels. Thus, the Federal Judiciary Channel provides a way of receiving select information as it becomes available, or is updated. The push mechanism allow users, once they have registered with the service, to receive the most current news on the courts at their desktops. The push software installed by the user performs a periodic check, retrieves the updated information requested by the user, and automatically notifies and sends the new information to the user. News releases, updated vacancy listings, employment opportunities, newly added content, and other information about the federal judiciary are all provided.

The Federal Judiciary Channel will be providing the information in three of the most popular push formats. There will be a Pointcast Connection, a Netcaster Channel, and a Microsoft Active Channel. Only one of the software packages is required to receive data through the Federal Judiciary Channel, and the information will be the same regardless of the software chosen. Push technology offers exciting possibilities for harvesting information by user defined subscription.


Other Federal Courts, Agencies and Organizations

The Federal Judicial Center

http://www.fjc.gov/

The United States Court of International Trade

http://www.uscit.gov/

Other sites of note include:


The Federal Court Clerks Association

http://www.id.uscourts.gov/fcca.htm

 

The Federal Rules of Evidence

http://www.law.cornell.edu/rules/fre/overview.html

 

Information on state court systems is somewhat sketchy thus far. StateSearch does maintain a few lists of state offices that may be of some use.


StateSearch: Judicial

http://www.nasire.org/ss/STjudicial.html

 

West Virginia Courts

The only court in West Virginia currently available online is the state Supreme Court of Appeals.

 

West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals

http://www.state.wv.us/wvsca/

 

It offers links to several other legal agencies in the state, including the

 

Commission on the Future of the West Virginia Judicial System

http://www.state.wv.us/wvsca/Future/cover.htm

 

State Law Library

http://www.wvlc.wvnet.edu/lawlib/menu.html

 

West Virginia Division of Public Safety

http://www.state.wv.us/url/9000.htm

 

West Virginia State Fire Marshall

http://www.xwv.net/businesses/wvfiremarshal/index.htm

 

West Virginia State Police

http://www.wvstatepolice.com/

as well as to the Supreme Court's opinions since the fall of 1991


Supreme Court of Appeals Opinions

http://www.state.wv.us/wvsca/opinions.htm

 

Other Judicial Sites

The American Bar Association

http://www.abanet.org/

 

The American Judicature Society

http://www.ajs.org/

 

Judicature

http://www.ajs.org/judicature1.html

Other West Virginia Judicial Sites

The West Virginia State Bar Association

http://www.wvbar.org

The West Virginia Board of Law Examiners

http://www.state.wv.us/wvsca/Bd%20of%20Law/lawex.htm

 

Other State Lists

 Findlaw's Directory of State Bar Association

http://www.findlaw.com/06associations/state.html

Other Legal Studies

Several professional organizations have Web sites as well.


The American Civil Liberties Union

http://www.aclu.org/

American Judges Association

http://www.theaja.org/

National Association of Legal Assistants

http://www.nala.org/

National Association of Legal Secretaries

http://www.nals.org/

National Board of Trial Advocacy

http://www.nbtanet.org/

National Court Reporters Association

http://www.verbatimreporters.com/

Needless to say, we cannot cover all legal studies sites, or even many of them. Indeed, we can not even cover all of the topics. However, there are several noteworthy guides to legal studies sites. Perhaps the largest guide to legal studies on the Web is FindLaw, as already mentioned. This Yahoo-styled site has extensive links, including separate indices for many topics, among them: administrative law, antitrust and trade regulation, banking law, bankruptcy law, civil rights, commercial law, constitutional law, contracts, corporation and enterprise law, criminal law, cyberspace law, dispute resolution and arbitration, entertainment and sports law, environmental law, ethics and professional responsibility, family law, health law, injury and tort law, intellectual property, international law, tax law, and even year 2000 law.

Findlaw

http://www.findlaw.com/

FindLaw: Legal Subjects

http://www.findlaw.com/01topics/index.html

Other specialized guides that the reader might be interested in perusing include:


The Law and Courts Section of the American Political Science Association

http://www.artsci.wustl.edu/~polisci/lawcourt.html

 

The WWW Virtual Library - Law

http://www.law.indiana.edu/law/v-lib/lawindex.html

Legal News Sources

The legal news and information service has become a major business on the Web. Lexis and WestLaw are household names in the legal studies profession, and, thus, their presence on the Web is no surprise. It will be interesting to see how these service firms evolve as the Web provides increasing access to legal information.


Lexis-Nexis

http://www.lexis-nexis.com/

Net Law News

http://www.mindspring.com/~moceyuna/

WESTLAW7 Information

http://www.westgroup.com/products/westlaw/

Finally, because we provided a source for social work jokes in an earlier AWhat=s New on the =Net,@ we would be remise if we didn=t provide a link to some lawyer jokes as well.

Lawyer Jokes & Courtroom Humor (from the Mining Company)

http://law.miningco.com/msub9.htm

 

Law Enforcement and Police Sites

Along with legal studies, the Web is beginning to provide resources for law enforcement agencies as well. This is a recent area of growth, and we anticipate that many more pages will appear in the coming months.


U.S. Federal Agencies:

U.S. Department of Justice

http://www.usdoj.gov/

U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno

http://www.usdoj.gov/ag/oag.html

 

Bureau of Justice Statistics

http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/

 

Drug Enforcement Administration

http://www.usdoj.gov/dea/

 

Federal Bureau of Investigation

http://www.fbi.gov/

Immigration and Naturalization Service

http://www.ins.usdoj.gov/

INTERPOL - U.S. Contact Office

http://www.usdoj.gov/usncb/

National Institute of Justice

http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/nij/

Office for Victims of Crime

http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/ovc/

U.S. Department of Treasury

http://www.ustreas.gov/

Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms

http://www.atf.treas.gov/

U.S. Coast Guard

http://www.uscg.mil/


U.S. Customs Service

http://www.customs.ustreas.gov/

U.S. Secret Service

http://www.treas.gov/usss/

 

U.S. Department of Interior

http://www.doi.gov/

 

U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service

http://www.fws.gov/

United States Park Police

http://www.doi.gov/u.s.park.police/

U.S. Postal Inspection Service

http://www.usps.gov/websites/depart/inspect/

United States Marshals Service

http://www.usdoj.gov/marshals/

Other related law enforcement sites:


CopNet

http://www.cop.net/

National Sheriffs' Association

http://www.sheriffs.org/

Police Guide

http://www.policeguide.com/

The Police Officer's Internet Directory

http://www.officer.com/

 

West Virginia Law Enforcement Agencies

Unlike the courts, there are a number of state and local law enforcement agencies that have appeared on the Web in West Virginia.


West Virginia Attorney General

http://www.state.wv.us/wvag/

Consumer Protection and Antitrust Divisions

http://www.state.wv.us/wvag/cons/

 

West Virginia State Police

http://www.wvstatepolice.com/

Bridgeport Police Department

http://www.bridgeportwv.com/police/index.htm

Charleston Police Department

http://www.charlestonwvpolice.org/

Clarksburg Police Department

http://www.clarksburg.com/police.htm

Marshall University Police Department

http://www.marshall.edu/mupd/


Nutter Fort Chief of Police

http://www.iolinc.net/rwg201/default.htm

 

West Virginia Police K-9 Association

http://www.tc.inc2000.com/wvk9.htm

West Virginia Troopers Association

http://www.wvtroopers.org/

Criminal Justice

A substantial archive of data on crime and criminal justice is available from the InterUniversity Consortium on Political and Social Research at the University of Michigan.


National Archive of Criminal Justice Data

http://www.icpsr.umich.edu/NACJD/home.html

NACJD Archive Search

http://www.icpsr.umich.edu/NACJD/archive.html


StateSearch: Criminal Justice

http://www.nasire.org/ss/STcriminal.html

 

Two West Virginia sites of interest in this area are

 

The West Virginia Highway Safety and Criminal Justice Division

http://www.wv-cj-hs.com/

The Crime Victims Compensation Fund

http://www.legis.state.wv.us/coc/victims/main.html

 

Community-Oriented Policing

As Willard Oliver pointed out in his article, "Community-Oriented Policing for West Virginia," in the Fall 1998 issue of the West Virginia Public Affairs Reporter, there are a number of sites on the Web concerning community-oriented policing, including:

Community Policing Consortium

http://www.communitypolicing.org/

Community Policing Pages

http://www.concentric.net/~dwoods/

National Center for Community Policing

http://www.ssc.msu.edu/~cj/cp/cptoc.html

Office of Community Oriented Policing Services

http://www.usdoj.gov/cops/

Prisons

No discussion of criminal justice would be complete without some attention to prisons and sentencing. There are a few sites of relevance, but Web sites for prisons themselves are somewhat scare at this time.


Federal Bureau of Prisons

http://www.bop.gov/

National Institute of Corrections

http://www.nicic.org/inst/

United States Parole Commission

http://www.usdoj.gov/uspc/parole.htm

 

The United States Sentencing Commission

http://www.ussc.gov/

The American Correctional Association

http://www.corrections.com/aca/index.html

The American Jail Association

http://www.corrections.com/aja/index.html

The American Probation and Parole Association

http://www.appa-net.org/

There are also some organizations with resources of interest.


The Corrections Connection

http://www.corrections.com/

Although there are few sites on prisons, there are also some that look at corrections from a different point of view.


Human Rights Watch Prison Project

http://www.hrw.org/hrw/advocacy/prisons/index.htm

The Other Side of the Wall

http://www.wco.com/~aerick/

Lastly, the former


West Virginia Penitentiary

http://www.wvpentours.com/

 

which is now on the National Historic Register, has a Web site with information about tours of this historic facility.

"What's New on the 'Net" will look at environmental sites on the Web in our next article. If you have or know of sites that you would like to have listed, please let us know.

___________

Dr. Robert D. Duval is an Associate Professor of Political Science at West Virginia University. Rebecca Barrett-Duval is a social research consultant based in Morgantown.

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