Brennan Center for Justice

URL: http://brennancenter.org
The Brennan Center for Justice is named in honor of Supreme Court Justice William Brennan, seeking to carry on his lifelong support of democracy by work in the areas of poverty law, campaign finance reform, judicial independence, and criminal justice reform. The primary activities of the Center are public policy research, teaching, and litigation. The "Resources" section of the website includes the text of briefs filed by Center attorneys, publications, press releases, and legal news. The "Programs" section also contains amicus curiae briefs and Q. & A. about the cases involved. The user can sign up for e-mail alerts about judicial developments. The "Court Pester E-lert" consists of summaries (from online sources) of editorial attacks on the judiciary (some of the links were out of date, however). There are also copies of editorials by Center writers. An interesting array of liberal advocacy, proving that the idealistic lawyer is not an extinct species.

Constitution Project

URL: http://www.constitutionproject.org
A bipartisan, non-profit organization, the Constitution Project is dedicated to protecting the integrity and ideals of the U.S. Constitution primarily in promoting judicial independence, and reforms in elections and the use of the death penalty. Its Constitutional Amendment Initiative seeks to limit the current practice of shaping of public and social policy via introduction of amendments to the Constitution. An entire monograph on guidelines for proposed amendments is available in both HTML and PDF formats, and there is a list of the two dozen amendments currently under consideration in the House and Senate (more precisely, a list of the current Joint Resolutions, taken from the Congressional website Thomas). The text of the Constitution Project's quarterly newsletter is available at the website; users may also sign up to receive new issues via email. The website is searchable by keyword.

National Senior Citizens Law Center

URL: http://www.nsclc.org
The National Senior Citizens Law Center is a non-profit advocacy group working in support of not only low-income elderly people but also younger disabled persons, with special attention given to the needs of women and minorities. The staff attorneys work primarily in the area of entitlement programs such as Medicare and Social Security, age and disability discrimination, and long-term care. "News" covers court decisions, new legislation, and administrative rulings, on a more detailed level than is usually found on the websites of similar organizations. The Center publishes several health law newsletters and practice manuals, and provides a lengthy list of links to a wide array of Internet resources pertaining to health law and activism. A consumer's page with FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) is included, and there is a good deal of promotion of the Center's legal services activities, but the site as a whole is geared more toward the practitioner than toward the general public.

Sentencing Project

URL: http://www.sentencingproject.org
The Sentencing Project, under the auspices of the National Association of Sentencing Advocates (NASA), studies sentencing patterns and trends in the prison population. The website includes information about NASA, with announcements of training sessions and conferences, but information on the Project's publications makes up the bulk of the content. Included are summaries, and in some cases full-text, of reports on such topics as a comparison of judicial response to drunk driving vs. drug offenses, racial disparities in sentencing of offenders, and consequences of denying convicted felons the right to vote, in addition to practitioner-oriented fact sheets on sentencing alternatives, mitigating factors, U.S. drug policy, and advocacy for youthful and aging prison inmates. Most of the publications are available online or for purchase for a small fee. The search capability for the website was under construction at the time of examination, but overall the site contains a good overview of current issues in sentencing and incarceration.

State Database for E-Commerce and Digital Signatures

URL: http://www.mbc.com/ecommerce/state.asp
The law firm McBride Baker & Coles produces several very nice "Databases for E-Commerce and Digital Signatures." According to the website, the State database "allows [researchers] to review and search any state for a legislative action relating to e-commerce and digital signatures. Provided with each state initiative are legislative summaries that include history and status information, links to the state legislature, as well as full text of bills, resolutions, and amendments." The law firm also maintains a Federal database that monitors not only Congress but many federal agencies as well. Researchers may also search for international and foreign initiatives, by country or organization. Each listing provides a very detailed summary of the proposed or enacted legislation or regulation. The website is keyword-searchable.