Center for Ethics in Government The Center for Ethics in Government is a bipartisan nonprofit organization, a division of the National Conference of State Legislatures. Its website has a collection of materials on ethics for state and federal legislators, with an emphasis on the state level. A database of state ethics laws connects to each state's legislative website, in some cases directly to the text and in others simply to the senate/assembly home page. Areas of concern include campaign finance, gifts, lobbying, and financial disclosure. In addition, there are websites of each state's ethics commission, directories of ethics committees, rules committees, and similar bodies. Briefing papers are found on the "Eye on Ethics" section. The news section links to lengthy analyses and commentaries from other websites on non-legislative ethical issues of current interest (the corporate world, homeland security and surveillance). Legislators and staff, or other subscribers, may register for access to special content, including directories of state legislatures, state statutes, full-text publications, and a rules and procedures database. This may be helpful for legislative staff who are working specifically in this area, but much of this material can be found elsewhere on the Internet and in print sources. However, this website as a whole should certainly be examined by new staff, and is excellent for comparative study or drafting of model rules.
IViR: Institute for Information Law
The Institute for Information Law (Instituut voor Informatierecht, or IvIR) at the University of Amsterdam's Faculty of Law is the largest research institute in Europe in the field of information law. The staff conducts original research as well as studies commissioned by the European Commission, the Council of Europe, and other international bodies, offers training and conferences for legal professionals and legislators, and maintains a library, which has an online catalog linked to this website. The chief textual content consists of EC directives, decisions, etc., taken from the Official Journal (going back to 1986), pertaining to radio and television, computer law, telecommunications standards, and freedom of expression. Also posted on this site is similar legislation from the Netherlands, and articles from law journals and European newsletters, mostly in English, with some publications in French, German, or Dutch. A topical sidebar allows the user to search by subject, such as intellectual property, media law, advertising, food law, e-commerce. This is a useful resource for the study of Western European developments in telecommunications law.
National Tribal Justice Resource Center
There are over 500 recognized Native American tribes in the United States, about half of which have formal tribal court systems, ranging from traditional forms of justice-making to Euro-American style judiciaries. The National Tribal Justice Resource Center, based in Boulder, Colorado, is a project of the National American Indian Court Judges Association. Its website (much of which is still under construction) provides a brief history of the tribal court system, and quick links to a selection of tribal constitutions and the codes and resolutions of tribal councils. These are searchable by keyword. Special sections on the website are being created for legal issues important to Native Americans: substance abuse, child support, domestic violence, gaming, land and housing issues, sovereignty. Also available are texts of tribal court opinions, memoranda and orders (it is noted that these are available on VersusLaw free of charge to law students).
WorkersCompensation.com
This is a privately managed site, not produced by a government agency, intended for general information and assistance in navigating the system rather than aid with individual claims. It claims to offer "over 36,000 pages of information free of charge," including frequently asked questions, statutes, rules, and forms. A brief directory of professionals includes listings for defense (i.e. employer) and injured-worker attorneys, physicians, insurance and vocational specialists, but the user will undoubtedly have better luck consulting the yellow pages or the TV, likewise for the job postings section. The user can join chat rooms and online discussion groups, subscribe to a free e-mail newsletter, and even send an online get well card. Employers can fill out a form and receive an insurance quote, or look into "leasing" employees through another agency which will assume any compensation risks. Forms are available, but not in PDF; rather they are in EPS, to be forwarded to a print shop. Some are downloadable. For insurance providers there are tips on recognizing fraudulent claims.
InSITE contributors: A. Carson, J. Pajerek (editor)
©2003 Cornell Law Library
The contents of this publication and any recommendations therein are the opinions of the authors and do not reflect the views of Cornell University. |