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Social Security Rights And Law section

Health Scope
http://edisabilitybenefits.com/
Social Security Online
http://www.ssa.gov/
Information on Social Security benefits and how to apply for them, plus
facts on fraud, Medicare, Social Security offices, relevant forms and more.
Listed in Snap Directory Society & Politics: Government: United States:
Executive Branch: Independent Agencies: National Services
Find more sites about: social security office, social security forms
Social Security Online
http://www.ssa.gov
This U.S. Social Security site provides clarificatoin on certain issues.
The page offers tips on estimating benefits, applying for services and
reporting fraud, also relating the agency's history and future.
Listed in Snap Directory
Society & Politics: Government: United States: Agencies
Find more sites about: social security benefits, social security disability
Ancestry Social Security Death Index
http://www.ancestry.com/ancestry/search/ssdi/ssdi_index.asp
Find information on deceased individuals, including birth date, death
date and former Social Security number. Search the database by name or
last known address.
Listed in Snap Directory Lifestyle: Genealogy: Reference & Resources
Find more sites about: social security death index, death index, ssdi

Social Security Online
http://www.ssa.gov/
Peruse FAQs about the agency or investigate your personal earnings
and benefit estimates online.
Listed in Snap Directory Lifestyle: Communities: Seniors: Organizations
Find more sites about: social security benefits, social security disability

Genealogy.com
http://www.genealogy.com/
This Genealogy site is equipped with tools for your research, including
a social security index search and people-searching sites. Try out the
beginners' guides or peruse the organizational tips.
Listed in Snap Directory Lifestyle: Genealogy
Find more sites about: geneology, family tree, people search

Fast-Track
http://www.usatrace.com
Details on this company providing a variety of investigative services
including social security number verification, research of civil and
criminal records and more.
Listed in Snap Directory Local: United States: California: C: Citrus Heights:
Businesses
Find more sites about: social security numbers, criminal records, investigation

Social Security History Page
http://www.ssa.gov/history/histindx.html
The official Social Security Administration home page includes numerous articles and historical overviews of one of the New Deal's most significant pieces of legislation, the Social Security Act of 1935.
Listed in Snap Directory Arts & Humanities: History: North American: United
States: Prominent People: Presidents: Roosevelt, Franklin D.
Find more sites about: social security administration, social security act, social
security history

Payback From Social Security
http://odin.cc.pdx.edu/~psu01435/ss95.html
Find answers to frequently asked questions about Social
Security and other public benefits for senior citizens.
Listed in Snap Directory Finance: Retirement Planning
Find more sites about: social security benefits, social security income, social
security questions

Disability Advocacy Clinic
http://www2.disabilityac.com/dac/
This site has articles that relate to disability claims under the Social
Security Act, specifically explaining the day-to-day operation and the management of a Social Security disability practice.
Listed in Snap Directory Local: United States: New Mexico: Albuquerque:
Businesses: Shopping & Services: Legal Services
Find more sites about: social security disability, disability, social security act

U.S. Social Security Law: Cornell University
http://www.law.cornell.edu/topics/social_security.html
Offering a searchable database and other resources for divinging the rules and
regulations of U.S. social security law, this site covers all aspects of the law.
Listed in Snap Directory Society & Politics: Law: Legal Subjects: Civil Rights:
Elder Law
Find more sites about: social security rules regulations, social security
regulations, social security law

AARP Webplace
http://www.aarp.org/
The American Association of Retired Persons is the nation's leading organization
for people 50 and older. Provides articles and information on Medicare, Social
Security, financial planning and taxes.
Listed in Snap Directory Finance: Retirement Planning
Find more sites about: aarp, american association retired persons, medicare

Social Security Changes for 1999
http://www.ljextra.com/cgi-bin/f_cat?prod/ljextra/data/texts/120798c3.htm
This article tries to iron out some of the complexities of recent changes and
reforms in the Social Security tax. It is of special interest to the self-employed,
as special attention is paid to the issue of the self-employment tax.
Listed in Snap Directory Business: Law: Tax Law: New 1998 & 1999 Tax Laws
Find more sites about: social security tax, social security reform, new social
security laws

Disable Hotline
http://www.delphi.com/disable/
Discusses managed health care and other issues of interest to the disabled;
Social Security changes and sports. Video info and voice hotline.
Listed in Snap Directory Lifestyle: Communities: People With Disabilities
Find more sites about: social security changes

Social Security Educational Center, The
http://www.cas.muohio.edu/~security
The Social Security Educational Center provides a quick reference
http://www.cas.muohio.edu/~security site, complete
with links to SS sites, about social security.
Listed in Snap Directory Society & Politics: Law: Legal Subjects: Civil Rights:
Elder Law
Find more sites about: social security law, social security info, ss

Informus Corporation
http://www.informus.com/
Informus Corporation provides employment-screening services nationwide.
Here you can find out about the services they offer. They also provide an
online demonstration of what they can learn solely from a Social Security
number.
Listed in Snap Directory Business: Management: Human Resources: Hiring
Practices: Pre-Employment Screening
Find more sites about: social security numbers, background checks, find social
security number

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PAGE 2 -KEY WORD SOCIAL SECURITY

Disable Hotline http://www.delphi.com/disable/
Discusses managed health care and other issues of interest to the disabled; Social
Security changes and sports. Video info and voice hotline.
Listed in Snap Directory Lifestyle: Communities: People With Disabilities
Find more sites about: social security changes

LifeNet Federal Tax Calculators http://www.lifenet.com/taxes.html
Not only can you calculate this year's social security tax, determine your tax penalty
and current income tax status, you can also catch up on the latest news from the tax
front and link to other online calculators.
Listed in Snap Directory Finance: Taxes: Software: Tax Calculators & Estimators
Find more sites about: social security tax, social security income, taxes

Advisory Council on Social Security
http://www.ssa.gov/policy/adcouncil_intro.html
Visitors keep up to date with the operations of the U.S. Government's Social
Security Administration with this council's reports on retirement benefits and
disbursements. With frequently asked questions, feedback forums, searchable
database and site map.
Listed in Snap Directory Careers: Salary & Benefits
Find more sites about: social security administration, social security questions,
social security government

Fight the Fingerprint http://www.networkusa.org/fingerprint.shtml
Laws and cases, news and reports from an activist group that opposes the use of
fingerprints, other biometric identification methods and Social Security numbers
for tracking innocent citizens.
Listed in Snap Directory Society & Politics: Social Issues: Civil Rights: Privacy
Find more sites about: dna fingerprinting, social security numbers, fingerprints

Americans for Tax Reform http://www.atr.org/
A national clearinghouse that advocates repealing the income tax. Includes
information on social security reform and the flat tax.
Listed in Snap Directory Finance: Taxes: Organizations
Find more sites about: flat tax, taxes, tax reform

Social Security Retirement Planner
http://www.mhbb.com/ssplan/index.htm
A personalized table shows how to get the most from your social security
retirement benefits. Other services and information will help to maximize your
benefits.
Listed in Snap Directory Finance: Retirement Planning
Find more sites about: social security benefits, social security administration

Social Security Administration: Philadelphia Region
http://www.ssa.gov/phila
Visit this site for Social Security Administration information for the Philadelphia
area.
Listed in Snap Directory Society & Politics: Government: United States
Find more sites about: social security administration

Social Security and Retiremeny Info
http://www.socialsecurity.com/opening.html
Find out how to get answers to all of your questions about retirement planning,
social security laws and life insurance.
Listed in Snap Directory Finance: Retirement Planning
Find more sites about: social security questions, social security benefits, social
security info

Bismarck, Otto von: History Page of the Social Security
Administration http://www.ssa.gov/history/ottob.html
This page takes an interesting look at Bismarck's contribution to the development
of America's Social Security program. A different perspective.
Listed in Snap Directory Local: World Regions: Europe: Germany: Arts &
Humanities: History: Prominent People: Military & Political Figures: Bismarck,
Otto von
Find more sites about: otto von bismarck, social security administration

U.S. Data Search http://www.seekmaster.com/wanted1.htm
Among other services, U.S. Data Search conducts phone number searches,
social security number traces and pre-employment screening. The company will
also search public records and criminal records for individuals or companies.
Listed in Snap Directory Finance: Taxes: Services
Find more sites about: social security numbers, public criminal records

X-Pac http://www.x-pac.org/
This political action committee focuses on Social Security reform, ensuring that
today's youth will reap Social Security benefits in the future. X-Pac's site gives
details on its stance and provides voter registration info.
Listed in Snap Directory Teens: News & Issues: Get Involved: Politics
Find more sites about: voter registration, x pac

Crowe & Shanahan http://www.crowe-shanahan.com/
Details on services offered by Crowe & Shanahan, concentrating in Social
Security and Social Security insurance disability claims and appeals. Site
includes details on services and law-related articles and links.
Listed in Snap Directory Local: United States: Missouri: St. Louis: Businesses:
Shopping & Services: Legal Services
Find more sites about: social security disability insurance, social security
disability

U.S. Social Security Administration: Chicago Region
http://www.ssa.gov/chicago/chicago.htm
The scoop on Social Security benefits in the Chicago region, which covers
Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio and Wisconsin. Includes info on wage
reporting and contacting the officers.
Listed in Snap Directory Local: United States: Illinois: C: Chicago: Government:
City Government
Find more sites about: social security administration, social security benefits

Israel -- Country Study http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/iltoc.html
If you need any sort of background or historical information, social, government,
economic or info on the people of Israel, this online book will lead you to a host of
interesting and updated facts.
Listed in Snap Directory Local: World Regions: Middle East: Israel: Arts &
Humanities: History
Find more sites about: israel history, israeli history, ancient israel

Sixth Conference on Computers, Freedom and Privacy
http://web.mit.edu/cfp96/
This archive offers highlights and reports from the MIT-sponsored event.
Listed in Snap Directory Computing: Internet: Issues Online: Security
Find more sites about: computer privacy

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Summary of 1998 United States Supreme Court Criminal Cases

Criminal Law and
Procedure Decisions
of the October 1998
Supreme Court Term

INTRODUCTION

The October 1998 Supreme Court Term saw an odd
mix of results in criminal law and procedure rulings. By
and large the Court showed a strong preference for
finality in criminal cases, particularly death penalty cases, rejecting several habeas based
claims of capital defendants. With two notable exceptions, the Court's Fourth Amendment
rulings favored the Government and continued to produce mostly bright-line results in
search and seizure cases. Officers were prevented from searching incident to citation and
the State was prohibited from bringing the media circus along for Fourth Amendment raids.
The Court made the significant discovery that bagging cocaine in the apartment of a recent
business acquaintance does not give you a Fourth Amendment expectation of privacy in her
apartment. And one more thing. If you are going with your client to the grand jury, leave
those incriminating letters at home and bring along an associate because you can and will be
searched. They may even seize your car.

The Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination was extended to sentencing
hearings as was the defendant's right not to have the trier of fact draw adverse inferences
from its invocation and the Sixth Amendment Confrontation Clause was easily applied to
prevent the admission into evidence of an accomplice's out of court confession which also
happened to inculpate the defendant. Federal substantive criminal statutes were generally
construed against the Government, except for the intent requirements of the carjacking
statute and the venue prerequisites of 924(c)(1). White collar statutes continued to enjoy a
kind of strict scrutiny. A materiality requirement was imported into the mail, wire and bank
fraud statutes and the illegal gratuity statute was interpreted as requiring a link between a
proffered gift and the specific official act for or on account of which the gift was proffered.

The materiality requirement under Brady v. Maryland was rather vigorously insisted upon
despite a clear case of suppressed impeachment evidence, and allegedly shaky jury
sentencing instructions in capital cases were given short shrift. This Court was in no rush to
assume that any error actually caused harm, and if one theme seemed to permeate the
criminal law opinions of this Term it was pragmatism.

Despite the best efforts of Justices Scalia and Thomas to bring the Court back to a
textual/historical approach to constitutionally based criminal law and procedure issues, the
Court majorities tended to be shifting coalitions of balancers and standpatters who were
largely not interested in critically examining, much less challenging any of the Court's own
precedent. Herewith are summaries of the Court's criminal law and procedure holdings
from the October 1998 Term. [The author wishes to acknowledge the assistance of David
White and Jennifer Noland in preparing these summaries.]

STRICKLER V. GREEN
Brady Violation-Cause and Prejudice for Failure to Release

NATHANIEL JONES W. UNITED STATES
Carjacking-Elements of the Offense

USSC Criminal Law Analysis

BRADY VIOLATIONS - CAUSE AND PREJUDICE FOR
FAILURE TO RAISE

Case: Strickler v. Green

Issue: Whether defense counsel's reliance on the State's "open file" policy was sufficient cause for a habeas petitioner's failure to raise a Brady claim at trial, on appeal and on state habeas review and whether the admittedly damaging impeachment evidence suppressed by the State was sufficient to
establish a Brady violation or to establish prejudice under habeas "cause and
prejudice" analysis.

Facts: The Commonwealth of Virginia charged petitioner Tommy Strickler
with capital murder, kidnapping, and robbery. The prosecution represented
to Strickler's trial counsel that it observed an "open file" policy, by which it
gave Strickler access to all evidence in its files. Despite this representation,
the prosecution (apparently unknowingly) failed to disclose exculpatory
materials in police files, consisting of notes taken by an investigating officer
regarding an eyewitness to the abduction and letters written by the
eyewitness, all of which impeached her trial testimony regarding the vividness
of her memory. Because of the "open file" policy, Strickler's counsel failed to
seek discovery regarding exculpatory material. A jury convicted Strickler of
capital murder, kidnapping, and robbery and sentenced him to death. The
conviction was affirmed on appeal. Petitioner's state habeas claim, based on
trial counsel's ineffectiveness in failing to file a Brady motion, was rejected
after the Commonwealth asserted that such a motion had been unnecessary
due to its "open file" policy. Having unsuccessfully sought post-conviction
relief in state court, Strickler filed a federal habeas corpus petition in the
Eastern District of Virginia. That court "entered a sealed ex parte order
granting petitioner's counsel the right to examine and to copy all of the police
and prosecution files in the case." After examining the files and discovering
the subpoenaed evidence, petitioner for the first time raised a direct claim
that his conviction was invalid under Brady. The district court concluded that
the failure to turn over the impeaching material undermined confidence in the
jury's verdict, and thereupon granted summary judgment for petitioner and
granted the writ. According to Strickler, the prosecution violated Brady v.
Maryland, 373 U.S. 83 (1963), by failing to disclose material exculpatory
evidence. The Fourth Circuit reversed, holding that Strickler procedurally
defaulted on his Brady claim by failing to raise it at trial or in state
post-conviction relief proceedings, and that Strickler had not shown
prejudice because, even absent the withheld material, the remaining evidence
was sufficient to establish both his guilt and the aggravating factors which
warranted imposition of the death penalty.

Holding: Strickler demonstrated cause for his procedural default because
the prosecution withheld exculpatory evidence, petitioner reasonably relied
on the "open file" policy as fulfilling the prosecution's duty to disclose said
evidence and the Commonwealth confirmed petitioner's reliance on the
"open file" policy by representations during state habeas review that
petitioner was already aware of "everything known to the government."
Petitioner did not establish prejudice, however, or even that Brady was
violated, because he did not show "that there is a reasonable probability that
the jury would have returned a different verdict had the materials been
disclosed."

Reasoning: The Court noted initially that Strickler procedurally defaulted
on his Brady claim by failing to raise it at trial or in state post-conviction
proceedings. To obtain review, Strickler had to prove cause and prejudice
for this failure. Respecting cause, the Court observed that Brady and its
progeny compel the prosecution to disclose material exculpatory evidence,
even if the defense has not requested it. Indeed, under Brady, the
prosecution has a duty to apprise itself of any exculpatory evidence known
to any entities acting on the prosecution's behalf. Here, Strickler established
cause because the prosecution advised him of its "open file" policy and
represented that Strickler had access to all of the material in its file, even
though the Commonwealth actually suppressed exculpatory evidence. Given
the "open file" policy and the prosecution's representations, Strickler
reasonably concluded that no exculpatory evidence remained undisclosed.

While Strickler established cause, he could not establish either prejudice or
that the withheld evidence was material under Brady, because he could not
prove there was a reasonable probability that the result of his trial would
have been different had the suppressed material been disclosed to him. The
Court explicitly rejected the Fourth Circuit's prejudice analysis. The
"materiality inquiry is not just a matter of determining whether, after
discounting the exculpatory evidence in light of the undisclosed evidence, the
remaining evidence is sufficient to support the jury's conclusions. Rather, the
question is whether 'the favorable evidence could reasonably be taken to put
the whole case in such a different light as to undermine confidence in the
verdict.'" Recognizing that the exculpatory material could have seriously
impeached the witness, the Court nevertheless concluded that the outcome
of Strickler's trial would not have differed because there was overwhelming
evidence of guilt. Succinctly put, even had the exculpatory material been
introduced and vigorously used to impeach a witness for the prosecution,
Strickler would still have been convicted of the crimes for which he was
charged given the other evidence of guilt.

Other Opinions: Justice Souter, joined in part by Justice Kennedy,
concurred in part and dissented in part. Justice Souter agreed that Strickler
proved cause, but also maintained that he proved prejudice. Justice Souter
also advocated verbally reformulating the Brady standard by stating that
Brady is violated if there is a "significant possibility" that the excluded
evidence would have produced a different result at a defendant's trial. Justice
Souter believed that suppression of the exculpatory evidence undermined
confidence in both the guilty verdict and the sentence of death.

Comment: The opinions in this case are a valuable primer on the history of
Brady v. Maryland and its progeny. Justice Stevens noted that "strictly
speaking, there is never a real 'Brady violation'" unless the materiality factor
is established. Moreover, that materiality test - "a reasonable probability that
the verdict would have been different" - is identical to the test for establishing
prejudice under the federal habeas "cause and prejudice" standard.

Articles

These materials have been prepared for educational and information purposes only. They are not legal advice or legal opinions
on any specific matters. Transmission of the information is not intended to create, and receipt does not constitute, a
lawyer-client relationship between FindLaw, the author(s), or the publisher (Law Firm, Bar Association or other legal publisher)
and you. Internet subscribers and online readers should not act upon this information without seeking professional counsel.

Any views expressed in this introduction and the summaries are those of the author alone and do not express the views of Ross
Dixon & Bell or its clients. No person should act or fail to act on any legal matter based on the contents of the introduction or
summaries.

HOLLOWAY V. UNITED STATES
Carjacking-Required Intent
LILLY V. VIRGINIA
Confrontation Clause-Declarations Against Penal Interest
RICHARDSON V. UNITED STATES
Continuing Criminal Enterprise-Elements of the Offense
HADDLE V. GARRISON
Federal Civil Rights-Obstruction
LOUIS JONES V. UNITED STATES
Federal Death Penalty Act-Jury Instructions
MARYLAND V. DYSON
Fourth Amendment-Automobile Exception
FLORIDA V. WHITE
Fourth Amendment-Automobile Exception
WYOMING V. HOUGHTON
Fourth Amendment-Automobile Exception
MINNESOTA V. CARTER
Fourth Amendment-Expectation of Privacy
CITY OF WEST COVINA v. PERKINS
Fourth Amendment-Return of Seized property
KNOWLES V. IOWA
Fourth Amendment-Search Incident to Arrest
WILSON V. LAYNE
Fourth Amendment-Unreasonable Search
HANLON V. BERGER
Fourth Amendment-Unreasonable Search
CONN V. GABBERT
Fourteenth Amendment-Interference with Attorney at Grand Jury
MITCHELL V. UNITED STATES
Fifth Amendment Privilege Against Self-Incrimination-Sentencing Hearings
PEGUERO V. UNITED STATES
Guilty Pleas-Required Warnings
O'SULLIVAN V. BOERCKEL
Habeas Corpus-Exhaustion of Remedies/Procedural Default
CALDERON V. COLEMAN
Habeas Corpus-Harmless Constitutional Trial Error
STEWART V. LAGRAND
Habeas Corpus-Waiver and Procedural Default
UNITED STATES V. SUN DIAMOND GROWERS OF CALIFORNIA
Illegal Gratuities-Required Intent
NEDER V. UNITED STATES
Mail Wire and Bank Fraud-Materiality
UNITED STATES V. RODRIGUEZ-MORENO
Venue-18 U.S.C. §924(c)(1)

These materials have been prepared for educational and information purposes only. They are not legal
advice or legal opinions on any specific matters. Transmission of the information is not intended to
create, and receipt does not constitute, a lawyer-client relationship between FindLaw, the author(s), or
the publisher (Law Firm, Bar Association or other legal publisher) and you. Internet subscribers and
online readers should not act upon this information without seeking professional counsel.

Any views expressed in this introduction and the summaries are those of the author alone and do not
express the views of Ross Dixon & Bell or its clients. No person should act or fail to act on any legal
matter based on the contents of the introduction or summaries.

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