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Fellow FReepers!Sidney Powell can spell just fine!You are probably getting the idea by now, but it seems that ALL documents submitted to court are put through a OCR process.OCR refers to 'Optical Character Recognition'. This is the conversion of different types of documents - scanned paper documents, digital images, PDFs and so forth - into clear textThe result is a searchable file. This is to ensure that the text in those documents is searchable to (e.g.) research attorneys, court officials and other legal professionals.Moreover: the data can *then* be moved to a common database and cross-referenced with other data. Anyone...

The number of bankruptcy filings in Massachusetts surged by 25 percent in the first six months of the year, as many consumers struggled with job losses, changing credit card terms and foreclosures. The Warren Group reported Thursday that through June 30, 11,847 filers statewide sought protection through Chapter 7, Chapter 11 or Chapter 13 of the federal bankruptcy code. That figure, which includes businesses and individuals, represents a 25.2 percent increase from the same January-June period in 2009. The sharp rise could put the state on track to surpass the rush of bankruptcies in 2005, before strict limits took effect....

The number of filings rose to 770,117 from 675,351 a year earlier, the group said, citing data from the National Bankruptcy Research Center. Sam Gerdano, the ABI's executive director, said the increase stemmed from years of rising consumer debt levels and low savings rates, together with high unemployment and the nation's housing difficulties. Though consumer filings dropped 8 percent in June from May to 126,270, Gerdano projected there will be more than 1.6 million new bankruptcy filings in all of 2010. The U.S. Labor Department earlier said U.S. nonfarm payrolls fell 125,000 in June, the largest drop since October. An...

American Bankruptcy Institute says first-quarter filings rose as households creak under heavy debt load. The number of individuals filing for bankruptcy surged during the first-quarter as American households struggled to stay on top of debt, according to a report released Wednesday. The American Bankruptcy Institute said that consumer bankruptcy filings increased 27% nationwide in the first three months of the year, compared with the same period last year. In March alone, 86,165 individuals filed for consumer bankruptcy - a 13% increase over the 76,120 cases filed in February. "Bankruptcies are rising due to the heavy burden of household debt and...

SACRAMENTO (AP) - Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is being paid $1 million a year for his role as a consultant to a company that publishes several fitness magazines, a deal critics say represents a serious conflict of interest for the former bodybuilding champion. The payments, revealed Wednesday in filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, are from Schwarzenegger's consulting job with American Media Operations, a subsidiary of the company that publishes Flex and Muscle & Fitness magazines, among others. Critics say the contract is a conflict of interest because Schwarzenegger's pay comes from the magazines' advertising revenue and the magazines...

A new survey by FindLaw finds that only 33% of Americans have a living will. Sixty-seven percent of Americans lack a living will, potentially leaving them with no say over whether they wish to receive life-sustaining medical treatment in the event they should become incapacitated or terminally ill. The national survey of 1,000 adults was conducted by telephone and results are accurate to within plus or minus three percent. ------- This page provides links to legal documents, news and commentary pertaining to Terri Schlindler Schiavo.