The 2010 Regional Conference will be from September 9 through September 10, 2010.  The Hyatt Regency Savannah is located across the river from Hutchison Island in lovely Savannah, GA, only a short distance from the Georgia-South Carolina border.   The government per diem rate will be $106 for single or double occupancy per night (plus tax).

To register for the conference, please see below for a link to the 2010 NDIA Regional Conference Registration form.  It is important that all attendees book their rooms directly through the Hyatt Regency. To book rooms, please use the link below to contact the Hyatt Regency directly.  Be sure to indicate you are with the NDIA in order to get the $106  per diem rate.

There is no shuttle service from the airport to the hotel.  Taxi service is approximately $30 one way.

If you have any questions call Beverly Davidson at the NDIA office 860-635-5533.

Registration Form 
NDIA's Hyatt Regency Reservation Page 
Hyatt Regency Savannah Website
Savannah Article and Attractions
Final Agenda

 Special Thank You to Forensic Magazine

The NDIA wishes to extend our deepest thanks to Forensic Magazine, which has allowed us to reprint one of their recent articles for the upcoming September 2010 edition of the Eagle's Eye.  The article, entitled, "RFID In Forensics:  What is it and what will it do?" by Randy Nagy, Andrew Singer, and Gordon Fraser, discusses the new use of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) to keep "an electronic chain-of-custody from the crime scene to the courtroom."

If you have never had the privilege of reading Forensic magazine, you check it out here.  You can get your free electronic subscription by going here.

Please stop by their website and subscribe to support their efforts.  And, yes, we qualify for subscription because I have one myself.  --James Tarter

NDIA 2010 Elections

The NDIA will hold elections this year for the Area Director positions on the Board of Directors. The following positions will be on the ballot:

Northeast Area Director
Southeast Area Director
Midwest Area Director
West Area Director

All elections will be for a two (2) year term commencing January 1, 2011. Interested candidates should forward a Letter of Intent and three (3) Letters of Nomination from eligible members in good standing, to the Secretary/Treasurer no later than August 15, 2010.
 
All candidates for the Board and all persons nominating a person for the board positions listed above must be either a Regular or Retired member in good standing of the NDIA. Candidates and those nominating must be members of NDIA. All members in good standing are eligible to vote.
 
A statement of intent from the candidate accompanied by three (3) letters of nomination must be received by the NDIA Secretary/Treasurer Dave Young, no later than August 15, 2010.  The letter of intent and all nomination documents must be original documents with original signatures.  Copied, facsimile or email documents will not be accepted and render the candidate ineligible.  The Secretary/Treasurer shall not review potential candidate’s submissions until on or after 12:01 am, August 16, 2010.  The eligibility of all potential candidates shall be verified by the Secretary/Treasurer no later than September 1, 2010.

 
Please mail to:
 

Dave Young
NDIA
PO Box 216
Ridgefield Park, NJ 07660

Please limit Letters of Intent to one page so they can be included on the backside of ballots. Ballots for contested races will be sent out no later than October 1, 2010. Letters of Intent will be published in September’s edition of the Eagles Eye and on the web site.
 
NDIA depends on members volunteering their time to further the mission of the Association. Members considering running for a position on the Board are encouraged to talk to the current Board members about the responsibilities of serving. 
 

Beverly Davidson, NDIA Executive Secretary

NDIA Donates $1,015 To The Las Vegas Branch Of  U.S. Vets

NDIA Member Herb Duzant-left receives a Certificate of Appreciation from Program Manager Larry Williams-right.

On May 14, 2010, the NDIA donated the $1,015 raised by our members at the 2010 Las Vegas Conference's President's Reception's auction to the Las Angeles Branch of the U.S. Vets Program.  The program's sole purpose is "the successful reintegration of homeless and at-risk veterans."  The U.S. Vets Program thanks all NDIA members for their charitable giving.  Herb Duzant, a NDIA member from the Federal Public Defender's Office in Las Vegas, acted as NDIA liaison, and gave the check for the donation to Larry Williams.  In return, the Las Vegas U.S. Vets Program sent the following thank you letter [see below] to all NDIA members and presented Duzant with a Certificate of Appreciation [see below].  To view both the thank you letter and the certificate, please click the following links.

Thank You Letter from the U.S. Vets Program
Certificate of Appreciation from the U.S. Vets Program
 

The Justice Department's Bureau of Justice Statistics announced that from October 2008 to December 2009, 4.4 prison inmates and 3.1percent of jail inmates self-report that they have been sexually abused by another inmate or staff member in the past year.  Those percentages translate to 88,500 inmates per year, higher than previously predicted.

To read the Bureau of Justice Statistics' findings, go here.

RACIAL DISCRIMINATION IN JURY SELECTION REMAINS WIDESPREAD, ACCORDING TO NEW EJI STUDY

Source:  Equal Justice Initiative
June 22, 2010

Update: Civil rights leaders, community organizations, and policymakers are responding to EJI's report calling for enforcement of anti-discrimination law in jury selection.

Nearly 135 years after Congress passed the Civil Rights Act of 1875 to eliminate racial discrimination in jury selection, people of color continue to be excluded from jury service because of their race, especially in serious criminal trials and death penalty cases. EJI on June 1, 2010, released a new report, “Illegal Racial Discrimination in Jury Selection: A Continuing Legacy,” which is the most comprehensive study of racial bias in jury selection since the United States Supreme Court tried to limit the practice in Batson v. Kentuckyin 1986...

To read more of this summary of the report, click here.

To read the actual report, click here.

To watch the videos "Illegal Racial Discrimination in Jury Selection:  A Continuing Legacy" or "Illegal Racial Discrimination in Jury Selection:  The Earl McGahee Case", click on the Youtube videos below:

 

ILLEGAL RACIAL DISCRIMINATION IN JURY SELECTION: A CONTINUING LEGACY

ILLEGAL RACIAL DISCRIMINATION IN JURY SELECTION: THE EARL MCGAHEE CASE
 

NDIA on Twitter

The NDIA now has a Twitter account.  Check it out and subscribe by going to theNDIA.  Its the easiest way to get the latest updates and news from the NDIA.

Source:  NY Times

The National Academy of Sciences calls for improvements in forensic labs...
click here.

To read the full report click here.

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