Legal Research

New Credit Card Rules

Posted on September 01, 2009
A follow up to a posting on this blog in July. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation in their FDIC Consumer News has a comprehensive look at the new credit card rules. While some of the new laws have already gone in to effect. Others will go into effect early next year and the last parts in August of 2010...

The Government Domain: Tracking Congress 2.0

Posted on September 01, 2009
From a recent posting on LLRX.com.Making it easier to track Congress, GovTrack.us, a free and independent legislative database, has just released a number of new features. Written by Peggy Garvin of Garvin Information Consulting, this article is an interesting read if you are a Congressional information junkie.

DNA Evidence Can Be Faked

Posted on August 26, 2009
In a recent article in the NY Times (registration may be required) scientists in Israel have demonstrated that it is possible to fabricate DNA evidence. The team that has developed this procedure hope to cash in on their find by selling a kit that will tell whether the DNA has been fabricated...

Internet Materials and U.S. Courts

Posted on August 20, 2009
From the Third Branch, the Newsletter of the Federal Courts.The Judicial Conference has issued a series of ?suggested practices? to assist courts in the use of Internet materials in opinions. The recommendations follow a pilot project conducted by circuit librarians who captured and preserved webpages cited in opinions over a six-month period...

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New Credit Card Rules Approved

Posted on July 20, 2009
Last week, the Federal Reserve Board gave final approval to an interim rule requiring creditors to increase the amount of notice consumers receive before the rate on a credit card account is increased or a significant change is made to the account's terms...

?Gang of Four? Congressional Intelligence Notifications

Posted on July 16, 2009
?Gang of Four? intelligence notifications generally are oral briefings of certain particularly sensitive non-covert action intelligence activities, including principally, but not exclusively, intelligence collection programs, that the Intelligence Community typically limits to the chairmen and ranking members of the two congressional intelligence committees, and at times, but not always, to their respective staff directors...

Judge Sonia Sotomayor: Analysis of Selected Opinions,

Posted on July 08, 2009
A recent Congressionsal Research Service report on decisions rendered by Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor.http://assets.opencrs.com/rpts/R40649_20090619.pdf

The Decline and Fall of the Dominant Paradigm: Trustworthiness of Case Reports in the Digital Age,

Posted on June 12, 2009
Author William R. Mills discusses case citation and the reliability of case reporting in the digital age. His conclusion:"In the digital age, the foundation of trust in our case law reporting system, and in legal citation generally, must be rebuilt. Such a rebuilding effort cannot succeed by utilizing the technology of printed books...

Champion of Civil Rights

Posted on February 25, 2009
As we approach the final days of Black History Month for 2009, the law library has added the biography of a judge active in the civil right movement -- Champion of Civil Rights: Judge John Minor Wisdom by Joel William Friedman.Judge Wisdom (1905-1999) is described as one of the least recognized heroes of the civil rights movement, as he wrote many of the landmark decisions instrumental in desegregating the South...

Where Will the Money Go?

Posted on February 18, 2009
Care to track where the money goes from The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act?See http://www.recovery.gov/

Justinian Code, second edition

Posted on January 26, 2009
A second edition of the Annotated Justinian Code has been posted at the following web addresshttp://uwacadweb.uwyo.edu/blume&justinian/default.aspFollowing is the explanation of the second edition from the editor, Tim Kearley.My introduction to the second edition explains the changes...

National Moot Court Archive

Posted on January 23, 2009
The library now has the National Moot Court Competition Archive available through HeinOnline. The Collection includes the winning records, briefs and related organizational materials from the 1st-58th annual competitions.The Young Lawyers Committee of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York and the American College of Trial Lawyers sponsor the national competition each year to enable law students throughout the United States to match their abilities as appellate advocates...

Information on the Financial Crisis

Posted on December 05, 2008
Fordham Law Library has posted a new web site with links to information on the current financial crisis.See http://lawlib1.lawnet.fordham.edu/econcrisis/

Take Time to Reflect

Posted on November 21, 2008
Taking time in busy schedules to pause and reflect can be an antidote for burnout for both students and practitioners. The Reflective Counselor: Daily Meditations for Lawyers by F. Gregory Coffey and Maureen C. Kessler, a new book recently added to the law library collection, can assist...

CRS Report: Presidential Transitions

Posted on November 04, 2008
Happy Election Day! A new Congressional Research Service (CRS) Report entitled "Presidential Transitions: Issues Involving Outgoing and Incoming Administrations" was issued on October 23, 2008. This timely report explores the transfer of power from one presidential administration to its successor and potential pitfalls that can emerge during the transition period.

Tracking Congress

Posted on October 31, 2008
GOVTRACK.US Want to keep track of what the U.S. Congress is doing? It may be difficult to distinguish fact from fiction in a world where we?re bombarded with sound bites and catchphrases, but one website is trying to do just that. Launched in September 2004, GovTrack is an independent website dedicated to promoting transparency in the government and civic education...

Presidential Sucession

Posted on October 08, 2008
With the election now less than 4 weeks away, there has been speculation of just what would happen if the nominated presidential candidate dies before the election, after the election but before the vote by the electoral college or after the vote but before the certification by Congress of the electoral vote...

New Reading Room Officially Opened

Posted on October 08, 2008
A new reading room on the lower level of the Law Library was opened officially for the 2008 Fall Semester. This newly-remodeled area encompasses nearly the entire lower level of the library and meets a growing need for space within the library that is reserved for quiet study...

First Monday

Posted on October 06, 2008
To celebrate the new term of the United States Supreme Court which begins today, we have added a website to the library catalog, Galileo.The website Landmark Supreme Court Cases is a collaboration between Street Law and The Supreme Court Historical Society...

New Book by Professor Huss

Posted on August 27, 2008
The Law Library has added the following book to the collection:Animal Law and the Courts: a Reader by Taimie L. Bryant, Rebecca J. Huss and David N. Cassuto.Rebecca Huss is a Professor at Valparaiso University School of Law and an expert in the growing field of animal law...

Following Economic News in Indiana

Posted on August 22, 2008
The Indiana Economic Digest is a resource for local, state, and federal government news which can be searched by region, by day of the week, or by county. This online publication is a daily digest of business, housing, health and development news from more than 70 daily newspapers in Indiana...

Subject Compilation of State Laws Now Online

Posted on August 15, 2008
The Law Library now subscribes to the Subject Compilations of State Laws in online format on heinonline as well as print format. The title includes bibliographic entries for thousands of articles, books, government documents, loose-leaf services, court opinions and links to Internet sites that compare state laws...

History of the American Association of Law Libraries (AALL)

Posted on August 11, 2008
We have added a new book to the collection, The First Century: One Hundred Years of AALL History, 1906-2005 by Frank G. Houdek. Quoting from the introduction, this book "highlights, on a year-to-year basis, many of the key moments and individuals that, taken together, comprise AALL's first century...

Defending Foreclosures, Saving Homes

Posted on July 31, 2008
The conference "Defending Foreclosures, Saving Homes" presented at Valparaiso University School of Law on March 28, 2008 provided timely information about the latest developments in foreclosure and bankruptcy, loss mitigation and mortgage servicer practices...

Indiana Memory database contains Indiana Constitutional Materials

Posted on July 03, 2008
Indiana Memory, a database of materials on Indiana history and culture, is now available at http://www.in.gov/memories/The database contains primary sources that have been digitized by various libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions in the state...

U.S. Regulations Website

Posted on July 01, 2008
Justia Regulation Tracker is a useful website developed and provided free of charge by Justia, a company which provides online marketing resources to law firms. This website provides access to Federal rules, proposed rules, notices, administrative orders, executive orders, and proclamations...

Public Policy Archive

Posted on June 25, 2008
To locate documents created by various public policy think tanks, go tohttps://www.policyarchive.org/PolicyArchive, is the nation's first free, comprehensive, online archive of public policy research. It is a joint project of the Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) University library and the non-profit Center for Governmental Studies (CGS) with the support from major U...

Fuel Economy Website

Posted on June 11, 2008
With $4.00+ per gallon gas prices, many of us are paying more attention to fuel economy. Fueleconomy.gov -- a website maintained by the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency --provides fuel economy estimates, energy and environmental impact ratings, fuel-saving tips, and other related information...

National Security Letter Withdrawn

Posted on May 08, 2008
The Internet Archive, a non-profit digital library, has successfully defended against a demand by the FBI to reveal information about a user -- as reported yesterday by the Associated Press in the New York Times. Following receipt of the national security letter in November, 2007, the library sued alleging that the letters violated free speech since they prohibit recipients from talking to anyone else about them...

VUSL Grads Honored

Posted on April 30, 2008
Congratulations to VUSL grads Hon. Mary Harper, Nicholas C. Huang, and Kevin W. Vanderground for their recognition in the April 30th Indiana Lawyer annual special publication - Leaderhip in Law. Judge Harper (Porter Co. Circuit Court) was named a Distinguished Barrister...

National Library Week

Posted on April 17, 2008
Libraries are celebrating National Library Week and many are enjoying special activities --the School of Law Library is no exception! Launched in 1958, National Library Week is a national observance sponsored by the American Library Association. Libraries across the country celebrate the contributions of our nation?s libraries and librarians, and promote library use and support...

US Gov't Printing Office begins authenticating its online content

Posted on March 31, 2008
Until recently, US GPO publications such as the U.S. Code and the Code of Federal Regulations were accessible online through GPO Access, however, users had no guarantee of the authenticity of the information they were accessing. The problem, faced by many government agencies, has been that digital technology has made electronic documents vulnerable to unauthorized alteration...

Access to Information

Posted on February 21, 2008
We have two new titles in the Law Library which focus on access to information, from the vantage point of protecting ourselves from government intrusion into our privacy as well as having appropriate access to government information.Who Needs to Know? : The State of Public Access to Federal Government Information by Patrice McDermott discusses the dangers of withholding of information in a democratic society...

Presidents' Day Websites

Posted on February 11, 2008
In celebration of Presidents' Day this month, the library has added several websites to Galileo.The American Presidency Project contains over 75,000 documents related to the study of the American presidency, including public papers, annual messages to Congress on the state of the union, inaugural addresses, radio addresses, acceptance speeches, presidential candidates debates, party platforms, elections data, and an audio/video archive...

The State Secrets Privilege

Posted on January 30, 2008
From The Secrecy News.At a House Judiciary Subcommittee hearing today, witnesses discussedthe feasibility and advisability of legislating reforms to the statesecrets privilege.The state secrets privilege has been used by the executive branch toblock discovery in civil litigation when the government believes thatthere is an unacceptable risk of disclosure of sensitive nationalsecurity secrets...

World Privacy Forum's Top Ten Consumer Opt Outs

Posted on January 30, 2008
New from the World Privacy Forum, this list contains the Top Ten Opt Outs for consumers. Created over the years from questions this organization has answered, each opt out has information of just what the organization does and gives the various ways of opting out...

"The Supremes"

Posted on January 28, 2008
The Law Library has two new books about the Supreme Court. The Nine: Inside the Secret World of the Supreme Court by Jeffrey Toobin takes the reader into the chambers of the Court for an "inside" look. Toobin -- author, New Yorker staff writer, and CNN legal analyst --based his book on exclusive interviews with the justices...

Burns was a Scot After All

Posted on January 21, 2008
This story may primarily be of interest to library types (specifically catalogers) or people of Scottish heritage, but it nevertheless demonstrates the effectiveness of widespread protest. As reported on January 12, 2008 in The Times, the Library of Congress agreed to reverse an earlier decision to classify all Scottish writers under the general heading of "English...

Empirical Legal Studies Bibliography

Posted on January 17, 2008
This announcement came from Cornell and UCLA:Through the collaborative efforts of Cornell and UCLA, there is now available a bibliographic database of empirical legal studies and scholarship: the ELS Bibliography. It is available at: http://www.law...

Take a Few Minutes to Laugh!

Posted on January 17, 2008
If you enjoy law related humor, these two books recently added to the law library will make you smile.In The Little Green Book of Golf Law: the Real Rules of the Game of Golf, author John H. Minan selected nineteen cases corresponding to the typical eighteen holes -- plus one --played in a round of golf...

Chimp Is Not A Person

Posted on January 15, 2008
The Austrian Supreme Court has ruled that a chimpanzee cannot be declared a person. The Association Against Animal Factories, an animal rights group based in Vienna had tried to have the chimp declared a person to protect him from being sold outside the country...

Supreme Court Justices Burial Sites

Posted on January 14, 2008
Do you want to visit the grave of your favorite former U.S. Supreme Court justice? The website www.oyez.org has a list of burial sites with a link to Google maps.Go to http://www.oyez.org then look for Justice Internments under "New Media". There are two lists A-L and M-Z.

Newly Released CRS Reports of Note

Posted on January 09, 2008
Federal Torts Claims ActThe Federal Tort Claims Act is the Statute by which the United States authorized tort suits to be brought against itself. This report examines among other things, the application of the Feres doctrine to suits for injuries caused by medical malpractice in the military, the prohibition of suits by victims of atomic testing, Supreme Court cases interpreting the discretionary function exception, the extent to which federal employees may be held liable for torts they commit in the scope of their employment, and the government contractor defense to products liability design defect suits...

Remembering Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Posted on January 09, 2008
As we approach the birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., we have added three websites to the library catalog.The first site is The Martin King, Jr. Papers Project at Stanford University. In addition to an extensive King biography, encyclopedia, and collection of audio recordings, the website includes the most complete inventory available of King's major sermons, speeches, public statements, published writings, manuscripts, and substantial notes and outlines...

Annotated Justinian Code online

Posted on January 08, 2008
Justice Fred Blume's translation of the Justinian Code has been put online by the University of Wyoming Law Library.See http://uwacadweb.uwyo.edu/blume&justinian/default.aspTo quote Tim Kearley, Director of the Law Library and Centennial Distinguished Professor of Law At Wyoming:"This web site ...

Professor Whitton quoted in Marketwatch.

Posted on January 08, 2008
Professor Linda Whitton was quoted yesterday in an article online by Gail Liberman and Alan Lavine titled: Designated Hitter: Know How to Deal with Your Bank on a Power of Attorney. The article appeared on MarketWatch, an online publication of Dow Jones & Company...

The Effect of Same-Sex Marriages on Benefits

Posted on January 07, 2008
A short, only 5 pages, new CRS report examines how social security benefits are impacted by state legalized same sex marriages. In a nutshell, the report points out that federal government benefits are only available to spouses of the opposite sex, as defined in the Social Security Act and the Defense of Marriage Act...

Report of Indiana Commission on Local Government Reform

Posted on December 11, 2007
The report of the Indiana Commission on Local Government Reform (known as the Blue Ribbon Commission) is now available athttp://indianalocalgovreform.iu.edu/assets/docs/Report_12-10-07.pdfThe Report discusses ways to save money by streamlining local government in Indiana.

Per Curiam Opinions Examined

Posted on December 10, 2007
Ever wondered why courts sometimes designate an opinion as per curiam (by the court) without indicating which judge or justice actually penned it? Howard J. Bashman does exactly this in an interesting column appearing today on Law.com titled "Per Curiam Opinions: What's the Point?".

International Law Research Resources

Posted on November 27, 2007
The Law Library has added two websites for international law resources to Galileo, our online catalog.ASIL (American Society of International Law) contains valuable resources for international law including links to international organizations, treaties, U...

Visual Dictionary Online

Posted on November 27, 2007
Here's a cool tool if you want to see an illustration of a word.http://visual.merriam-webster.com

Get the skinny on your zip code

Posted on November 14, 2007
Website of the week: zipskinny.com, a website that allows you to analyze and compare zip codes in terms of population, level of education, level of income, and other interesting categories. The site was compiled using Census 2000 data available from the U...

National Emergency Powers

Posted on November 13, 2007
The President of the United States has available certain powers that may be exercised in the event that the nation is threatened by crisis, exigency, or emergency circumstances (other than natural disasters, war, or near-war situations). Such powers may be stated explicitly or implied by the Constitution, assumed by the Chief Executive to be permissible constitutionally, or inferred from or specified by statute...

Mortgage Crisis Congressional Research Service Report

Posted on November 13, 2007
With concern rising over the recent crisis situation in the housing and mortgage markets this report provides a general analysis and overview of current foreclosure issues that may be addressed in bills currently before Congress. Offering a description of the behavior of aggregate foreclosure rates and putting into context the behaviors of foreclosure rates, the foreclosure process is explained, from the point of view of a traditional financial lending institution, and from the viewpoint of securitization when loans are sold in secondary markets...

Could We Learn Something From This?

Posted on November 12, 2007
Good government, common sense, and self-restraint often appear to be in short supply. However, an article in the November 11, 2007, Chicago Tribune counteracts that observation and is worth reading. From Pool of Cash, Good Fortune Flows by Tribune foreign correspondent Tom Hundley explains how Norway learned from past "oil addiction" in the 1970's and has now developed a strategy that benefits all its citizens...

E-Discovery

Posted on November 05, 2007
The Law Library has several books about electronic discovery including a newly added title, Discovery of Electronically Stored Information: Surveying the Legal Landscape by Ronald J. Hedges. According to author, the aspect of law which has been most dramatically altered by the information technology revolution is discovery...

Selected U.N. Resources and Research Tools: Updated

Posted on November 02, 2007
In a blog entry for October 8, an article referenced in Globalex, entitled Selected U.N. Resources and Research Tools: Overview and Search Tips for Legal Research by Wiltrud Harms was mentioned. Since then, according to an email received from the author, a new pdf link has been added where "the columns fit nicely on one page and the scrolling down is more pleasant when the text is broken up into 7 pages...

A Year Ahead, Republicans Face Tough Political Terrain

Posted on November 01, 2007
A new survey from the Pew Research Center for the People and the PressA year before the 2008 presidential election, most major national opinion trends decidedly favor the Democrats and discontent with the state of the nation is markedly greater than it was four years ago...

Law School - The Musical

Posted on October 31, 2007
From ojarv001 on YouTube: a funny, mid-semester take on the experience that is law school. This is a great study break, especially for 1Ls.Thanks Rob!

Financial Readiness: As Critical as Fully Charged Batteries

Posted on October 30, 2007
Home is where most people feel safe and comfortable. But sometimes ? say, when a hurricane, flood, tornado, wildfire, or other disaster strikes ? it?s safest to pack up and go to another location.The Federal Trade Commission (FTC), says that when it comes to preparing for situations like weather emergencies, financial readiness is as important as a flashlight with fully charged batteries...

ABA calls for nationwide moratorium on use of the death penalty

Posted on October 30, 2007
From the Chicago Tribune: The American Bar Association, in a study to be released Monday, found so many inequities and shortfalls in a three-year study of capital punishment systems in eight states, that the group is calling for a nationwide moratorium on executions...

New CRS Reports

Posted on October 30, 2007
New Congressional Research Service Reports available for October:Mexico's Drug Cartels, October 16, 2007Intelligence Issues for Congress, October 16, 2007Iran's Activities and Influence in Iraq, October 12, 2007Burma Sanctions: Background and Options, October 10, 2007Burma-U...

"Lighten Up" with Law Humor

Posted on October 29, 2007
The Law Library has recently added to its collection, The Party of the First Part: the Curious World of Legalese by Adam Freedman. Freedman writes the "Legal Lingo" column for the New York Law Journal Magazine.In this entertaining book, Freedman demystifies legal language, exploring the origin and definition of some well known as well as more obscure terms...

Index of Presidential Signing Statements 2001-2007

Posted on October 24, 2007
The American Constitution Society for Law and Policy has recently made available an Index of Presidential Signing Statements from 2001 to 2007. "The index, compiled by Neil Kinkopf, associate professor of law at Georgia State University College of Law and former special assistant in the Office of Legal Counsel at the Department of Justice, provides a comprehensive list of every provision of a law objected to by the White House in a signing statement, the reason for the objection, and a link to the relevant signing statement...

New federal court fees available online

Posted on October 16, 2007
New on the U.S. Courts website: Updated fee schedules for federal courts including district courts, courts of appeal, bankruptcy courts, and the U.S. Court of Federal Claims. Also included are fee schedules for electronic public access, and fees to be charged for services to be performed by the clerk of the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation...