Visit the Bills Signed 2013 link at the Oregon Governor’s website.
You can also click on the “Bills Signed by Governor Kitzhaber (2013)” line for a full view of the data-set. (This link may change over time. If so, visit the Oregon Governor’s website to find new URL.)
You can read the Governor’s signing statements, too.
Library (and law firm) database (and eBook) licensing can be tricky, to put it mildly.
There are hundreds, thousands even, of fee-based subscription databases used by lawyers, legal researchers, librarians, historians, etc. If you need to negotiate and manage a database contract, here is a useful primer, and much more:
The American Association of Law Libraries (AALL) has posted the following Code of Best Practices for Licensing Electronic Resources guidelines on its website, with easy access for everyone, not just AALL members:
Contents include: CODE OF BEST PRACTICES FOR LICENSING ELECTRONIC RESOURCES
Code Section I – Licensing Preparedness
Code Section II – License Components
Code Section III – Authorized Use and Authorized Users
Code Section IV – Copyright and Intellectual Property
Code Section V – Archiving
Code Section VI – Usage Tracking and User Privacy
Code Section VII –Termination/Renewal
Code Section VIII –Dispute Resolution
Code Section IX – Warranties/Quality of Service
Appendix A: CHECKLIST FOR LICENSING ELECTRONIC RESOURCES
Appendix B: RESOURCES FOR LICENSING TERMS AND DEFINITIONS
Appendix C: RESOURCES FOR SAMPLE CLAUSES AND MODEL LICENSE AGREEMENTS
Appendix D: BIBLIOGRAPHY – LICENSING AND PROCUREMENT OF ELECTRONIC RESOURCES
Appendix E: Procurement Process Checklist for Law Libraries
A recent Oregon Law Practice Management (OLPM) blog post on this subject is one place to begin reading about this subject, including brief discussions of the duties of public defenders and other government attorneys and private attorneys and liability issues.
(The other is a 2012 OSB CLE called “Lawyers and the Deaf Community.”)
From the OLPM blog: Are Private Lawyers Required to Bear the Cost of Communication Access?
Excerpt:
“Accommodating actual or potential clients with hearing impairments is a misunderstood requirement of the Americans with Disabilities Act….” [Link to full post.]
What happens in Oregon when a word in a statute is undefined – and someone’s life and liberty is at stake?
In the case of 2011 ORS 167.007 and Oregon v. Palomo, the Oregon Court of Appeals weighs in and defines the word “fee,” with a little help from a dictionary and a legislative history.
Oregon v. Palomo A148047 (Control), A148045
“…Based on that incident, defendant was charged with prostitution, ORS 167.007(1)(a), and tried by the court.3 10 ORS 167.007(1)(a) provides that a person commits prostitution when the “person engages in, or offers or agrees to engage in, sexual conduct or sexual contact in return for a fee.” The word “fee” is not defined in the statutory scheme….” [Link to full opinion.]
Note: Compiling an Oregon legislative history is a lengthy, complex research process and, unless you can get to the State Archives in person and read the bill files, or have the money to pay Archives to scan the files, or are lucky enough that someone before you asked the Archives to scan the files ….. Well, suffice it to say that I’ve seen grown lawyers cry when faced with having to compile a legislative history – no, you can’t compile a thorough one from online resources only.
May 7, 2013, UELMA (Uniform Electronic Legal Materials Act) update:
The Judiciary Committee is holding UELMA (HB 2944, Intro) over until Thursday, May 9th, to get some more of their questions answered. (There was a brief hearing on HB 2944 on May 6, 2013.)
UELMA Primer: Authenticating the Law
Authenticity is not just for Zen masters: Buddha rising in Rose City (25 April 2013, by Peter Korn)
“…. I think young people are looking for authenticity,” Green says. “People are getting constantly marketed to, and young people have very well-honed BS detectors. …” (Link to full Portland Tribune article.)
1) UELMA in Oregon requires the official publisher of selected online state legal materials to provide a method for users to know that the online publication is “authentic,” i.e. is unaltered from the official publication.
Example: When you read a section of the Oregon Revised Statutes online, you would be able to determine that it is a true copy of the actual statute – or that it is an official online-only version (for born-digital laws).
2) You can find and read HB 2944 from the Legislature’s homepage (click on “Measure Search”).
3) Read an American Bar Association article in support of UELMA: “ABA Supports Uniform Law for Online Publication of Court Decisions and Laws”
4) Other states: California and Colorado enacted UELMA in 2012. So far this year (May 2013), Minnesota, Hawaii, and North Dakota have enacted UELMA. UELMA is moving through eight other states’ legislatures, including Oregon.
5) Hawaii is the first state to include judicial documents in their UELMA law. (Oregon’s 2013 HB 2944 does not include judicial documents, e.g. court opinions.)
6) Read more about UELMA: AALL UELMA website.
7) Read about the Uniform Law Commission.
Politwoops: “Deleted Doesn’t Mean Inaccessible: Search and Access Deleted Tweets By Politicians,” from the 4/29/13 LJ InfoDocket post by Gary Price.
(Priceless Meanderings: Diamonds are Forever (Fleming & Bond) and Diamonds are a Girl’s Best Friend (Loos and Monroe) and Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds (Lennon and McCarthy) and Tweety Bird (of course!).)
If you missed the April 26, 2013, “A Quick Survey of Blogs Written by Judges” post by Robert Ambrogi at LawSites, it’s not too late.
If you’ve been following the news, you will have heard that people with first aid and other types of lay or professional medical training can be lifesavers during, and after, disasters.
So, if you want to “do something” after a disaster, take a Red Cross First Aid Class!
Take along friends, your book group, your family, your softball league, etc., and plan a celebration in honor of your new life-saving skills.
The Oregon Legislative Library’s Reference Librarian* answers our ‘floor letter’ question. (The “Note from Mother” question is answered at the end of this blog post. Who said watching the Oregon Legislature wasn’t fun?!)
“A ‘floor letter’ is information put on each member’s desk during a session the day of a measure’s 3rd reading and subsequent floor vote. The floor letter has to be identified as originating ‘from the desk of’ a member.
Essentially, it’s like a last ditch effort to make a point.
What typically happens is an outside group or individual or even a member drafts a letter or identifies information (news story, web page, etc…) they wish to share with other members.
If the request originates from outside of the body (non-member), you need to obtain the assistance of a member (Senator or Representative) who will add their name to the letter as well as request distribution via that body’s chief parliamentarian.
In the case of the Senate, 31 copies are made. One copy is placed on each Senator’s desk and the last copy is kept by the body’s office (Secretary of the senate or Chief Clerk of the House).
The new Oregon Legislative Information System (OLIS) has a link to floor letters that have been submitted during the current session.
See the Legislature’s Glossary for other terms used in the legislative process.”
“Note from Mother”: A slang term for a note from a legislator or committee administrator authorizing Legislative Counsel to work with the person possessing the note on drafting a measure or amendments. (From the Oregon Legislature’s Glossary, which you can link to from the Citizen Guide webpage.)
*Thank you to Jerry Curry, Reference Librarian, Oregon State Library, on assignment at the Legislative Library, Oregon State Capitol.
If you need assistance from the Oregon Legislative Library, email or phone them at help.leg@state.or.us or 503-986-1668.
Looking for a place to host a meeting in Oregon that enables participation by those who can’t attend in person?
Check out this recently updated guide on publicly-accessible sites that make videoconferencing equipment available to users. Please note that most require a reservation, and some locations charge for the service.
We admit the list is not as expansive as we’d like; please let us know about places we’ve missed and we’ll gladly include them!
