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You can read the Multnomah Law Library Report at the PSU CPS website:

This report reviews the current operations of the Multnomah Law Library and makes recommendations, based on best practices, for ways to restructure the Multnomah Law Library into a self-help center to better serve pro se litigants.”

The report’s full title: “Building the 21st Century Legal Resource Center and Law Library: A Report on the Current Status of the Multnomah County’s Law Library and Recommendations for Addressing the Needs of Current Patrons”

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Too many shut out of justice, ABA president says:

Wlliam C. Hubbard, president of the American Bar Association, calls it “the justice gap.”

Deep down, all Americans believe they have a right to their day in court. They probably don’t envision that might mean a day in court with no lawyer on hand to guide them through it. But that’s the reality for an increasing number of people, perhaps one reason the World Justice Project’s Rule of Law Index ranks the United States only 19th out of 99 countries on access to justice ….” [Link to full article.]

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ABA launches online database of collateral consequences for each U.S. jurisdiction
“WASHINGTON , Dec. 16, 2014 — The American Bar Association Criminal Justice Section has completed the National Inventory of the Collateral Consequences of Conviction, an online database that identifies legal restrictions imposed upon individuals convicted of crimes that go beyond any sentence imposed by a court.

Available at www.abacollateralconsequences.org, the database lists federal and state laws and regulations that restrict employment, housing, and education benefits and other opportunities for people with convictions….” [Link to ABA article.]

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Legal Research is Easy is still one of my favorite blogs. (And I can only dream about working as a law librarian in a state with so many official court forms, practice materials, and self-help resources. Sigh.)

The blog author has fun writing the blog, is smart, funny, profane and profound, doesn’t sweat the small stuff, and is brutally honest about what self-representation is all about and what public law librarians can do – and can’t do. And he cares. When a big heart meets a tough cookie, good things can happen. (And he doesn’t even hint at the amount of dedication and work (and money management) that is required to keep his legal research skills fresh or to create and maintain a law library with the breadth and quality of legal research materials needed to provide this level of service. Easy indeed! Not!)

Try it out: Legal Research is Easy.  You will learn from it, whether you’re a librarian or a self-represented litigant – or if you think you know what public law librarians and public law libraries do, but in fact have barely a clue.

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“Indigenous Rights of Hiddenfolk and Native People,” by Kris Olson, OSB Bulletin, December 2014.

‘…. Upon arriving at the law department at the University of Iceland, I inquired about information regarding environmental/elf cases. “Which ones?” the law librarian responded. “There are so many!” The most current controversy involves a case in which the Supreme Court of Iceland has issued a stay. The news was picked up in the United States by the Associated Press and the major television networks in December 2013 as a Christmas human interest story with headlines such as “Iceland’s Hidden Elves Delay Road Projects” and “In Iceland, Elves Have a Strong Lobby.” ….

Andri Snaer Magnason, commented: “Some feel that the elf thing is a bit annoying,” adding that personally he was not sure they existed. “However,” he added, “I got married in a church with a god just as invisible as the elves, so what might seem irrational is actually quite common with Icelanders.“….’ [Link to full article.]

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From OSB: Oregon Attorney Fee Codebook and Compilation, Vols. 1 and 2

Oregon Attorney Fee Codebook, 2014 Edition

This handy spiral -bound volume includes Oregon Rules of Civil Procedure, Uniform Trial Court Rules, and Oregon Revised Statutes that govern attorney fees. The relevant ORS provisions are pulled from each of the 17 volumes of the statutes ….”

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Link to details from Gallagher Blogs: “Capital Punishment: Race, Poverty, and Disadvantage—Free Online Course”

Stephen Bright is president and senior counsel at the Southern Center for Human Rights, a public interest law program that deals with human rights in the criminal justice and prison systems….

This course examines issues of poverty and race in the criminal justice system, particularly with regard to the imposition of the death penalty…. There are 40 videos, ranging from 18 to 45 minutes…. that’s a lot of instruction from one of the nation’s leading authorities on the death penalty….” [Link to blog post.]

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Art major Michael Lewis, as trustworthy as Diogenes (but with a better sense of humor), hits another home run (don’t forget Moneyball) with “Flash Boys: A Wall Street Revolt”

It is of the “financial thriller” genre, and no less riveting than Harry Markopolos’s “No one would listen” (about Bernie Madoff and, also, the [insert your own appropriate adjective here] SEC).

Note: HFT = High Frequency Trader

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