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Articles Posted in General Legal Research Resources
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“Why the Oregon Constitution Matters” and Other Legal Affairs News
Tracy White, Oregon Attorney, and Washington County Law Library patron, writes a monthly legal affairs column for the (OregonLive) Hillsboro Argus:
April 9, 2013, OregonLive column in the Argus: “Why the Oregon Constitution matters (guest column)”
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Teaching and Learning U.S. Law as a Second Language: Legal English
Are you an “English as a Second (or 3rd or 4th) Language” law student or lawyer?
Are you thinking about going abroad to teach U.S. law or legal research to foreign students or lawyers?
There are books for non-English speakers learning the Language of American and (UK) English Law. Some might even be e-books.
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Tyler Goes to Court to Avenge a Videogame-Controller Wrong: A Judicial Civics Lesson Coloring-Book
Visit the National Center for State Courts (NCSC) Justice Case Files website to read this hilarious coloring-book story:
Justice Case File 4: The Case of the Broken Controller is a (PDF) narrative coloring book available to download for free. (Note: the PDF at the NCSC site is almost 8 MB. It can be optimized to under 4 MB if you have Adobe.)
“The National Center for State Courts (NCSC) launched a public awareness campaign several years ago to educate the public about how the courts work. The central effort of this campaign was to develop a series of graphic novels, called Justice Case Files, which engage the reader while giving insight into how judges make decisions, how the courts protect the public, and why courts are so important to a democratic society….”
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UELMA in Oregon: 2013 HB 2944: Is that Online Statute Legally Correct?
If you research the law online, you need to have authenticated, official laws – yes, you do!
There is no point relying on statutes, cases, regulations, and other government legal documents that aren’t correct, aren’t from the year(s) you need, and are missing the source’s official imprimatur.
Most online laws have Disclaimers that advise and warn you to verify what you read online with official, legal text.
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Casemaker Subscriptions Now Available to Individual Researchers
Casemaker now has subscriptions for individual, unaffiliated (with a bar association or law school) legal researchers. Visit the Casemaker website for instructions and prices.
In the world of low-cost legal research databases, Casemaker and Fastcase are the primary vendors providing group-rate services to bar associations. This is good for lawyers, clients, and for non-lawyer bar association members.
Other low-cost research databases exist, including LoisLaw, VersusLaw, and others. (See the list on this blog’s sidebar or link directly to the Georgetown Law School Library’s Free and Low Cost Legal Research Guide.
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Post Conviction Right to Counsel: Federal and State Cases and Articles
“Post-Conviction Representation, Pro Se Practice and Access to the Courts,” by Ken Strutin, published at LLRX dot com on February 19, 2013
Excerpt: “After the first criminal appeal, there is no constitutional right to counsel. Thus, the convicted and imprisoned pursuing discretionary appeals and habeas corpus relief must research, investigate and litigate as their own attorney. A body of law has developed that defines the spectrum between full-blown post-conviction representation and the impact of the conditions of confinement on pro se litigants….” [Link to full 2/19/13 LLRX article.]
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State Agency Databases Wiki: Oregon and Beyond
FGI (Free Government Information) gives us updates from the State Agency Databases wiki. (Thank you to Oregon public and government documents librarian Liz Paulus for her work on Oregon’s list!)
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More Free, Searchable Federal Court Opinions
From U.S. Courts News, 1/31/13: Access to Court Opinions Expands
“A pilot project giving the public free, text-searchable, online-access to court opinions now is available to all federal appellate, district and bankruptcy courts….” [Link to full news release.]
Access will be through FDsys.