Articles Posted in Legal News & Commentary

Published on:

By

Reminder: On January 1, 2008, the Oregon Small Claims limit rises to $7,500 (from $5,000). See my previous posting.

The 2007 Oregon Revised Statutes (ORS) laws on Small Claims courts (both Justice Court and Circuit Court) will be available at the Legislature’s web page soon.

County Circuit Courts manage their own Small Claims Departments so you should contact the court where you will be filing your case and ask about local procedures and forms. Not every county has a Justice Court, but each county has a Circuit Court (36 counties are served by 27 judicial districts)

Published on:

By

The Oregon Federal Public Defender has this report, Developments in Federal Search and Seizure Law, and much more at their web site (including an Oct 2007 Blakely/Apprendi and State v. Ice update).

Many more Oregon legal news stories where this came from: Go to Justia’s Blawg Search, type Oregon in the search box, click on Sort by Date.

Published on:

By

One easy way to keep up with Oregon legal news is to use Justia’s search engine on their web site. A recent search turned up this link to a Volokh Conspiracy post, The Oregon FISA Decision. (And do read the Comments.)

Since I’m in the legal research business, not the legal news business, I’ll gladly show you how to do this yourself:

On a regular basis (I don’t post here everything I read there) visit the Justia Blawg Search and type the word Oregon into the search box (do I also need to tell you to click “search? Nah :-) Easy as pie. (Their home site is Justia )

Continue reading →
Published on:

By

Librarians, public and law, hear a lot of people complaining about their own or their community’s problems, but few who want to take the next step, or the next, or the next. But some do – and some are downright amazing. It’s hard to take on the system, city hall, and even harder to change legislation. A story a couple of weeks ago by Su-Jin Yim in the September 27th, 2007 Oregonian, “Two Tough Moms,” was one of those stories, about two people who went from knowing nothing about lawmaking to becoming informed and outspoken citizens – and went on to change the world.

Excerpts:

‘A few years ago, neighbors Pauline McGuire and Julie Volpel were doing what moms do. Juggling kids’ schedules and work. Caring for elderly parents. Creating a patchwork of family life and community work that underpins all of American society.

Continue reading →
Published on:

By

(PARTS ONE, TWO, THREE, FOUR, AND FIVE)

“Book thievery is the one crime of which people do not seem to mind being suspected.” (“Miss Manners Basic Training: The Right Thing to Say,” by Judith Martin, Crown Publishers, 1998, p. 47.)

As the author of “The Book Thief” laments, it is very hard to get law enforcement to care about missing books. Who cares if the books are national treasures, worth more than any single painting in an art museum, the only surviving record of a two-thousand year old culture, or simply a paperback book purchased with public money for the enjoyment of hundreds for the next couple of years? Most law enforcement personnel, from police to prosecutors to judges, even those who are literate and even literary seem to find book theft somewhat more important than the theft of one’s recycling from curbside and somewhat less important than the theft of someone’s front garden pink flamingo. Stolen pink flamingos make the news, but not stolen books, unless there are lots of them and there is someone to blame, usually not the thief. It is one kind of several types of crimes where the victim is deemed more to blame than the thief. (For example, library and book store security system managers often get more of the blame than the thief.)

Continue reading →
Published on:

By
(LINK TO PARTS ONE, TWO, THREE, FOUR, FIVE, and SIX)(No quote, but you get a limerick, which is even better! See below …)


Months, years passed. I still didn’t have my books and the trail was getting cold. There are times when the path ahead is not clear. Do I “let it go” or do I push ahead? If I take the latter course of action, on what principle do I base my pursuit? If the former course of action is taken, isn’t the question essentially the same? On what principle do I base my inaction, my passivity? It’s not as if librarians are not brave – we are. But we’re generally on the shy side of grandstanding. Librarians can, if provoked, become downright fierce when their books disappear or their patron’s privacy rights are threatened. We can also become obsessed, which isn’t altogether a good or healthy thing; it’s just the way it is and those of you who love your libraries have obsessive librarians to thank for defending the institution. And, for some doggie and librarian comic relief, here is a limerick my sister wrote, not knowing that more than 30 years later I would ask her permission to include it in a blog posting about the law, the FBI, missing books, and of course, shaggy dogs:

Doggone, A Limerick Tale,by Chris Orr (circa 1974)
Continue reading →
Published on:

By

The Law Librarian and the FBI: A Shaggy Dog Tale in Six Parts: PART THREE

(PARTS ONE, TWO, THREE, FOUR, FIVE and SIX)

Lucy: That kid in school sure said some mean things about you today. How come you didn’t hit him?

Continue reading →
Published on:

By

PART TWO … (See PARTS ONE, TWO, THREE, FOUR, FIVE and SIX)

“Our view is that it takes a special talent to make libraries controversial.” *

Several months on, however, despite all efforts, it appeared that my missing books were going to continue to preoccupy my thoughts. Brandon was out of jail, his lawyers fighting on his behalf, and the lawsuits would work their way through the courts. Brandon didn’t have or couldn’t find my library’s books, and I wasn’t going to press the point; there were more important matters on his mind at the time. I did ask trusted friends if or how I should pursue the return of my books if in fact the FBI had taken them. Attorneys continued to advise me to lay low, stay away, look out because these guys mean business . “People have disappeared,” was said in hushed tones. “Librarians have disappeared?” I wanted to ask, but kept quiet, after all, it was 2004, 2005, and then 2006. These apparently were Years To Keep Quiet, which under normal circumstances would be quite pleasant for a lot of librarians. But now, not so much.

Continue reading →
Contact Information
The information provided on the Oregon Legal Research website and blog is for research purposes only. We do not provide legal advice, nor do we endorse any person, product, or company

Please do not include any confidential or sensitive information in a contact form, text message, or voicemail. The contact form sends information by non-encrypted email, which is not secure. Submitting a contact form, sending a text message, making a phone call, or leaving a voicemail does not create an attorney-client relationship.

Copyright © 2015 – 2025, Oregon Legal Research
JUSTIA Law Firm Blog Design