Librarians, rightly, worry about what to do when the FBI comes knocking, but what does a librarian do when they already knocked and you want back what they might have taken?
(As for Shaggy Dog tales, I owe what I know of them to Isaac Asimov’s “Treasury of Humor,” Houghton Mifflin, 1971. But you can also find shaggy dog stories on the web, here and here and elsewhere.)
(Links to all six parts, from here or … PARTS ONE, TWO, THREE, FOUR, FIVE and SIX)
I’m not sure if it is right to begin our AALL PDX 2008 posts (the intro AALL08 post is here) with Movie Madness, but the toss up was among Movie Madness, Voodoo Donuts, and Crater Lake, so hold your fire. Voodoo Donuts may get its own posting in time (so don’t finish your coffee) and so will Crater Lake. The Church of Elvis has not yet been resurrected so it’s not on our short list.
If you visit Portland and if you care at all about movies, you have to visit Movie Madness. Where else will you see the Psycho Knife and other such noteworthy one-of-a-kind items AND visit a Portland “Neighborhood” (92 at last count – can you stand it!).
Anyway, here’s the Movie Madness website again, in case you missed it the first few times I linked to it. And to be fair, it is not the only terrific local movie rental business in town. There is also Video Lair, Video Verite, Trilogy Video, and Clinton Street Video (all in neighborhoods worth visiting).
In July 2008, about 2,000 law librarians and their families will descend upon Portland, Oregon. Many will arrive just in time for a conference, from July 12th to 15th, but many others will arrive earlier, stay longer, travel Oregon and Washington and Idaho and Montana and (enough!), and some may even decide to stay – forever.
So, if you see this in the title field, AALL PDX 2008, the blog posting contains information for law librarians and others who plan to attend the 2008 American Association of Law Libraries (AALL) Annual Meeting in Portland, Oregon, July 12th to 15th, 2008. You can also use it in the search box later to find all the AALL PDX 2008 posts.
These posts will cover a wide variety of content, from food, to travel, to advice, to weather, etc. Our main purpose is to include for our fellow law librarians some of the more offbeat or oft-missed sights and sounds. It also might include some of our own personal favorite Portland Plus places and things, like Portlandia, Dan & Louie’s, the Horse Project, the Gold Man atop the State Capitol (it’s a long distance relationship between him and Portlandia, so don’t ask).
This link from Shlep to the Montana Public Service Law web site (and their June 19th Corky and Petunia story), brings these thoughts to mind.
We in the law librarian community have always served pro se litigants AND lawyers both of whom can get a bit stroppy, but lately I’m seeing more frustration on both sides. They, and the judiciary, need to duke it out themselves (there is only so much librarians can fix), but they can’t say there isn’t terrific information on the web (e.g. here , and here, and here), and in the law library, for both sides. I always recommend to my pro se litigants who plan to “go to court” (traffic court, small claims, jury trial, etc.) that, among other things they need to do, they should make sure to sit in on someone else’s trial or hearing to see what goes on. I’m amazed at how many find that a novel (but good) idea. Definitely a “duh!” But we all have our blind spots (heaven knows I do).
As for those attorneys who are up against pro se litigants. My heart goes out to you but it is an opportunity for you to talk to your colleagues and the court and the bar association to figure out how to make it work. Pro se litigants aren’t going away. Some states offer more help than others to their pro se litigants. In Oregon, there is help in family court cases, but not much elsewhere in the judicial system and most non-attorneys have to rely on the Oregon State Bar and Legal Aid web pages for information (and the law library of course). It’s a public service opportunity waiting for attorneys and judges to take it on.
It’s not every day you get to say, “I’d rather be a naked bike rider than a music pirate.” But today may be one of those days.
In today’s Oregonian (byline: Anne Saker, 6/27/07, p. B2): “Naked bike rider takes on wheels of justice:”
“The whole point of the World Naked Bike Ride, the Rev. Phil Sano said Tuesday, is that bicyclists are vulnerable in traffic, and he was ready to go to court on that point this week. He had a videotape. He had witnesses. He had a poster of a bare-breasted woman with the scales of justice in one hand and a bike lock in the other.
It doesn’t get any better than a new Bedsworth, so enjoy. Excerpt here:
“There are only six grounds for divorce in New York. Adultery or cruel and inhuman treatment are the first two, but they tend to be literal about the “cruel and inhuman treatment” part. “You don’t bring me flowers anymore,” apparently doesn’t cut it.
It’s the other four grounds I find most interesting. They consist of: (1) living apart for a year, (2) living apart for a year, (3) living apart for a year, or (4) going to prison for three years.
Honest, that’s what the statute provides. I don’t know why. I’m 3,000 miles from New York and there is no one I want to divorce there, so it would be wrong for me to spend a lot of time researching this, but four of the six grounds for divorce in New York are: abandonment for a year, living apart under a court-approved separation agreement for a year, living apart under contract for a year, or one of the parties being imprisoned for three years.
Inter Alia spotlights a new mental disability law blog, which has a nice little roundup of the Winkelman case. Another mental disabilities blog is here.
The Governor signed HB 2316 on May 9th, 2007 (previously blogged here). Effective January 1, 2008, the Small Claims Court limit is raised from $5,000 to $7,500.
This will be good for many, though not for all. If you do file a small claims case, be sure to do your homework. The other side most certainly will have done so. And, if you’ve been sued in Small Claims Court, be sure to do your homework too. Small Claims Court is more complex than it used to be. It is not unusual for parties to consult attorneys prior to appearing in court.
Your local public and law library will have more information. And, no matter how much research you do, there is no substitute for sitting in Small Claims Court to see what goes on. Call your local Justice or Circuit Court to find out how and when you can view the proceedings.
From HALT (also linked to from Shlep):
“Oregon House Bill 2316, which aims to increase the small claims jurisdictional limit from $5,000 to $7,500, has now passed both the House of Representatives and the Senate. It now awaits Governor Ted Kulongoski’s signature. Oregon last increased its jurisdictional limit in 2002 from $3,500 to $5,000. “
Link to the enrolled bill text from here. Bill status for 2007 measures and more, here.
Today’s Oregonian (my starter commuter newspaper) had lots of legal news today. In fact, too much for me to do this all in one swell foop. And I haven’t yet started looking at the other Oregon newspapers.
Legislators agree on something (for now) about the corporate kicker (another story on this from the Salem Statesman Journal)
Oregon Legal Research Blog