Sincere apologies, but there is no way to make this a short blog post for those new to this task, so bear with me.
This blog post will cover these topics:
I) Online Court Documents: A Brief Primer
Link to the new Congressional Research Service (CRS) Report: “Abortion: Judicial History and Legislative Response,” from the Legal Research Plus website.
In case you ever wondered why that Oregon Notary Public doesn’t just “wham, bam, stamp, and thank you, ma’am,” take a look at what Oregon Notaries Public need to consider before notarizing your document.
If you wonder about what can go wrong, attend one of the excellent Notary Seminars for some hair-raising stories.
From the Oregon (Secretary of State’s) Notary Qualification website:
In case you were wondering (and especially if one day you ask me if I remember when and where this article was published):
Zack Mazur, “Crime and Contempt: One of these things is not like the other,” Oregon Defense Attorney, July/August 2011, vol. 32, No. 4., pp. 6-7
This is a copyrighted publication from OCDLA so you may need to get a copy from them or from a law library that subscribes to the publication – though for now, OCDLA very kindly and generously makes previous issues available publicly at their website.
Sports Law is a specialized field of law and like other specialized fields of law, require knowledge of a wide range of subjects related to the topic: e.g. criminal law, civil rights, contracts, juvenile law, tax law, insurance, personal injury, local government law, and the rules and laws of the sports world you occupy, e.g. NCAA (and see under NCAA Resources for more about their rules and laws).
Whether you coach a local team or are a law student aiming for a law practice in the professional sports world, it’s never too late to talk to a lawyer who can give you a primer on Sports Law.
Sample Sports Law Research Guides (you can also search those words for more guides):
Now that WWDTM (Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me) has included this case in their radio quiz program, maybe I should catch up on blogging about it – especially since the contestant didn’t know the answer.
On July 18th, 2012, Multnomah County Circuit Court Judge David Rees acquitted John E. Brennan of an indecent exposure charge.
The decision (order or opinion) is not at the Multnomah County Circuit Court website so you’ll need to contact the court if you want a copy. (Look for a future OLR blog post about e-Court and locating circuit court documents.)
beSpacific alerted us to this beta-test Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) database:
You can file all sorts of consumer financial services complaints at their “Submit a complaint” website.
Update: See “Oregon Supreme Court will tackle MERS foreclosure issues,” by Brent Hunsberger, The Oregonian, July 19, July 20 (print edition), 2012.
For the decision AND an overview of Oregon’s nonjudicial foreclosure laws:
Rebecca Niday v. GMAC Mortgage, LLC (A147430) (from Clackamas County Circuit Court)
Excerpt from CMLP homepage announcement: “We are pleased to announce the publication of our Guide to the Internal Revenue Service Decision-Making Process under Section 501(c)(3) for Journalism and Publishing Non-Profit Organizations.
With the journalism industry in a state of flux, there are a growing number of news ventures that have elected to operate as non-profit organizations. Many of these ventures depend upon receiving a federal tax exemption from the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. However, confusion about the IRS’s standards in applying Section 501(c)(3) has led to applications for tax-exempt status being delayed or denied. It has also led to criticism of the IRS as being arbitrary in its decision-making process and adverse to the journalism industry….” [Link to CMLP homepage announcement and linked page]
A 3 Geeks and a Blog July 13 (Turning Internet Nasty Into Money for a Cause) started me thinking, perhaps in the slipstream of others, about people who use websites and blogs intentionally or unintentionally to redress consumer (and other) injuries and grievances or to shame those “who done them wrong,” rather than hiring a lawyer – or to help build public support for their own pro se / self-represented / small claims lawsuit.
I’m not talking about The Complainers, those people who would rather have their grievances (and their whining) than a solution to a problem. I’m thinking instead about people who really do try to solve problems creatively with deliberation, conversation, research and hard work. (See the example in the 3 Geeks post, that of Anita Sarkeesian, and Heather Peters, the California Small Claims Court litigant)
Journalists, newspapers, and other days-of-yore print media have always use Publication to educate and persuade, but now, almost anyone can broadcast. Consider, for example, that 2009 U.S. Supreme Court case (Safford Unified School District v. Redding) about the strip search of a high school girl by school officials. After oral argument the print and the online chatter was brutal, shaming, criticizing, and outright laughing at the utter and apparent cluelessness of many of the Justice’s questions and assumptions about Real High School Life (specifically for young women). I wonder if that onslaught of “are you kidding me?!!” types of broadcast reaction forced the Justices to step back a little to rethink their previously fixed opinions, if only to retain a little professional and maybe even personal credibility, dignity, and respect. (Their own children and grandchildren are surely not banned from telling them A Thing or Two About Youf Today.)
Oregon Legal Research Blog