“Cite Wikipedia in an argument to a judge, and you are likely to get a disapproving glare in response. ‘Give me solid precedent,’ the judge is likely to say, ‘cases and statutes and respected authorities.’
But a team of scientists from MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) and Maynooth University, Ireland, has concluded that, in fact, Wikipedia has a measurable impact on judicial decision making. …”
Read the rest of Bob Ambrogi’s article on LawSites.
Our friends at HeinOnline offer 5 Simple Tips to Improve Your Research. Written by Lauren Mattiuzzo, this offers five quick tips to help use HeinOnline more effectively and efficiently. HeinOnline is legal research database with a rich collection of law review articles, historic and current federal legal resources, and special topics such as gun laws or LGBTQ+ information. HeinOnline may be accessible via your local Oregon county law library, or the State of Oregon Law Library.
The tips are 1. Use PathFinder; 2. Use One-Box and Search Syntax; 3. Use Citations; 4. Use the Serial Set Lookup Tools, and 5. Use MyHein (may not be available for public patron accounts). Each tool has a short instructional video.
Anyone who reads tweets on Twitter knows the perils of what I’ll loosely call tweet lifting (aka tweet appropriation), i.e. taking without attribution (or linking).
Yes, failing to provide citations for graphs, charts, statistics, fact assertions, etc. is also a Twitter problem, and other twitterers (tweeters?) will call you to account on those – at least smart, if not also bitter and twisted, twitterers will. New twitterers won’t know the rules right away, but will (or should) catch on quickly. Maybe we need a Twitter Bluebook. (hahahaha, no, please!)
For more about tweet appropriation, so to speak, visit Plagiarism Today and enter the word twitter (among others) into the search box. You will find Mr. Bailey’s comments about twitter ethics (and egos) and related subjects. You might want to start here, this excerpt from: “Twitter, Plagiarism and Retweeting,” by Jonathan Bailey, July 17, 2014:
For those still dealing with recovering from the Oregon wildfires, here are a couple legal resources.
Wildfire Resources – Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industry
Oregon Disaster Legal Resources – Legal Aid Services of Oregon (LASO), Oregon Law Center (OLC), and the Center for Nonprofit Legal Services (CNPLS).
According to The Oregonian the federal government is using a rarely enforced civil disorder statute to prosecute at least two protesters in Portland (“Feds start leveling rare civil disorder charges against demonstrators for alleged violence at Portland protests,” Sept. 3, 2020). The article notes the law is also being applied in other cities in the United States, and that the law was adopted in 1968 during a period of “civil rights turmoil.” On September 3 two more people were charged under the civil disorder statute: Pointing lasers at officers during Portland protests now leads to federal civil disorder felony allegations, The Oregonian (Sept. 4, 2020).
The law in question is 18 U.S. Code § 231. Civil disorders. Generally the states have broad power to enact criminal statutes, while the federal government is limited to enforcing criminal laws on federal land or property, that involve actions crossing state lines, or in areas explicitly allowed by the U.S. Constitution. So how does the federal government get the ability to enact a broad civil disorder statute?
The answer, is found in a part of the statute itself; subsection (a)(3) reads:
If you want to vote for a Presidential candidate in the Oregon Primary election on May 19, 2020, you must be registered by the April 28, 2020, deadline as a member of the same political party as your candidate of choice.
Visit your county Election Office, fill out an official Election Office voter registration form, or register online at the Oregon Secretary of State’s Election Office website.
NAVs (non-affiliated voters) cannot vote for a Party’s candidate. You must register with a Political arty in order to vote for that Party’s candidate in the Primary election.
In an effort to make law library services more widely available, a law librarian is now on duty to provide assistance on a walk-in basis at both the Beaverton City Main Library and Tigard Public Library, once each month. The law librarian can help find legal resources and documents, as well as assist in using online legal research tools unique to the Law Library. Although they cannot offer legal advice, law librarians can refer people to agencies or organizations that might be able to provide some assistance.
Regularly scheduled hours are as follows:
The Legal Services Corporation recently highlighted their 2016 Library Initiative White Paper. The article points out that
“[t]here are more than 16,000 public libraries in the United States, offering free public access to computers, the internet, and to trained staff equipped to help library patrons access information.
Therefore, libraries have untapped potential to help low-income individuals who need assistance with civil legal problems. With the proper training and support, librarians could provide information to a significant number of Americans who quality for LSC-funded legal aid but are turned away due to a lack of resources.”
The American Association of Law Libraries (AALL) awarded their 2017 Public Access to Government Information (PAGI) Award to Laura Orr, the former Washington County Law Librarian (2002-2015).
AALL Press Release, excerpt:
“AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF LAW LIBRARIES ANNOUNCES 2017 PUBLIC ACCESS TO GOVERNMENT INFORMATION AWARD WINNER
I’m sure your state’s legislative, judicial, and executive branch IT managers are wishing they had attended the Legal Hackers Summit. Here’s some commentary on one rather interesting topic. (Legal Geek Love, indeed!)
“Greenwood: Law Itself is the Killer Blockchain App,” posted on July 11, 2016 by legalinformatics, which links to this blog post: Law Itself is the Killer Blockchain App
About Legal Hackers: “Legal Hackers is a global movement of lawyers, policymakers, technologists, and academics who explore and develop creative solutions to some of the most pressing issues at the intersection of law and technology. Through local meetups, hackathons, and workshops across 40 global chapters, Legal Hackers spot issues and opportunities where technology can improve and inform the practice of law and where law, legal practice, and policy can adapt to rapidly changing technology.”
Oregon Legal Research Blog