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Today’s Oregonian has an editorial by Linda Flores on putting the question to the voters. about changing our biennial legislature to an annual one. She refers, among other things, to SCR1, here. (You can track down more 2007 Legislative bills here.) Much more will be said about this issue over the next few months, and much has been said before, but it’s an interesting issue to research and think about – at least to us wonks. But I’m one of those who found the Portland Charter Review interesting, so what can I say.

I heard on the radio today that the Oregon Constitution needs a fix because of this section 6, from Article VIII:

Section 6. Qualifications of electors at school elections. In all school district elections every citizen of the United States of the age of twenty-one years and upward who shall have resided in the school district during the six months immediately preceding such election, and who shall be duly registered prior to such election in the manner provided by law, shall be entitled to vote, provided such citizen is able to read and write the English language. [Created through initiative petition filed June 25, 1948, and adopted by the people Nov. 2, 1948]

Note: The leadline to section 6 was a part of the measure proposed by initiative petition filed June 25, 1948, and adopted by the people Nov. 2, 1948.

I don’t remember which radio station reported this story. I bounce around the stations a lot, from the program presenter with the squeaky voice to the ones who snarl, to the smarmy one, and sometime to the snarky one. It’s rough being up well before dawn cracks. And I do miss Bob Edwards.

Law librarians are useful people to have around. We know how to find statutes, cases, obscure reports, know about mysteries of the invisible web, guide you through the pain and perils of winning the lottery, we’re pretty good around mismatched socks, can decorate book carts, we can tell you things you didn’t know about MySpace, and now you can get the benefit of our (ahem) expertise on Internet Dating. Who Knew!?

P.S. Law Librarians also love LLRX in his/her full glory – but that’s all I’m going to say – law librarians don’t kiss and tell.

Today’s Oregonian opinion piece by Lewis & Clark ‘s Professor Blumm is here: “Inject some clarity in our land-use laws,” and Lewis & Clark’s Professor James Huffman’s piece from Jan 18th, “Measure 37 and the New NIMBYs,” is here.

I’ve been hobnobbing with law librarians in fabulous Seattle so am behind with my blog postings. But until I get caught up, here is one story from the Seattle Post-Intelligencer that caught my eye while I was away: “Kaczynski, victims clash over Unabomber papers.” Librarians (of all kinds, including archivists, records managers, law librarians, etc.) and historians all lean toward preserving documents and documents collections intact, but Human Beings are not so simple. There is an interesting battle going on here.

In honor of our receipt of the GITMO attorney list, as a result of someone’s FOIA request and then compliments of posting on a law librarian listserve, this post is about FOIA in the law library.

Law librarians (and other types of librarians for that matter) periodically get requests on how to file FOIA requests. In the old days (i.e. pre-web) this was a relatively straightforward (if you knew the secret), but rather mysterious activity (and no more likely than now to get quick results so don’t get your hopes up). Nowadays, not only do most government agencies post their FOIA procedures on the web, but there are also FOIA blogs and columnists (type “foia” into the LLRX search box). So you have no excuse for not doing your homework and preparing a FOIA request that is a thing of beauty. What happens after you file your request is another matter entirely.

Note: For those who are new to FOIA, it’s pronounced, “foy-ya.”

I’m collecting articles and ideas for an upcoming program on “How to Find a Lawyer” and while cruising through The Blawgs came across a link to this Findlaw article , “Are Lawyers’ Blogs Protected by the First Amendment? Why State Bar Regulation of Law Blogs As “Advertising” Would Be Elitist and Reductive,” by Julie Hilden. (Thank you to Jim Milles for the link at Check This Out, a collection of law library stories, legal research podcasts, and much more.)

A Portland Business Journal story reports on and links to new DFCS rules for mortgage lenders.

From Elizabeth E. Welch, Esq.:

“We are having a Free Legal Consultation Day here at KOHLHOFF & WELCH. The details are:
February 9, 2007
KOHLHOFF & WELCH
Attorneys at Law
A Mother Daughter Partnership
5828 North Lombard
Portland, Oregon 97203
503.286.7178

The consultations are for a half hour, any further representation by mutual agreement only. Spaces are available from 9 to 5. Some are filled already and we anticipate full capacity–first come first serve!”

For more about Kohlhoff & Welch, see here and here.

Interesting posting (which does not mean I agree with it, so perhaps I should say, “provocative” post) at FutureLawyer about LegalZoom (direct link to LegalZoom, here):

“LegalZoom is an Internet site that allows consumers to create legal documents online, without the assistance of a lawyer. I will leave to the future the wisdom of this; except to say that lawyers who don’t use technology will not be able to compete. We need to offer legal advice AND document drafting at a competitive price, or we will not have to worry about law practice anymore. It will be gone. There is no subsitute for a competent lawyer’s advice. However, we need to give the public value, or they will go elsewhere.”