Oregon Law and Laws Online: Ha Ha Ha

Ha ha ha. I spent time this morning doing the following (fellow public and private law librarians around the state do the same, just about every day):

1) Showing a lawyer and others how to compile a legislative history – this can take an hour or more, depending on how far back and how complex the question is. Ask your Legislator to show you how to do this. Ha ha ha. (They are probably glad we don’t send all our patrons and their questions to their offices!) You cannot do this online for any legislative history before 1995 or if you want any of the Exhibits from 1995 forward. Ha ha ha.

2) Explaining to lawyers that the ORS is not online, EXCEPT for the current year. Superseded ORSs DO exist digitally back to (maybe?) 1997 or thereabouts. But the Oregon Legislature DOES NOT keep previous ORS editions online, even though they could – easily. Ha ha ha. Maybe they don’t know that lawyers and pro se litigants really need to see those old ORSs! Ha ha ha. (You can find some of them here, thanks to our favorite law student, Robb Shecter, and his Oregonlaws dot org website.)

So, the next time someone says, “It’s all online,” do this: ha ha ha (or type the word laughing into Google Images and have a giggle :-).

Here’s my latest list of what legal information is NOT online and/or NOT FREE online (from this Legal Information website).

Anonymous says:

October 19, 2011 at 10:35 pm

looking to see the difference between oregon and bc canada defintion of harrassment b

November 3, 2012 at 3:36 am

looking to see the difference between assualt and battery also when can charges be pressed within what reasonable time frame due to fear of retaliation or death from verbal threat abuser made?

Hugh O'Donnell says:

May 5, 2013 at 9:34 pm

Hi Laura! I just subscribed to OregonLaws.org after following a number of your leads from the other day… remember the school bus issue on private roads in Preston Meadows (Hillsboro)? $3/month seems like a good investment.

I have no idea of how to prepare a legal brief, but I think I did a creditable job preparing a discussion that illuminates the main points — supported by statute — that would help preserve school bus service in the neighborhood. . Anyhow, I really enjoyed our discussion and I learned a lot from you!

If you think there’s anything that could help you help another neighborhood with our (so far) unique situation, I’ll be happy to email you a copy.

Best,

Hugh

oregonlegalresearch says:

May 7, 2013 at 10:35 am

You’re welcome! Call upon us any time. We enjoy showing people how to research the law. It’s not the easiest thing in the world to do well.

Angela says:

March 20, 2016 at 9:36 pm

How can I challenge and Oregon procedure that is poorly defined in our Oregon constatuition. I was looking at the Oregon Constitution and noticed Art. 1, Sect 17.
http://bluebook.state.or.us/state/constitution/constitution01.htm

But the Oregon Rules of Civil Procedure is not very clear on that either. ORCP §50 repeats the Constitution but §51 raises a question of statute.https://www.oregonlegislature.gov/bills_laws/Pages/orcp.aspx

When I dealt with a child protection civil case I wasn’t not allowed a jury trial or support in the court room. I’m guessing this has never been challenged.