Librarians may now qualify for FOIA fee exemption as educational institution requesters:
Excerpt from Wisblawg, 12/21/2020, blog post:
“Librarians now qualify for FOIA fee exemption as educational institution requesters,” December 21, 2020
Plots thicken. Yes, they do. The “little red house” saga in Portland, Oregon, is a perfect example.
One article by journalists working with Oregon Public Broadcasting (OPB) summed up What We Know So Far, as of December 10, 2020, which, as you know if you continue to follow the story, had to be updated the next day and the next day and ….
The lesson to be learned here is always to listen, breathe, stop, read, research, listen, stop, sleep, read, and breathe again before you decide where you stand on an (or any) idea, news story, or shouted slogan.
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).
View the ceremony and read the Oath of Office:
Oregon State Bar October 2020 Virtual Admissions Ceremony
“Chief Justice Martha Walters and the Oregon State Bar welcome those eligible for admission to the practice of law. While Justice Walters will lead participants in a symbolic Oath of Office ….”
Most organizations and corporations have mission statements in one form or another. (A good business plan will always include one.)
Mission statements are often aspirational but also restrictive, by which I mean they can save the organization from the dreaded “mission creep.” (For a funny “Portlandia” (the TV show) based example of averted mission creep, see below.*)
First, here is a list of 50 county (or public) law library mission statements, courtesy of the 3 Geeks and a Law Blog.
Yes there is still a U.S. Constitution and it has its own day. Read about it at the Constitution Center and the Library of Congress where they also have Constitution Day Teacher Resources, for teachers and homeschoolers everywhere.
And don’t forget those extraterrestrials and the Bill of Rights.
URLs cited above:
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:
Who said learning about how laws are made can’t be any fun? Clearly, that person never looked at the Classroom Law Project’s Bill of Rights for Extraterrestrials Lesson Plan for grades 4-12. (It would probably be a lot of fun for grown-ups, too.)
Visit the Resources page of the Classroom Law Project and look for the “Extraterrestrials and Your Rights!” lesson, including handouts you can download.
“In this engaging, interactive strategy, introduce the Bill of Rights, Natural Rights, and other constitutional concepts to your students – as a response to extraterrestrials landing in Oregon! On the sidebar are the components you need for this activity and feel free to adjust them to fit your classroom needs. Let us know if you have any questions or would like us to come and try this out with you or for your classroom – it’s a lot of fun, and will encourage fantastic conversation from elementary through college level.” [Visit the Extraterrestrials and Your Rights! page for more information.]
If you need a quick answer to an Oregon Special Session question, pick up the phone and call your legislator (from the Find Your Legislator form) or the State Legislature’s switchboard (800-332-2313) or call or email a legislative librarian at the State Library of Oregon.
Current Oregon Legislative (General Assembly) Special Session information can be found via the Oregon Legislature’s homepage.
Historic Special Sessions (From the Secretary of State Blue Book (from 1860 to 1-2 years ago).)
Facts matter (usually, often, or at least eventually, sometimes, maybe, well, we can at least try to read and listen to original sources … please):
Listen to the Unrefined Sophisticates podcast at the Stitcher link below and via other podcast platforms (search unrefined sophisticates for more links):
The Unrefined Sophisticates Podcast: Exclusive Naked Athena of Portland Interview (116 MINS July 24, 2020)
