To continue my Oregon Legal Research blog post on Let’s Kill All the Law Libraries ….
What’s a “Virtual Law Library?” Lots of people throw the term around, but who knows?!
* Could it be Justia? The Public Library of Law? Would it be Findlaw? Could it be LexisOne?
Jack Bogs Blog points us to a NYT story, the latest on public access to law and the Oregon dispute:
He fought the law and … he won.
I posted about this Oregon Revised Statute dispute here and here.
Justice Bedsworth, of the California Courts of Appeal, returns with his October column in the Orange County Lawyer Magazine: Unsafe at Any Speed “Beds has found a danger Ralph Nader missed”
And you thought it will be hard to top last month’s column, Just Another Day in the Monkey House!
Are you wondering if the builder of that house or development you just moved into is going to declare bankruptcy or otherwise disappear before you finish painting your new kitchen?
I’m still waiting on some calls back from a few experts for more information, but here is what has been recommended to me so far (not all of the following will apply to your specific situation, so use your judgment):
1) Don’t assume the worst, at least not at first, but do your research, soon. And, as with any research, keep good notes on when, where, what, who, every step of the way:
For the past 20 years, at least, law school deans, legislators, law firm managers, lobbyists, jail and prison managers, among others, have been asking why their organizations need law libraries, and heaven forbid, law librarians. After all, “isn’t all the law online?”
My brief response is:
1) No, it’s not all online; only a fraction of it is, and most of that is just online versions of (allegedly official and current) primary sources and a lot of very bad “legal advice”. In other words, the easy-stuff is online, but not the right-stuff (that treatise, that superceded statute, that legislative history, etc.). And, if you don’t know how to use these primary sources in any format, print or otherwise (i.e. do legal research!), woe to those of you who try to make sense of these materials, e.g. the Oregon Laws, online.
Link to the Elections division, www.oregonvotes.org
The Hillsboro Argus ran this story, Sept. 30th, 2008: Check Your Voter Registration Online:
So far, the best (unofficial) place I’ve found to get a complete list of ballot measures is at Ballotpedia. If you type the word <Oregon> into the Ballotpedia search box you’ll likely be linked to this page.
Official sources (and my previous ballot measures post here):
Banned Book Week event:
Café Banned, at the Multnomah County Library, features a talk by the Oregon Public Defender, Steve Wax, who will talk about his book, Kafka Comes to America (also available at other libraries and bookstores).
Previous Bites:
Oregon Constitution in Small Bites: Bite #1 and Bite #2 (Bill of Rights, 1-6)
Oregon Constitution in Small Bites: Bite #3 (Bill of Rights, 7-12)
Oregon Constitution in Small Bites: #4 (Bill of Rights, 13-20)
Oregon Constitution in Small Bites: #5 (Bill of Rights, 21-30)
Oregon Constitution in Small Bites: #6 (Bill of Rights, 32-39)
Oregon Constitution in Small Bites #7: Bill of Rights, 40-42)
Today: Oregon Constitution in Small Bites: Bite #8 (Bill of Rights, 43-45):
43. Rights of victim and public to protection from accused person during criminal proceedings; denial of pretrial release
44. Term of imprisonment imposed by court to be fully served; exceptions
45. Person convicted of certain crimes not eligible to serve as juror on grand jury or trial jury in criminal case
Oregon Court of Appeals opinion:
SOLLARS v. CITY of MILWAUKIE (CV06020213; A132996) (decided 9/24/08)
