“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.
If you are facing eviction there are some resources to help.
First, reach out to Legal Aid’s Eviction Defense Project; use the form or phone number on their website.
Second, check out Legal Aid’s Landlord-Tenant legal information and the Oregon State Bar’s information on landlord-tenant law. Their websites can help answer some of your questions.
Ken Svengalis has published a 2nd edition (2022) of his “A Layperson’s Guide to Legal Research and Self-Help Law Books” — and it’s half the price of the first edition.
“A Layperson’s Guide to Legal Research and Self-Help Law Books” can now be purchased at the Author Reputation Press bookstore. (Paperbound edition ($49.95) and an eBook edition ($24.99).)
Note 1: Please do NOT purchase this 2nd edition from Ken’s former website, NE Law Press, where only the previous edition of the Layperson’s Guide is for sale. (Ken’s 2021, 25th edition, of his “Legal Information Buyer’s Guide” is still for sale from the NE Law Press website.)
Read about the soon to be fully operational U.S. Copyright Office Small Claims Court:
“In December 2020, Congress passed the Copyright Alternative in Small-Claims Enforcement Act of 2020 (CASE Act), which directed the Copyright Office to establish the Copyright Claims Board (CCB). The CCB is a three-member tribunal within the Office that will provide an efficient and user-friendly option to resolve certain copyright disputes that involve up to $30,000 (called “small claims”). The Office is in the process of developing the CCB, which should begin hearing claims by spring 2022. In the meantime, read about what the CCB is, why you might want to use it, and our implementation progress.” [Link to U.S. Copyright small claims Court page.]
People new to legal research don’t know that legal histories can be found in judicial opinions and not just in books, articles, or legislative history compilations. There is a reason some judicial opinions are so long.
(New legal researchers also don’t know that one needs to verify any legal history by reading the cases and statutes cited by the judge(s) AND update everything one reads using current sources and citators.)
I read about Judge Matthew Cooper’ canine jurisprudence exposition in a November 22, 2021, New Yorker article, “The Bench: Cats and Dogs,” page 18 (print edition):
If you need a reminder that there are funny, honest, and treacle-free people in this world and who are law librarians – and Ray is one – read on for a charming and very funny article about such a mensch:
“His madcap recaps of Berkeley softball games have been a hit for 25 years
Raymond Weschler has organized an egalitarian pick-up softball league since 1997, but he prefers writing emails about the games to playing in them,” by Joanne Furio, Feb. 27, 2022, at the Berkeleyside (nonprofit news, free for all, funded by readers):
The contest’s essay topic for 2022: The First Amendment and the Schoolhouse Gate: Students’ Free Speech Rights
High school students who live within U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit jurisdiction may enter the contest.
Our Oregon Historical Society, and its Oregon Encyclopedia, commemorate the 80th Anniversary of the President’s Executive Order 9066 (2/19/1942).
Visit the OHS Oregon Encyclopedia for this and other documents on the incarceration of Japanese people during World War 2. (Use the Explore tab for an A to Z index.)
Primary Source documents: Overview: Japanese American Wartime Incarceration in Oregon
Mandamus Proceeding: Kristof v. Fagan (Feb 2022)
Filed: February 17, 2022
IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF OREGON
