See this 3/28/18, post by Gavin Blake at the ALA District Dispatch:
“We did it! CRS reports will be public”
Excerpt: “After 20 years of advocacy by ALA, the public will soon have access to reports by the Congressional Research Service (CRS). A provision requiring public access to CRS reports was included in the omnibus appropriations law signed by the President on March 23.
Volunteer, apply for paid positions, engage. Look for local, state and national opportunities that match your skills and your bliss. For example:
We can “vote” 365 days of the year, not just on election days, at least as long as our U.S. Constitution remains intact:
Every Day is “Call Government Switchboard Day” or “Talk to Your Elected Representatives Day”:
Congress (use this one for contact info and this one for Congressional activities and documents), or:
Oregon women and their families walk and speak out to protect all our Oregon and U.S. Constitutional rights: Womens March in Oregon
The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) (see also this view of the TPP, among others) would become FEDERAL law, not STATE law, so you should start your research with your Oregon Congressional Delegation. This is not to say you shouldn’t also talk to your Oregon state representatives, who should be conversant on the subject of the TPP anyway, if only because any national trade laws will affect you locally, your business, you as consumer, and all of us (most of us) as taxpayers.
A brief tutorial:
Judges, public interest lawyers, and law librarians have a special interest in this European equivalent to a First Amendment battle. We stand up every day for people who want their voices to be heard and their human rights respected.
This growing cartoon collection is one of the most moving images so far from January 7th:
Monday, December 15, 2014, 6-8 p.m., in downtown Portland:
‘This “Advocacy 101” event will provide community members with tips on how to be an effective advocate for your community or neighborhood during this upcoming 2015 state legislative session and 114th Congress. A panel of elected officials, congressional staff, and professional advocates will share their advice and answer questions about how the community can make an impact on public policy at the state and federal levels.‘
Panelists:
On the countdown to the 2010 Legislative Session, I offer this:
While listening to a particularly interesting Oregon Legislative Committee hearing (yes, they can be interesting), I noticed how wide-ranging the questions from Legislators were. So, I made a list of the types of information that were asked about during this single hearing:
(See also, How To Testify Before a Legislative Committee.)
This is not a rhetorical or even a political question. It is a school assignment! Hurrah for teachers, especially those who try out their own assignments before handing them over to their students (and their students’ parents).
Librarians get to help answer students’ reference and research questions, public librarians more than law librarians, but we (Oregon law librarians, that is) also often have the opportunity and honor to pitch in to help students answer their law-related questions, especially when the question comes through L-net, the Oregon statewide online reference service. (Many states have one of these online reference services, in addition to email/IM reference services offered through individual libraries or library systems.)
So, how about that Abuse of Power and Constitutions assignment? It had a follow-up exercise too: “Give an example of a nation that is not a constitutional government.”
Oregon Legal Research Blog