Law Day

Justice Earl Warren via Wikipedia

2016 marks the 50th anniversary of one of our most famous court cases, Miranda v. Arizona. In recognition of this historic case, the ABA has announced that the theme for this years Law Day is "Miranda: More than Words."

The opinion of the Supreme Court was delivered by Chief Justice Earl Warren and ruled that police had violated Ernesto Miranda's 5th and 6th Amendment rights. Referencing the existing practices of the FBI and the Uniform Code of Military Justice which required notifying a suspect of their right to remain silent, and a right to counsel, the Court stated, "As with the warnings of the right to remain silent and of the general right to counsel, only by effective and express explanation to the indigent of this right can there be assurance that he was truly in a position to exercise it."

The Miranda Warning has become a fixture in law enforcement and popular culture since the court decision was made in June, 1966. The ABA is encouraging us to reflect on not just the words of the warning itself, but the meaning of the words and the rights we safeguard and preserve through them.

Also, you can listen to the original oral arguments here, courtesy of Oyez. It's pretty awesome.

Happy Earth Day Law Scholars!

Henry Diamond. Photo via parksandrecreation.org

Today, we're going to take a moment to talk about Henry Diamond. He was a lawyer and environmentalist who championed parks and conservation efforts for 50 years. He served as the first commissioner of the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC), edited the final report of the Outdoor Resources Review Commission, and later went on to establish the firm Beveridge and Diamond. To no one's surprise, it was the foremost national firm that practiced environmental and natural resources law. And these are only some of his accomplishments. In 2011 he received the Lifetime Conservation Achievement Award from the Department of the Interior.

You can read more about him here and here and here.

APRIL!

Image courtesy poets.ca

Dearest Law Scholars and Burgeoning Bards,

To celebrate National Poetry Month and National Library Week, the Law Library is hosting a poetry writing contest - with a legal twist of course!

The Details:

• For your poem, select a major case covered in one of your 1L classes (think International Shoe, etc.) and rewrite it as a poem. The format is up to you; limerick, verse, prose, haiku, whatever. It must however, fit on the one page submission form.
• Professor Pommersheim has agreed to serve as the juror and will select the top 5 submissions. (The Law Library staff will redact student names before sending the poems off to Professor Pommersheim in Oregon, so it will be a blind review.)
• The top 5 will each receive $10 in Amazon gift cards courtesy of Lexis, as well as a signed copy of "Local Memory & Karma," Professor Pommersheim’s most recent poetry chapbook.
• Forms can be picked up at the Circulation Desk and must be placed in the submission box at the desk by 5:00 p.m. on Friday, April 22.  We will then send the poems off for review and the winners will be announced on Friday, April 29.

Need some inspiration? Visit our display on the Main Floor of the Law Library, which includes case citations to some actual legal opinions written in poem form (yes, they exist!), as well as some of Professor Pommersheim’s poetry chapbooks and other literary titles from our collection.   

Spring Break

Dear Law Scholars,
Your much needed study break has arrived! Whether you'll be donning a bikini or flannel pajamas all week, we hope that you will come back bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, ready to wrap up this semester.

In addition to spring break, this March brings with it Women's History Month and Saint Patrick's Day. To celebrate, we are featuring both Irish women and women that call The Great Plains home, who've shared their talents with the world. We also have some suggested reads that are on topic via HeinOnline.

AND, for you more artistic types, you might want to veg out to House of Cards while filling these and/or these in.

The Times - Unpublished Black History

Representative Adam Clayton Powell Jr. George Tames/The New York Times

As we wrap up Black History Month, I thought I'd bring your attention to this cool project The New York Times has been doing - Unpublished Black History. Every day for the month of February, The Times has been posting a picture from their archives that has never been published before. It runs the gamut, from politics to entertainment to local New York events. It's definitely a treasure trove of visual information, and could provide you with a nice yet educational break from your law studies *hint hint ;)

Keep up the good work Law Scholars! Spring break is just around the corner!

Presidents' Day

The Father of Black History

By David from Washington, DC (Carter G. Woodson  Uploaded by AlbertHerring) [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

While the history of black Americans certainly does not begin with Carter Godwin Woodson, its realized importance is in large part thanks to him.

Carter Woodson was a teacher and historian who was concerned about the preservation of his culture, and convinced that African American history, and the history of other cultures was either overlooked or misrepresented. In 1915 he founded the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History (later the Association for the Study of African American Life and History). It was in 1926, that he and the Association for the Study of African American Life announced that the second week of February was Negro History Week (which, not so coincidentally, coincided with both Abraham Lincoln's and Frederick Douglass' birthdays) and would place emphasis on the education of African Americans contributions to history.

Negro History Week would eventually grow into Black History Month in 1970, but became officially recognized by the U.S. government in 1979, as part of the United States Bicentennial.

And thus concludes this very, very brief history lesson on the history of Black History Month. Stop by the Law Library to see our Black History Month display, and get some suggested readings on other notable people and moments in African American history.

Good News for those who Trust Groundhogs

Photo Courtesy ShannonPatrick17

Punxsutawney Phil did not see his shadow! An early spring is predicted amongst this terrible winter storm. This was independently verified by Shubenacadie Sam (Canada's foremost Groundhog weatherman) that it is indeed true - we can in fact expect an early spring. So enjoy this winter wonderland, it won't be long till we're hit with tornadoes and daffodils!

Febrrrrrrary

We're kickin' off February with blizzards! Aside from that though, February is a pretty big month, what with groundhogs, and love, and birthdays, and it's a leap year.

Be sure the check out this month's displays and learn some fun facts about our nation's leaders in this book, remember that Valentine's Day isn't always for lovers, and discover notable achievements by African American pioneers in history.

It's an exciting, albeit short month. Before you know it, SPRING BREAK!!!!!!!!!

Jurisprudential Love

Tulane University, Louisiana Research Collection Robert G. Polack Papers (New Orleans Lawyer)

Nice try Robert B. Polack, but that telegram is hardly legally binding! For us serious lovers seeking to secure a Valentine, docracy.com has us covered. 

Paul Otlet - Lawyer, Father of Information Science, Grandfather of Search Engines

Otlet (far left) looking like he wants to get back to work already

Today marks the 70th anniversary of Paul Otlet's death. Responsible for the standardization of the 3" x 5" index card for the card catalog, creator of the Universal Decimal System, inventor of analog Google (Repertoire Bibliographique Universel), and pioneer in microfilm's use in the library, Otlet is kind of a big deal. His vision of what a library would and could be has changed the way we research, gather, and store information. Thanks to him, you could do a quick Wikipedia search and learn more about this lawyer turned information scientist!

December at the Law Library

Happy Veterans Day!

"They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning,
We will remember them."

- Laurence Binyon
from For the Fallen

While doing research for this Veterans Day blog post, I was surprised by the number of poems that are an integral part of Armistice/Veterans Day observances. Dr. Stuart Lee, Oxford University English Lecturer, notes that this was "one of the seminal moments of the twentieth-century in which literate soldiers, plunged into inhuman conditions, reacted to their surroundings." 

In honor of our veterans and this year Veterans Day observances, I'm going to drop a link in here, for the Poetry Foundations curated collection of WWI poems. 

We hope you enjoy your brief rest from classes and/or work. See you back at the Law Library on Thursday!

November in the Law Library

A "Back to the Future Day" Miracle

It's probably not news to any nerds, ahem, I mean pop-culture aficionados, that today is "Back to the Future Day." But! Did you know that the lawsuit between the DeLorean Estate and the DeLorean Motor Company reached a settlement just in time for the festivities?

In 2014 Sally DeLorean sued DeLorean Motor Company for illegally using the DeLorean name to sell products. But finally, on "Back to the Future Day" eve, parties reached an agreement. Truly, this is more than sheer serendipity. . . even if they claim it's just coincidence.

Read more here.

Today is Native Americans' Day

The Law Library is featuring a display for Native Americans' Day on the main floor of the Law Library.  In case you missed it, the items will remain on display on the shelves of our Native American and Indigenous Peoples Collection through the end of October. 

October in the Law Library

The "Happy Birthday" Song was Copyrighted . . .Until Now

On September 22, a federal judge in Los Angeles ruled that very specific piano arrangements of "Happy Birthday" is copyrighted, but the lyrics and melody are not. The copyright owners, Warner/Chappell, have been earning around $2 million on the song each year. 

The song (originally "Good Morning to All" with the melody later also being used for "Happy Birthday To You") was written for kindergartners by sisters Mildred and Patty Hill in 1893.

Because "Happy Birthday" had been under copyright, the public had to get creative with its celebratory singsong in movies, plays, and restaurants - hence the improvised birthday ditty you got embarrassed by at Chi-Chi's when you were 13.

Happy Constitution Day!

Meet the Class of 1787, the signers of the United States Constitution.

Also, there's this sweet digital collection on the United States Constitution, brought to you by the Library of Congress.

September in the Law Library: Constitution Day and Banned Books Week

Constitution Day is September 17 and Banned Books Week is September 27 through October 3.  Both present a great opportunity to highlight our resources on free speech and the First Amendment. On our first floor display, in addition to selected reads brought to you by HeinOnline, we also have a handpicked assortment of books centered around human rights, free speech, and the First Amendment. "Freedom From Speech" by Greg Lukianoff, "Finding Jefferson" by Alan Dershowitz, and "Saving Our Children from the First Amendment" by Kevin Saunders, are just a few of the titles for you to peruse and/or borrow.