tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-67887397867476504582012-01-28T00:39:28.532-05:00Harold O'Gradynoreply@blogger.comBlogger5581100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6788739786747650458.post-78021738404211166372012-01-27T19:24:00.005-05:002012-01-28T00:39:28.538-05:00

On December 16, 2011, Rep. Darrel Issa (R-CA) Carolyn B. Maloney (D-NY) introduced H.R. 3699, the Research Works Act, similar to the Fair Copyright in Research Works Act from 2008. The legislation would end the current requirement that research paid for by taxpayers be publicly available for free. The main section of the RWA states: "No Federal agency may adopt, implement, maintain, continue, or

Harold O'Gradynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6788739786747650458.post-16813423311121532792012-01-25T09:20:00.002-05:002012-01-25T09:35:47.220-05:00

Jean Davis is currently serving as Interim Library Director of Brooklyn Law School Library. She and the staff look forward to working with incoming Law Library Director and Associate Professor of Law Janet Sinder in summer 2012.Sara Gras, Reference Librarian and Adjunct Assistant Professor of Law, joined the staff at Brooklyn Law School after obtaining her M.L.S. from the Queens College Graduate

Harold O'Gradynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6788739786747650458.post-71848620299015927752012-01-20T20:28:00.003-05:002012-01-20T22:26:04.786-05:00

The same day the online blackout of SOPA and PIPA protested the broadening of copyright law as censorship, the US Supreme Court issued its 6-2 opinion in Golan v. Holder, a copyright case that may possibly have greater impact on scholars, librarians, and archivists. Plaintiffs, a group of conductors, educators, and others challenged the constitutionality of the Uruguay Round Agreements Act (URAA)

Harold O'Gradynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6788739786747650458.post-45083511523985177672012-01-19T12:25:00.007-05:002012-01-19T15:20:23.079-05:00

The Brooklyn Law School Library offers to the BLS community ProQuest Congressional, a comprehensive online resource for historic and current Congressional hearings, public issues, legislation, history and legal research collection of congressional information available anywhere online. Access to ProQuest Congressional is via IP Authentication and is available On-Campus only. Consult the proxy

Harold O'Gradynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6788739786747650458.post-31664456730398855352012-01-17T15:54:00.009-05:002012-01-17T16:55:15.322-05:00

On Wednesday, January 18, 2012, the English language version of Wikipedia will go dark in protest of proposed US anti-piracy laws, the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA - H.R. 3261) and the Protect IP Act (PIPA – S.968), joining other sites, such as MoveOn, Reddit, BoingBoing, Mozilla, and WordPress. Other big name sites like Craigslist, Google, Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr all have expressed their

Harold O'Gradynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6788739786747650458.post-37540830352793131352012-01-13T18:15:00.003-05:002012-01-13T18:41:32.727-05:00

Episode 073 – Conversation with Prof. Nelson Tebbe.mp3In this podcast, Brooklyn Law School Professor Nelson Tebbe discusses his recent article, Nonbelievers, 97 Va. L. Rev. 1111 (2011). The article addresses how courts should handle nonbelievers who bring religious freedom claims. The answer is not an easy one as the religion clauses of the Constitution protect only religion. Today, this problem

Harold O'Gradynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6788739786747650458.post-58710425062631849292012-01-12T15:13:00.006-05:002012-01-12T16:01:59.770-05:00

Rent control and rent stabilization in New York City has been a contentious issue since its inception in the 1920s and after when President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed into law 60 years the Emergency Price Control Act (EPCA) providing for a universal, nationwide price regulatory system. For a history of rent control in NY, see this link. Now a pro se petition for a writ of certiorari may give

Harold O'Gradynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6788739786747650458.post-65233867092759731902012-01-10T13:01:00.019-05:002012-01-10T13:42:14.664-05:00

This week marks the 10th anniversary of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (Pub. L. No. 107–110) which President George W. Bush signed into law on January 8, 2012 changing how school districts educate America's students. In remarks on signing the bill made at a public school in Ohio, President Bush said:The fundamental principle of this bill is that every child can learn, we expect every child

Harold O'Gradynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6788739786747650458.post-46511876215799150702012-01-06T17:32:00.004-05:002012-01-06T17:40:47.861-05:00

The BLS Library Blog wishes readers a Happy New Year. The first of the year is when many new laws take effect. New York passed the Job Creation and Taxpayer Protection Act of 2011 enacting personal income tax cuts for about 4.4 million people and tax relief for manufacturers (Chapter 55, L.2011). A 2% cap on property tax increases levied by school districts and local governments also starts this

Harold O'Gradynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6788739786747650458.post-84179165511035350212011-12-16T15:54:00.009-05:002011-12-17T00:34:39.434-05:00

With the coming Holiday Season, the BLS Library Blog will be away until the New Year. Brooklyn Law School and the BLS Library will close on Saturday, December 24 and reopen on Tuesday, January 3. Looking back at the history of the celebration of the Christmas holidays in the US shows that in early America, work went on as usual on Christmas day. Puritan influence in parts of New England stemming

Harold O'Gradynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6788739786747650458.post-69012252113221287332011-12-14T16:37:00.003-05:002011-12-14T16:38:46.475-05:00

Earlier this month, the Department of Health and Human Services in a memorandum blocked a Food and Drug Administration recommendation to make Plan B available without a prescription to women under 17. The executive decision has drawn a response from a group of 15 US Senators who have sent a letter to HHS seeking the specific rationale and data that went into the decision. Now, US District Court

Harold O'Gradynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6788739786747650458.post-55232043037832574102011-12-10T15:38:00.005-05:002011-12-10T16:52:24.962-05:00

This week, the US Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Williams v. Illinois on whether a defendant’s rights were violated with the admission of expert testimony about the results of a DNA test where there was no opportunity to confront the actual analysts. Defendant’s attorney, in appealing a decision of the Illinois Supreme Court upholding the rape and kidnapping conviction, argued that without

Harold O'Gradynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6788739786747650458.post-11200803157705337852011-12-09T16:34:00.006-05:002011-12-09T16:43:34.161-05:00

December 10th marks Human Rights Day 2011, an annual celebration that began in December 1950, when the General Assembly declared a resolution inviting member states to celebrate the day as they saw fit. Sponsored by the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Human Rights Day incorporates events, media, and stories about the impact of human rights around the world. The

Harold O'Gradynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6788739786747650458.post-41840149200096211912011-12-08T18:55:00.007-05:002011-12-09T01:22:47.789-05:00

The Second Circuit Court of Appeals in U.S. v. Dugan, 2011 WL 6015752, upheld the conviction of two men for obstructing the entrances to a Planned Parenthood clinic, interfering with clinic staff and patients, in violation of the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act. The defendants were charged with a Class B misdemeanor under 18 U.S.C. §248(a) which makes it a crime to engage in

Harold O'Gradynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6788739786747650458.post-82897473645038659502011-12-07T20:02:00.003-05:002011-12-07T20:08:52.008-05:00

Brooklyn Law School students interested in summer internships should know that the Center for Court Innovation is accepting applications for its Summer 2012 Law School Internship Program. This is an unpaid internship, which will run for eight weeks to ten weeks, commencing in late May or early June and concluding in August. Founded as a public/private partnership between the New York State

Harold O'Gradynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6788739786747650458.post-65268251000511332822011-12-06T17:57:00.009-05:002011-12-07T01:06:23.577-05:00

Law students often write lengthy papers and exams answers believing more is better. But readers, including both law professors and judges, take brevity seriously. See for example the case of Mylward v. Weldon, 21 ER 136 (1596), where the Chancery Court of England punished an aspiring lawyer and ordered that a pleading 120 pages long be removed from the file because it was about eight times longer

Harold O'Gradynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6788739786747650458.post-80113272328586254062011-12-05T15:02:00.006-05:002011-12-05T16:52:21.525-05:00

"Cloud computing" which Webopedia defines as a "type of computing that is comparable to grid computing, relies on sharing computing resources rather than having local servers or personal devices to handle applications. The goal of cloud computing is to apply traditional supercomputing power (normally used by military and research facilities) to perform tens of trillions of computations per second

Harold O'Gradynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6788739786747650458.post-11364672262233394002011-12-04T14:19:00.005-05:002011-12-04T14:41:42.904-05:00

Brooklyn Law School Library has these study tools and services to assist students prepare for exams. Extended HoursThe Law Library will open for extended hours during the reading and exam periods.Reading/Examination Period: December 8 – 23, 2011Seven days a week: 8:00am–2:00amDecember 23 close at 10:00pmStudy RoomsThe Library uses an online study room reservation system during the reading and

Harold O'Gradynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6788739786747650458.post-47113539265330820752011-12-02T16:57:00.002-05:002011-12-02T17:20:40.702-05:00

Congratulations to Michael A. Sabino, Brooklyn Law School Class of 2012, for winning the Winter 2011 Student Legal Writing Contest sponsored by the National Law Review for his article Football and Antitrust Law: American Needle v. NFL and Its Meaning for Combinations in Restraint of Trade and the Rule of Reason in the 21st Century. Michael is an intern for the Hon. Leonard Wexler, U.S. District

Harold O'Gradynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6788739786747650458.post-63319489472769281912011-11-30T16:48:00.003-05:002011-11-30T21:36:26.291-05:00

Episode 072 – Conversation with Prof. Steven Dean.mp3 This podcast features Brooklyn Law School Professor Steven A. Dean discussing his recent article, Tax Deregulation, 86 N.Y.U. L. Rev. 387 (May 2011). The article defines what tax deregulation is as it has emerged as an important feature of the tax policy landscape. It has done so even as scholars have failed to grapple with its normative

Harold O'Gradynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6788739786747650458.post-22924559759803001802011-11-29T12:44:00.005-05:002011-11-29T22:20:15.840-05:00

Brooklyn Law School Library's most recent New Book List has the 2d edition of The Geography of Love: Same-Sex Marriage & Relationship Recognition in America (The Story in Maps) by Peter Nicolas and Mike Strong (Call #KF539 .N52 2011a). This 40 page volume depicts the history and current state of marriage and relationship recognition rights for same-sex couples in the United States in charts and

Harold O'Gradynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6788739786747650458.post-85420215927028135042011-11-24T10:06:00.001-05:002011-11-24T10:06:31.497-05:00

Harold O'Gradynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6788739786747650458.post-66145138285945099412011-11-18T15:00:00.012-05:002011-11-18T16:02:41.133-05:00

Insider trading by members of Congress and their staff is back in the headlines after a CBS report on 60 minutes. See video below: The 60 Minutes report has renewed attention in H.R 1148, the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge Act which would prevent members of Congress and their staffs from using information not available to the public to guide them in making or selling investments. This

Harold O'Gradynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6788739786747650458.post-91870024628373161762011-11-17T13:10:00.003-05:002011-11-17T13:39:37.411-05:00

On Friday, December 2, 2011, Brooklyn Law School will host a one-day workshop sponsored by the Legal Writing Institute. It is one of a number of events scheduled at law schools around the country. BLS Librarian Kathy Darvil, who will co-present with Courtney Selby, Director of Hofstra Law Library on Legal Research for the New Millennials, will discuss her recent paper Think [and Practice] Like a

Harold O'Gradynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6788739786747650458.post-66492286262340655732011-11-15T17:07:00.004-05:002011-11-16T01:20:41.352-05:00

The Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC) from Syracuse University, a source for comprehensive, independent and nonpartisan information about federal enforcement, staffing and spending, recently issued a report that “Federal prosecutions for financial institution fraud have continued their downward slide despite the financial troubles reported in this sector. The latest available data

Harold O'Gradynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6788739786747650458.post-66440295913565252532011-11-12T17:17:00.011-05:002011-11-12T21:04:33.576-05:00

The Securities and Exchange Commission announced that it filed a record 735 enforcement actions and collected some $2.8 billion in sanctions in the fiscal year that ended September 30 with 146 of these actions being taken against investment advisors, a 30% increase over 2010. The previous year, it brought 677 cases collecting slightly more in penalties -- $2.85 billion. The record number of

Harold O'Gradynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6788739786747650458.post-86781270293917681492011-11-10T16:59:00.001-05:002011-11-10T21:23:34.421-05:00

November is National Adoption Month, a month set aside each year to raise awareness about the adoption of children and youth from foster care. The Administration for Children and Families estimates there are 107,000 children and youth in the foster care system waiting for families to adopt them. Saturday November 19, 2011 is National Adoption Day when courts around the country will be opening

Harold O'Gradynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6788739786747650458.post-56175222744938736992011-11-08T18:20:00.004-05:002011-11-08T18:29:47.867-05:00

Voter turnout thoughtout the country is likely to be low on Election Day 2011 except for highly disputed contests such as those in Ohio where voters decide Issue 2, a Referendum on New Law Relative to Government Union Contracts, and Mississippi where they vote on Initiative #26, a citizen-led measure to amend the Mississippi constitution to define human life as starting at “the moment of

Harold O'Gradynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6788739786747650458.post-66833000956314401452011-11-04T15:46:00.007-04:002011-11-04T16:10:56.078-04:00

Brooklyn Law School Library's subscription to Oxford Scholarship Online (OSO), one of the leading academic research resources in the world, offers full-text access to academic monographs in eighteen subject areas in the humanities, social sciences, science, medicine, and law. Recently, OSO re-launched its site with new features, new content, and a brand new look and feel. For an overview of the

Harold O'Gradynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6788739786747650458.post-62910919149778207042011-10-28T14:59:00.009-04:002011-10-28T15:33:43.408-04:00

The current BLS Library New Book List has listed many titles including The Outrageous Rubenstein: How a Media-Savvy Trial Lawyer Fights for Justice and Change by Sanford Rubenstein, a memoir of Brooklyn Law School graduate Sanford (“Sandy”) Rubenstein, Class of 1971. He proudly describes the arc of his career as "from the projects to the penthouse." A famed civil rights attorney, Rubenstein

Harold O'Gradynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6788739786747650458.post-23288113556792999532011-10-26T18:36:00.004-04:002011-10-26T18:44:52.050-04:00

Earlier this month the White House issued a Presidential Proclamation designating October 2011 as Domestic Violence Awareness Month, stating that “an average of three women in America die as a result of domestic violence each day. One in four women and one in thirteen men will experience domestic violence in their lifetime.” Domestic Violence Awareness Month has been observed nationally starting

Harold O'Gradynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6788739786747650458.post-44576453325472136332011-10-25T15:08:00.002-04:002011-10-25T15:21:56.478-04:00

A settlement agreement filed in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York in Lacovara v. Hard Rock Cafe International (USA), Inc. ends a proposed class action complaint that Hard Rock Café locations in New York failed to pay certain gratuities to hourly private event food and beverage service workers. The settlement fund of $230,000 will go to 469 servers who worked at Hard Rock

Harold O'Gradynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6788739786747650458.post-19874523431770796702011-10-24T13:45:00.003-04:002011-10-24T13:51:52.101-04:00

The NY State Court of Appeals recently ruled in Lifson v. City of Syracuse that a driver who struck and killed a pedestrian while being distracted by sun glare cannot invoke the “emergency doctrine.” An attentive driver would have anticipated occasional sun glare considering the time of the accident (4:05 pm on a winter day) and have no need to invoke the common-law emergency doctrine which “

Harold O'Gradynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6788739786747650458.post-28668637152270890172011-10-20T10:22:00.004-04:002011-10-20T10:35:02.420-04:00

An article in the New York Law Journal reports that Brooklyn Law School alumna Chief Administrative Judge Ann T. Pfau will leave her current position on December 1. In an interview, Judge Pfau described her current position, "It's a very demanding position that takes total commitment and energy, and there comes a time when it's somebody else's turn to do it." Judge Pfau, BLS Class of 1984, is not

Harold O'Gradynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6788739786747650458.post-35768367280177069252011-10-18T13:05:00.002-04:002011-10-18T13:14:32.713-04:00

Episode 071 – Conversation with Book Store Manager.mp3Today's podcast is of Debra Johnson, the new manager of the Brooklyn Law School Bookstore. She works with the help of Assistant Manager Junelle Gilbert. Beginning this semester the bookstore has been under the management of the Follett Higher Education Group. The business hours for the bookstore are Monday, Wednesday and Thursday 9am-5pm,

Harold O'Gradynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6788739786747650458.post-11483592705095078102011-10-17T13:59:00.004-04:002011-10-17T14:13:03.672-04:00

The one-month old Occupy Wall Street protest has been getting some attention from law schools in general and Brooklyn Law School in particular. A blog post at Out of the Jungle traces the spread of the protests from lower Manhattan. BLS Professor Jonathan Askin has written an article addressing the nature of the protests. He sees a difference between protesters of the past with specific

Harold O'Gradynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6788739786747650458.post-44142917488144491702011-10-14T17:03:00.003-04:002011-10-14T17:15:08.836-04:00

The 2011 edition of New York Metro Super Lawyers is now available online. Super Lawyers is a rating service of outstanding lawyers from more than 70 practice areas who have attained a high-degree of peer recognition and professional achievement. The selection process is multi-phased and includes independent research, peer nominations and peer evaluations. The magazine features the list and

Harold O'Gradynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6788739786747650458.post-53302686939336699982011-10-13T17:17:00.004-04:002011-10-13T17:27:18.019-04:00

In Shelby County, Alabama v. Holder, a comprehensive 151-page opinion, Judge John D. Bates of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia denied a challenge to the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The decision addressed section 5 “preclearance” requirement which remains a constitutional exercise of Congress’ anti-discrimination authority under the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments. This was

Harold O'Gradynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6788739786747650458.post-46510206966577675092011-10-12T16:32:00.004-04:002011-10-12T16:44:33.362-04:00

It is the middle of October and not too soon to think about final exams. Law students at Brooklyn Law School can get help on preparing for and taking exams using the BLS Library’s Open Book: Succeeding on Exams From the First Day of Law School by NYU Law School Professor Barry Friedman and Harvard Law School Professor John C.P. Goldberg. Connecting the dots of the law school experience, it

Harold O'Gradynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6788739786747650458.post-28247295458140934162011-09-29T10:00:00.005-04:002011-09-29T10:13:29.574-04:00

Among the several articles included in the newly posted Lewis & Clark Law School Legal Studies Research Paper Series, part of the SSRN Legal Scholarship Network, is Think [And Practice] Like a Lawyer: Legal Research for the New Millennials. The authors are Prof. Aliza B. Kaplan, Lewis & Clark Law School (and former Brooklyn Law School Associate Professor of Legal Skills) and Access Services/

Harold O'Gradynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6788739786747650458.post-56067346368159293492011-09-27T13:24:00.005-04:002011-09-27T13:53:35.433-04:00

Article 2, Section 1 of the U.S. Constitution established the Electoral College as the formal body which elects the President of the United States. The result of a compromise designed to win the votes of the states in the South, it has long been the target of criticism. The 12th Amendment effective in 1804 remains the only successful effort at altering the Electoral College. Since then,

Harold O'Gradynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6788739786747650458.post-76777089781421828032011-09-23T19:38:00.003-04:002011-09-23T19:49:23.181-04:00

After six years of litigation in the securities class action case of In re Smith Barney Transfer Agent Litigation, Judge William H. Pauley III of the Southern District of New York in the an Order dismissed the Lead Plaintiff based on the fact that it had never purchased any of the Smith Barney funds at issue. Stating that one of the foundational grounds for a motion testing the pleadings is lack

Harold O'Gradynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6788739786747650458.post-37145322553161768572011-09-22T14:50:00.003-04:002011-09-22T17:02:31.559-04:00

Episode 070 – Conversation with Elliott Siebers, Class of 2012.mp3Brooklyn Law School Student Bar Association President Elliott Siebers, Class of 2012, talks about his experience before coming to BLS and his internship with an intellectual property law firm in China this past summer. He also talks about his role as President of the SBA, the umbrella organization for all student organizations at

Harold O'Gradynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6788739786747650458.post-44134593362186457012011-09-20T12:18:00.003-04:002011-09-20T12:35:45.574-04:00

National Hispanic Heritage Month takes place each year September 15 to October 15. This year the U.S. Census has collected information about Hispanics in the United States on its webpage. The Hispanic population of the United States as of April 1, 2010 is 50.5 million, making people of Hispanic origin the nation's largest ethnic or race minority. Hispanics constituted 16.3 percent of the

Harold O'Gradynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6788739786747650458.post-21631535747925498652011-09-16T14:30:00.003-04:002011-09-16T14:44:22.986-04:00

The Brooklyn Book Festival will celebrate its 6th anniversary on September 18, 2011. The festival celebrates authors and their work by presenting challenging, provocative and thoughtful programming in the areas of fiction, non-fiction and poetry. Organized by the Brooklyn Literary Council and Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz's office, it has a reputation as the premier, free literary

Harold O'Gradynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6788739786747650458.post-78451894629567135402011-09-15T15:37:00.004-04:002011-09-15T15:56:46.817-04:00

Episode 069 – Conversation with Prof. Susan Herman.mp3 This conversation features Brooklyn Law School Professor of Law Susan Herman discussing her most recent book Taking Liberties: The War on Terror and the Erosion of American Democracy, published by Oxford University Press. Prof. Herman discusses Chapter One of the book "The Webmaster and the Football Player" which tells the stories of ordinary

Harold O'Gradynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6788739786747650458.post-76084138131921900332011-09-09T18:42:00.003-04:002011-09-09T18:56:40.575-04:00

To mark the ten year anniversary of the September 11th attacks, Brooklyn Law School Associate Librarian Linda Holmes has displayed a number of books from the BLS Library collection in the first floor library display case including Without Precedent: The Inside Story of the 9/11 Commission by Thomas H. Kean and Lee H. Hamilton (Call #HV6432.7 .K43 2006).The BLS Library recently added to its

Harold O'Gradynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6788739786747650458.post-52704565424249386962011-09-07T19:31:00.012-04:002011-09-09T19:03:52.224-04:00

The Brooklyn Law School Library recently held a series of orientation sessions to feature library resources. Among them was the Center for Computer Assisted Legal Research (CALI) which creates CALI Lessons, more than 850 tutorials written by law professors and librarians on a wide range of legal subjects. The lessons help law student learn about a new area of law, review for upcoming exams, and

Harold O'Gradynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6788739786747650458.post-23421937155528813442011-09-03T12:01:00.007-04:002011-09-04T01:29:20.670-04:00

Organized labor has had a series of setbacks since the midterm elections of 2010. In Wisconsin, legislation rolled back public employee collective-bargaining rights. Ohio passed a similar measure, although it faces a public referendum in November. The summer saw high unemployment, attacks on public employee unions and federal policymakers focused on austerity not job creation. This summer the

Harold O'Gradynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6788739786747650458.post-65514726694096675342011-08-30T15:35:00.003-04:002011-08-30T22:40:48.788-04:00

Episode 068 – Conversation with Leslie Miller, Class of 2013.mp3 This podcast features Leslie Miller, Brooklyn Law School Class of 2013, discussing her participation in the joint degree program with BLS and Hunter College in Urban Planning leading to the degrees of Juris Doctor (JD) and Master of Urban Planning (MUP). Before coming to BLS, Lee worked as a NYC Urban Fellow in the Mayor’s Office

Harold O'Gradynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6788739786747650458.post-71117303178347228832011-08-26T14:59:00.003-04:002011-08-26T15:42:15.861-04:00

As Hurricane Irene approaches, the Dean at Brooklyn Law School has decided to close the building completely on Saturday and Sunday. The New York City MTA is shutting down at noon tomorrow. Hurricanes are rare events in New York City but the current forecast track map puts Irene directly over the New York metropolitan area on Sunday. It is tempting to think this might be just another storm but the

Harold O'Gradynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6788739786747650458.post-90120582095991955322011-08-22T12:48:00.005-04:002011-08-22T13:29:33.745-04:00

An article Politicians and Pundits Make Some Noise About Patent Reform explains that the Senate is set to vote on the America Invents Act (which passed in the House by a vote of 304-107 in June), the first major revision of American patent law in more than 60 years. In March of this year, the Senate approved its version of the Patent Reform Act by a vote of 95-5. With few differences, the bills

Harold O'Gradynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6788739786747650458.post-61860608367490743472011-08-20T13:46:00.004-04:002011-08-20T14:32:07.928-04:00

With the migration of Brooklyn Law School Library’s catalog to its new open source platform, the New Book List has changed. The former version had both subject arrangement and a title display of news titles. The new version has only a title list of items added to the collection in the past thirty days. On the current list is Debtor Nation: The History of America in Red Ink (Politics and Society

Harold O'Gradynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6788739786747650458.post-33445553804888214172011-08-18T12:19:00.008-04:002011-08-18T22:45:50.318-04:00

In March, a post here discussed the Article 78 proceeding filed by opponents of the two-way parking separated experimental bicycle lane (EBL) on Prospect Park against the NYC Department of Transportation in Kings County Supreme Court. A NY Law Journal article, Brooklyn Bikeway Survives Court Challenge, reports that Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Bert A. Bunyan dismissed the action without

Harold O'Gradynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6788739786747650458.post-74009332672037590792011-08-16T14:55:00.003-04:002011-08-16T15:08:11.722-04:00

Statistics from thousands of pages of previously unpublished federal enforcement agency documents are available online to Brooklyn Law School Library users, thanks to a new subscription to TRACFED from Syracuse University. The service allows users to access and analyze online TRAC databases and provides information on federal prosecutions and tax audits from the FBI, Internal Revenue Service,

Harold O'Gradynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6788739786747650458.post-35235245144227139702011-08-11T11:04:00.001-04:002011-08-11T11:04:00.700-04:00

Brooklyn Law School will hold its convocation for the incoming law students, the Class of 2014 and the Class of 2015, on Monday, August 15 at the U.S. District Courthouse for the Eastern District of New York. Later in the week, the BLS Library will begin holding a series of nine orientation sessions from Wednesday, August 17 to Tuesday, September 13 to introduce the 1Ls to library resources. See

Harold O'Gradynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6788739786747650458.post-37804281387599706042011-08-09T20:44:00.007-04:002011-08-09T23:27:14.227-04:00

A February 2011 post cited the book Social Media for Lawyers: The Next Frontier by Carolyn Elefant and Nicole Black (Call #KF320.A9 E44 2010) as a practical resource for lawyers on how to use social media. Since then, Nicole Black who is of counsel to Fiandach & Fiandach in Rochester, NY has been tracking the issue in her blog Sui Generis. Her most recent post states that, while some lawyers may

Harold O'Gradynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6788739786747650458.post-69478464596677787982011-08-05T16:56:00.008-04:002011-08-06T02:40:44.788-04:00

A NY Times article, Open-Access Advocate Is Arrested for Huge Download, reports on the indictment of 24-year-old open access activist Aaron Swartz for theft of more than four million documents from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and JSTOR, an archive of scientific journals and academic papers. Swartz helped create RSS that allows people to receive automatic feeds of online notices and

Harold O'Gradynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6788739786747650458.post-34693964072115471542011-08-03T17:51:00.008-04:002011-08-03T18:49:08.160-04:00

Patrons at Brooklyn Law School Library can access the print and electronic versions of Legal Reference Services Quarterly’s latest Volume No. 30, Issues 1 and 2 (2011), a Special Issue: Determining Legislative Intent in State Courts: Selected Methods and Sources. Two articles that relate to legislative history in jurisdictions in the metropolitan tri-state are “Connecticut Legislative History” by

Harold O'Gradynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6788739786747650458.post-20784825023789212472011-07-29T16:21:00.007-04:002011-07-29T16:52:06.705-04:00

President Obama has nominated Brooklyn Law School Adjunct Professor of Law Judge Evan J. Wallach to the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. Judge Wallach has been a judge on the United States Court of International Trade since 1995. A press release from the White House says “Judge Wallach has distinguished himself throughout his legal career in both the public and private

Harold O'Gradynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6788739786747650458.post-88905007950718559512011-07-28T18:03:00.003-04:002011-07-28T22:51:29.905-04:00

This month at the Annual Meeting of the American Association of Law Libraries, law librarians and legal educators met for the first time to pursue the goal of a uniform legal citation format. The group’s website explains the purpose of the meeting which took place at the Rutgers-Camden School of Law. A video of the event is at this link. The meeting begins at around 19:25, and ends at 146:20.The

Harold O'Gradynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6788739786747650458.post-18887223373003389262011-07-27T19:20:00.010-04:002011-07-27T21:08:35.933-04:00

Researchers at Brooklyn Law School can learn more about the ongoing debt limit talks by reading the June 2011 Congressional Research Service Report, Reaching the Debt Limit: Background and Potential Effects on Government Operations which states in its summary that The gross federal debt, which represents the federal government’s total outstanding debt, consists of two types of debt: (1) debt held

Harold O'Gradynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6788739786747650458.post-85080667216063911222011-07-21T13:19:00.008-04:002011-07-21T21:22:29.907-04:00

The Brooklyn Law School Library has added to its collection Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell (Call # BF637.S8 G533 2011). The book identifies the qualities of successful people including the cultural, family, and idiosyncratic factors that can have a decisive impact on shaping high achievers. The book’s major theme is that success is shaped by environment, not genetics. The

Harold O'Gradynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6788739786747650458.post-81825799097572408772011-07-19T12:12:00.010-04:002011-07-20T02:43:47.002-04:00

Across the narrows from the most eastern point in the US is Roosevelt Campobello International Park in New Brunswick, Canada. The site’s two unique qualities are that it served as the summer home of US President Franklin Delano Roosevelt even though it is actually in Canada; and second, it the only park in the world owned by two countries and administered by a joint commission in their name. The

Harold O'Gradynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6788739786747650458.post-50829817035225623192011-07-08T20:06:00.002-04:002011-07-09T01:57:31.615-04:00

NASA's Final Space Shuttle Mission: STS-135 is now history as the shuttle Atlantis lifted off July 8 on the final flight of the shuttle program for a 12-day mission to the International Space Station. NASA's official video of the final launch is available on its website at this link.Earlier this year, NASA Administrator Charles Bolden announced the locations where the four shuttle orbiters will

Harold O'Gradynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6788739786747650458.post-21713026435510287232011-07-07T21:08:00.007-04:002011-07-07T22:48:40.830-04:00

Crossroads GPS, a conservative 501(c)(4) political arm of American Crossroads, had been the subject of an Internal Revenue Service investigation for spending millions of dollars to air a nationwide ad blaming the President for rising unemployment, the national debt and a failed $830 billion stimulus. The IRS webite states for a 501(c)(4) group to be tax-exempt it must be a "social welfare

Harold O'Gradynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6788739786747650458.post-72044623987635074922011-07-06T19:52:00.006-04:002011-07-07T12:00:25.773-04:00

Episode 067 – Conversation with Prof. David Reiss.mp3In this podcast, Brooklyn Law School Professor David Reiss discusses two of his most recent white papers, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and the Future of Federal Housing Policy and Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac: Implications for Credit Unions. Prof. Reiss, who concentrates on real estate finance and community development, examines how the two companies

Harold O'Gradynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6788739786747650458.post-37372098205307011582011-07-03T18:31:00.009-04:002011-07-03T18:49:09.807-04:00

The Brooklyn Law School Library will be open 9am to midnight on Monday July 4th, the 235th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. Patrons visiting the BLS Library on the Fourth of July can review the Annotated United States Constitution and Declaration of Independence by Jack N. Rakove (Call # KF4527 .A56 2009). This compact and easy to read book will help readers renew their

Harold O'Gradynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6788739786747650458.post-22196201747938311482011-07-01T09:46:00.003-04:002011-07-01T10:11:21.933-04:00

HBO is airing through late July the documentary Hot Coffee about the tort “reform” industry that used the famous 1994 case of Stella Liebeck v. McDonald's Restaurants, P.T.S., Inc. and McDonald's International, Inc. as a synonym for court abuse. The plaintiff sued McDonald’s for damages resulting from being scalded by hot coffee served at a temperature of 180–190 °F resulting in third-degree

Harold O'Gradynoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6788739786747650458.post-39257122069383406082011-06-29T20:01:00.012-04:002011-06-29T21:59:07.251-04:00

The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in Thomas More Law Center v. Obama that the government can require a minimum amount of insurance for Americans. It is the first ruling by a federal appeals court on the constitutionality of the individual mandate for insurance coverage. The lead plaintiff, based in Ann Arbor, MI, argued that the "Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act" was

Harold O'Gradynoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6788739786747650458.post-72578509883516705252011-06-25T14:07:00.003-04:002011-06-25T14:13:37.639-04:00

With the enactment of the Marriage Equality Act, effective July 24, 2011, New York joins other US jurisdiction (in addition to Connecticut, Iowa, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont, and the District of Columbia) recognizing marriages without regard to whether the parties are of the same or different sex. According to the legislation, there is no residency requirement for obtaining a marriage

Harold O'Gradynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6788739786747650458.post-84301312768192884552011-06-23T09:48:00.007-04:002011-06-23T15:17:44.704-04:00

This year’s CALI Conference for Law School Computing is being held at Marquette University School of Law in Milwaukee, WI June 23 to June 26. The program offers new ideas to advance legal education through computer technology and includes a session in which Brooklyn Law School Director Victoria Szymczak will discuss the BLS Library’s move to an open source integrated library system. The session

Harold O'Gradynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6788739786747650458.post-89900579615447371172011-06-20T16:09:00.004-04:002011-06-20T19:15:26.691-04:00

Two recent cases, one from NY Supreme Court in Broome County, and one from the US Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, have allowed defamation lawsuits brought by plaintiffs who claim to have been falsely alleged to be gay. In Yonaty v Mincolla, an unreported case from Broome County Supreme Court, Judge Phillip R. Rumsey, citing Stern v Cosby, 645 F. Supp. 2d 258 (SDNY 2009) ruled that, in the

Harold O'Gradynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6788739786747650458.post-41952088588961353992011-06-17T18:50:00.002-04:002011-06-17T18:54:37.473-04:00

HeinOnline has a new database in its collection, the History of International Law Collection. Researchers at the Brooklyn Law School Library can use it to find historic books and articles on subjects such as the Law of the Sea, War and Peace, the Nuremberg Trials, International Arbitration or the Hague Conferences and Conventions, For more information, see HeinOnline’s brochure and list of titles.

Harold O'Gradynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6788739786747650458.post-9179154899781677052011-06-14T18:36:00.010-04:002011-06-15T00:34:06.613-04:00

To follow up an earlier post on this blog, Judicial Recusal and Prejudice, readers may be interested in news that Chief US District Judge James Ware rejected arguments by supporters of the Proposition 8 same-sex marriage ban that former Chief Judge Vaughn Walker should have recused himself, or divulged his sexual orientation, before declaring the ban unconstitutional. Judge Ware's Order,

Harold O'Gradynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6788739786747650458.post-82884274486756505772011-06-09T19:17:00.004-04:002011-06-09T20:02:51.532-04:00

Episode 066 – Conversation with Prof. Claire Kelly.mp3In this podcast, Brooklyn Law School Professor Claire Kelly discusses her recent article, Financial Crisis and Civil Society, published in the Chicago Journal of International Law, Volume 11, Number 2, page 505 (Winter 2011). One of a series that Professor Kelly has written on international organizations and the financial crisis, the article

Harold O'Gradynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6788739786747650458.post-39125520776165324542011-06-07T17:01:00.003-04:002011-06-07T22:01:29.450-04:00

On Monday, June 6, 2011, Brooklyn Law School held its 110th Commencement Ceremony at Lincoln Center’s Avery Fisher Hall. For the BLS Class of 2011, some 437 graduating students received their Juris Doctor degrees. Family and friends heard Hon. Thomas Buergenthal, professor of law at The George Washington School of Law and recently retired judge of the International Court of Justice at The Hague,

Harold O'Gradynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6788739786747650458.post-61824099886914643072011-06-03T13:59:00.003-04:002011-06-03T14:05:06.595-04:00

Brooklyn Law School students who are looking for an insider view about the legal job market will want to attend the New York City Bar Association program Recruiting Tips from the Insider's View on Tuesday, June 14, 2011, 6:30 PM at 42 West 44th Street. There will be a panel of recruiters, counselors, and lawyers, who have been through the recruiting process on both sides of the table, to discuss

Harold O'Gradynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6788739786747650458.post-67505777722339840602011-06-01T17:50:00.001-04:002011-06-01T21:50:13.947-04:00

NY State Attorney General's complaint in the US District Court for the Eastern District of New York in Brooklyn aims to force an environmental impact study of proposed natural gas drilling in the Delaware River Basin, which includes the New York City watershed. Defendants are the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Fish and Wildlife Service, the National Park Service, the Environmental Protection

Harold O'Gradynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6788739786747650458.post-34877780299064818582011-05-29T09:01:00.015-04:002011-05-29T17:17:56.457-04:00

By a vote of 204-215, the House rejected H.AMDT.344 from Reps. James McGovern (D-Mass.) and Justin Amash (R-Mich.) that would have required the Department of Defense to develop a plan for an “accelerated transition of military operations to Afghan authorities.” The final roll call on the vote shows that all but 8 Republicans voted against the accelerated transition and all but 8 Democrats

Harold O'Gradynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6788739786747650458.post-54109086305036774032011-05-27T10:09:00.008-04:002011-05-27T15:04:41.794-04:00

In New York City, inflatable rat balloons are commonplace signs of labor disputes where unions picket work sites using non-union workers. Whether the rat balloon is a form of picketing that is illegal under Section 8(b)(4)(ii)(B) of the National Labor Relations Act has been unclear. That provision makes it illegal for anyone to threaten, coerce, or restrain any person engaged in commerce or in an

Harold O'Gradynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6788739786747650458.post-8864639088316881852011-05-24T17:23:00.008-04:002011-05-24T20:00:06.650-04:00

A Brooklyn Eagle article called On This Day in History: May 24 The Brooklyn Bridge Opens notes the anniversary of the iconic landmark. The history of the bridge’s construction is told in The Great Bridge: The Epic Story of the Building of the Brooklyn Bridge by David G McCullough (Call #KFX2071 .M138) located in the Brooklyn Law School Library’s NY Collection. Aside from telling the history of

Harold O'Gradynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6788739786747650458.post-54805517434871970462011-05-23T14:57:00.003-04:002011-05-23T16:36:40.119-04:00

This week's NY Times had stories about several noted Brooklyn Law School graduates. The Music section had an article about Bruce Ricker, Class of 1970, who went on to become a filmmaker. Ricker’s first feature-length film was, “The Last of the Blue Devils,” a portrait of Kansas City’s old-time jazzmen released in 1979. He also produced several made for television documentaries, including “Tony

Harold O'Gradynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6788739786747650458.post-8764973566057901912011-05-19T14:44:00.009-04:002011-05-19T15:53:01.477-04:00

Brooklyn Law School students doing research in UK or EU law can access Justis and JustCite on the BLS Library A-Z list. Justis is a full-text online legal library of UK, Irish and EU case law dating back to 1163 and legislation from 1235. BLS access to Justis for cases is to the Law Reports (1865-) and Weekly Law Reports (1953-) and to statutes (1235-), statutory instruments (1949-) and earlier

Harold O'Gradynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6788739786747650458.post-51116461226289254472011-05-17T18:46:00.008-04:002011-05-18T06:26:37.942-04:00

A recent post at the Legal Skills Prof Blog listed suggestions for summer reading for law school students. Several of these items are in the collection of the Brooklyn Law School Library and may be of interest. Law-Related Summer Reading: Scott Turow, One L (1977) Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird (1960) Video Anthony Lewis, Gideon’s Trumpet (1964)Law School Success: Ann L. Iijima, The Law

Harold O'Gradynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6788739786747650458.post-15136764650015876622011-05-13T12:39:00.012-04:002011-05-18T14:22:19.115-04:00

The centuries-old common law Rule Against Perpetuities (RAP) is alive and well in the 21st century as seen in a recent case in Michigan which settled the disposition of the estate of lumber baron Wellington Burt, once one of the eight wealthiest Americans. Burt died 92 years ago in 1919. Saginaw County Chief Probate Judge Patrick McGraw called the case "one of the most complicated research

Harold O'Gradynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6788739786747650458.post-83075810074229356572011-05-10T17:01:00.007-04:002011-05-10T17:33:47.726-04:00

The Center for Computer-Assisted Legal Instruction (CALI), which helps law schools students use technology to learn about the law, has developed LibTour, a series of electronic law library tours using QR codes a new technology explained below. The series includes legal research sources like USCA/USCS, West’s Digests, Corpus Juris Secundum, AmJur, CFR, ALR, and Uniform Laws Annotated. Brooklyn Law

Harold O'Gradynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6788739786747650458.post-44475672688072353432011-05-06T14:07:00.005-04:002011-06-14T18:34:16.966-04:00

Two recent high profile cases involve the subject of judicial recusal. The first is the request by Common Cause that the Justice Department investigate whether US Supreme Court Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas should have recused themselves from participating in Citizen’s United v. FEC because they attended conferences organized by interest groups who benefited from the ruling. The

Harold O'Gradynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6788739786747650458.post-68291564467918884112011-05-04T19:50:00.018-04:002011-05-04T22:56:10.751-04:00

An article in the National Law Journal reports that the University of Nebraska College of Law and the University of New Mexico School of Law have US Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas and Justice Elena Kagan, respectively, as commencement speakers this year.The speakers announced to date for tri-state area law schools are:New York •Albany Law School – NYS Bar Association President Stephen P.

Harold O'Gradynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6788739786747650458.post-78345100828007456542011-04-28T17:28:00.003-04:002011-04-29T11:19:31.821-04:00

Episode 065 – Conversation with Prof. Lawrence Solan.mp3 In this podcast, Brooklyn Law School Professor Lawrence Solan talks about his recent book The Language of Statutes: Laws and Their Interpretation (2010) which is on reserve as part of the BLS Library collection. The book is a balanced view of statutory interpretation and the role of the courts. It examines the jurisprudential and practical

Harold O'Gradynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6788739786747650458.post-55502028980937801102011-04-25T19:08:00.017-04:002011-04-26T02:48:39.741-04:00

A proposal for a “financial speculation tax” or a “financial transaction tax” (FTT) has generated support as a way to address large deficits in the US budget. The idea, which places a small tax on all financial transactions, has its roots in the Tobin Tax named for the late James Tobin who suggested it to raise money to help eradicate global poverty. Instead of raising taxes on ordinary income

Harold O'Gradynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6788739786747650458.post-16598541412413159712011-04-21T15:02:00.013-04:002011-04-22T02:05:56.559-04:00

Among the titles in the latest New Book List of the Brooklyn Law School Library is Infringement Nation: Copyright 2.0 and You (Call #KF2994 .T44 2011) by John Tehranian, a book written 300 years after enactment the first copyright act, the Statute of Anne also called “An Act for the Encouragement of Learning”. Tracing the history of copyright law and examining its impact on the lives of ordinary

Harold O'Gradynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6788739786747650458.post-30272534804502715522011-04-19T19:01:00.011-04:002011-04-19T19:37:41.787-04:00

A LexisNexis press release from earlier this month said that it signed a licensing agreement with American Lawyer Media (ALM) the owner of The National Law Journal, The American Lawyer and several other legal publications, to make its content available through LexisNexis. Starting May 1, 2011, LexisNexis will be the exclusive third party online distributor of ALM's collection of legal content

Harold O'Gradynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6788739786747650458.post-4408381248894598032011-04-16T16:33:00.006-04:002011-04-19T22:36:14.817-04:00

The Brooklyn Law School Library, like many libraries, has as a standard reference tool the Statistical Abstract of the United States (Call # Z7553.C3 U559). First published in 1878, it is the authoritative and comprehensive summary of statistics on the social, political, and economic organization of the United States. Its print version and online version are an unequaled source of information for

Harold O'Gradynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6788739786747650458.post-1688456123081998862011-04-14T15:03:00.006-04:002011-04-14T17:26:51.827-04:00

This year, Tax Day, usually April 15, is three days later on Monday, April 18 because federal and municipal offices in Washington DC close on Friday to observe Emancipation Day. The observance of that holiday is usually April 16 but this year it falls on a Saturday and is celebrated one day earlier. The holiday commemorates the 1862 signing of the Compensated Emancipation Act (read the document

Harold O'Gradynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6788739786747650458.post-27025486250097892192011-04-12T17:05:00.017-04:002011-04-12T22:00:02.444-04:00

Today marks the 150th anniversary of the start of the Civil War, when the Confederates began the bombardment of Fort Sumter at 4:30 in the morning on April 12, 1861. After secession by seven Southern states, South Carolina demanded that the US Army abandon its facilities in Charleston Harbor. The Union Army commanding officer refused to surrender. The bombing lasted into the following day with

Harold O'Gradynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6788739786747650458.post-30370297854557074012011-04-07T11:44:00.013-04:002011-04-07T12:17:57.264-04:00

During the week of April 10-16, National Library Week, the Brooklyn Law School Library is conducting a Library Survey to measure library service quality and identify best practices. BLS students and other library patrons are encouraged to take the survey and add their input to help the librarians at BLS better serve them. National Library Week began more than 50 years ago when research showed

Harold O'Gradynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6788739786747650458.post-6890703257431301242011-04-05T19:33:00.005-04:002011-04-05T21:24:41.174-04:00

The Brooklyn Law School Library recently added to its collection The Invention of Brownstone Brooklyn: Gentrification and the Search for Authenticity in Postwar New York by Suleiman Osman (Call #F129.B7 O79 2011). The author, an Assistant Professor of American Studies at George Washington University in Washington, DC, grew up in Brooklyn's Park Slope. The book is a study of architecture, culture

Harold O'Gradynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6788739786747650458.post-77178101543393996232011-04-02T15:41:00.008-04:002011-04-03T02:44:39.976-04:00

US District Judge Jack B. Weinstein’s well-researched 126 page Statement of Reasons for Sentencing Pursuant to 18 USC § 3553(c)(2) in US v. Bannister, 2000 WL 1113591 (E.D.N.Y. March 24, 2011) is worth reading for its in-depth historical, cultural, economic, and social analysis of the law's treatment of the inner city drug trade. Discussing the mandatory minimum sentence guidelines in the case of

Harold O'Gradynoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6788739786747650458.post-15872888366984938352011-03-31T15:00:00.007-04:002011-04-12T12:59:39.610-04:00

Episode 064 – Conversation with Professor Elizabeth Schneider.mp3 In this podcast, Brooklyn Law School Professor Elizabeth M. Schneider talks about her recently published book Women and the Law Stories (Call #KF478..A5. W642 2011) which she co-edited with Prof. Stephanie M. Wildman and for which they wrote the Introduction. The book looks at landmark cases establishing women's legal rights, and

Harold O'Gradynoreply@blogger.com0