Dr. Seuss and the Law

April is National Poetry Month, but it was March 1 that New York Law School held a  symposium on  one of the most widely-read American poets: Exploring Civil Society Through the Writings of Dr. Seuss^TM. (Really, now, which do you know better, "The Raven" or Green Eggs and Ham?)

The symposium's program is here. You can see the titles of the panels (e.g., "The Shared Interests in Society in Horton Hears a Who") and which professors were on them. Curious about what they said? Click the links to see YouTube videos of each panel.

Peter Nicolas

Who's that talking about "The Sneetches as an Allegory for the Gay Rights Struggle: Three Prisms"? It's Prof. Peter Nicolas! His paper is here. You can also read about it in this blog post from the Washington Post.

Gallagher's Fun Friday Tip - April is National Poetry Month

April is National Poetry Month and the Academy of American Poets put together a list of 30 ways to celebrate poetry in April for poetry lovers.  If you've checked out Gallagher's Judicial Humor page, you have already seen the hilarious highlights where the law and poetry have intersected.  Judges have quoted poetry in their opinions, written opinions entirely in verse and even lifted poetic language from sources like Edgar Allen Poe and Wayne's World.  Excellent!

If you had dreams of becoming a rapper before you decided to attend law school, you might be excited to know that a dual career is attainable!  In 2003, a judge granted Eminem's motion for summary disposition in rap:

If writing an opinion in rap seems like a lot of work, imagine an entire symposium dedicated to a musician.  In 2005, Widener Law School hosted a symposium "The Lawyer as Poet Advocate: Bruce Springsteen and the American Lawyer" and then published an entire law journal issue with articles focused on Bruce Springsteen and the law.  I don't know if "the Boss"  could say he had "Better Days" than February 24, 2005 when over 200 lawyers and law students traveled to Pennsylvania to discuss his impact on the law. 

Though Springsteen may have had an entire symposium dedicated to him, he is not the most-cited rocker in judicial opinions!  In 2007, Professor Alex B. Long published an article in Washington & Lee Law Review on the uses and misuses of song lyrics in legal writing where he compiled a list of the top ten most popular musicians in legal writing:


If this fails to lift your spirits as you begin to trudge through the last quarter of the year, stop by the Poetry Month display at the library entrance and recite the Lawyer's Prayer!   

Photo Credit 1: www.thesmokinggun.com
Photo Credit 2: www.nytimes.com

The HeinOnline Goldmine

We frequently post about the amazing individual databases available on HeinOnline, but have you ever wondered why anyone would choose HeinOnline over Westlaw or Lexis? The reason: it's a goldmine! Instead of endlessly searching in Westlaw, only to find that they don't have what you need, think about HeinOnline. Read on to find out which resources HeinOnline has available to save time.

Legal Journalist Anthony Lewis Dies

The New York Times, Anthony Lewis's long-time professional home, reports: Anthony Lewis, Supreme Court Reporter Who Brought Law to Life, Dies at 85, N.Y. Times, March 25, 2013. NPR's obituaries are here and here.

Book jackets from three of Lewis's books

 
Lewis's books include:

• Gideon's Trumpet , KF224.G5 L4 1964 at Classified Stacks and Good Reads
• Portrait of a Decade: The Second American Revolution, E185.61 .L52 1964 at Classified Stacks
• Make No Law: The Sullivan Case and the First Amendment KF1266 .L48 1991 at Classified Stacks
• Freedom for the Thought That We Hate: A Biography of the First Amendment, KF4770 .L49 2007 at Classified Stacks

Prof. Ron Collins interviews Anthony Lewis about his book, Freedom for the Thought That We Hate, in this video (After Words with Anthony Lewis, C-SPAN, Book TV, Feb. 11, 2008).

Other videos on C-SPAN:

• Reflections on the 20th Century (panel at the Kennedy Presidential Library, March 12, 2007)
• Legacy of Watergate: The Press and the 1st Amendment (panel at U. Texas, Feb. 4, 2005)
• The Civil Rights Movement in 1963 (panel at Kennedy Presidential Library, April 29, 1998)
• Lewis discusses his book, Make No Law: The Sullivan Case and the First Amendment  here (C-SPAN, Sept. 10, 1991),

South Korea Banning Miniskirts...Again?

South Korea approved a new "overexposure law" that went into effect on March 22.  The legislation imposes a fine of 50,000 KRW (US$45) on people deemed to be "overexposed" in public. While "police have said the overexposure fine doesn't have anything to do with skirt length or revealing outfits in general", some South Koreans are still wary and view the new law as a step backwards.  Back to the 1970s when President Park Chung-hee (current South Korean President Park Geun-hye's father) banned "rock music, miniskirts for women and long hair for men". Though the National Police Agency's Inspector Ko Jun-ho told CNN: "Any reports that we will be regulating what people are wearing are completely false", celebrities and politicians remain unconvinced taking to twitter to comment:

Politician Ki Sik Kim wrote: 'Why does the state interfere with how citizens dress?

Lee Hyori wrote: 'Is the overexposure fine for real? I'm so dead.'

Nancy Lang posted a picture of herself holding a 50,000 KRW note next to her cleavage.

Until the law is enforced, speculation on how the government will define "overexposed" will continue. If this subject fascinates you and you'd like to learn a little more about South Korea's legal system, check out the Foreign Law Guide!  The Foreign Law Guide* provides an introduction which describes the origin and history of the country, its legislative and judicial systems, introductory works, and major legal publications.  The Foreign Law Guide can be accessed from the Gallagher Law Library homepage under Selected Databases.   In the meantime:

*Please note the Foreign Law Guide is UW Restricted.
Photo Credit: www.tumblr.com

Gallagher's Fun Friday Tip - Celebrate!

Finals are ending!!!

This Friday, don't look to us for guidance on how to have fun! Get out there and treat yourself! You worked hard this past quarter and you deserve to celebrate! And for the weirdos enthusiastic students who plan on preparing for next quarter over break, keep in mind that the Law Library and the Reference Office will be closed:

• Saturday - Monday, March 23 - 25
• Saturday - Sunday, March 30 - 31

The Law Library will be open Tuesday - Friday, March 26 - 29, from 8am - 5pm. The Reference Office will also be open those days, from 9am - 12noon and from 1 - 5 pm.  Have a fantastic break! 

New Faculty Publication: Karen Boxx on the Need for Guardian Standards

Karen E. Boxx & Terry W. Hammond, A Call for Standards: An Overview of the Current Status and Need for Guardian Standards of Conduct and Codes of Ethics, 2012 Utah L. Rev. 1207-73 (2012).

Karen E. Boxx

 Professor Boxx's latest article covers:

• History of standards of conduct for guardians
• Current status of adoption and application
• The role of standards and ethics codes for guardians
• The role of guardian in the family of fiduciary relationships, and the use of standards to define a guardian's fiduciary duties

Abstract from the SSRN posting:

The 2001 Wingspan Conference on guardianship reform included as Recommendation 45 the directive for states to adopt minimum standards of practice for guardians, but progress has been slow. This article explores the historical definition of a guardian’s duties, discusses the increasing call for delineated standards for guardians, due in part to the inability of courts to monitor guardianships adequately, and sets forth the existing standards and codes of ethics for guardians in various states. The article discusses the optimal content and use of standards for guardians and the need for standards as a way to define the fiduciary obligations of a guardian.

Need a Study Break?

Exam-Studying Diversions: Quizzes to test your legal knowledge (and a fun way to feel like you're studying!)

I am a fan of all things trivia and quiz-related, so I came up with a list of some of my favorites.  Some have a legal spin that could help you study.  Others are purely fun and a diversion. And some even help  feed the hungry!  Read on to find links.

Top Ten Things Law Librarians Wish Law Students Would Know or Do.

stus.com

It’s finals week, and the library is filled with law students preparing for exams. While the knowledge and reasoning skills amassed from doctrinal classes is undeniably important, don’t neglect cultivating your legal research and lawyering skills, as well!

To help you out, law librarians at the University of Wisconsin law school library have pulled together a list of the Top Ten Things Law Librarians Wish Law Students Would Know or Do. Gallagher Law Library has a large collection of legal research guides to give you a hand.

Rights in Data Handbook

DLA Piper has released a 46-page report called Rights in Data Handbook: Protecting and Exploiting IP in Data and Databases Internationally.

The report summarizes laws in eleven countries and the European Union on topics such as:

• protection of databases
• protection of personal information in databases
• data use and infringement
• data security and confidentiality

The countries included in the report are Australia, China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Spain, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

"Faux" Fur Bites Back with Help from FTC!

The highly publicized, "I'd Rather Go Naked than Wear Fur" PETA campaign featuring celebrities in the nude has been so successful that many fashion icons now denounce the use of real fur.  The rising popularity of faux fur has created a new problem for the Federal Trade Commission: retailers selling real fur labelled as faux! Yesterday, retailers including Neiman Marcus agreed to settle FTC charges alleging the retailers misled consumers by marketing genuine fur products as faux.  The products are now identified as "faux faux fur".   

Some of the faux faux fur products identified include:

An Alice and Olivia coat trimmed with a dark "faux" fur collar.

A Stuart Weitzman flat with a "faux" fur pom.  The "faux" fur turned out to be rabbit fur.  In other news, the Easter Bunny plans to skip over Neiman Marcus and Stuart Weitzman... indefinitely.

PETA Senior Vice President, Dan Matthews explains “The lines between real and fake have gotten really blurry...In this global marketplace, there are fur farms in China that raise dogs for clothing that is labeled as fake fur here in the U.S. because that’s what the market best responds to.” Uncool.  Faux fur from dogs, real dogs, is not faux.  Faux fur from faux dogs is still not faux... in this guy's opinion.
 


Photo Credit 1: www.lyst.com
Photo Credit 2: www.neimanmarcus.com
Photo Credit 3: www.disney.wikia.com

Gideon Turns 50

The Supreme Court decided unanimously that Earl Gideon had a right to be represented by a court-appointed attorney in his trial for breaking and entering. That was 50 years ago today, in Gideon v. Wainwright, 372 U.S. 335 (1963), available on Justia and on Google Scholar. You can read a summary and hear the oral argument on the Oyez Project.

The National Law Journal has several articles marking the anniversary (all dated March 18, 2013):

• 'Gideon' at 50: A Muted Trumpet (includes a timeline of Supreme Court right-to-counsel cases)
• Jenna Greene, Gideon's Promise Still Unfulfilled
• Tony Mauro, Gideon remains 'a wake-up call' (interview with Abe Krash, the last remaining lawyer from the team that handled Gideon's Supreme Court case, after the Court granted cert. based on his handwritten petition)
• Marcia Coyle, From Gideon opponent to public defender (profile of Bruce Jacob, who argued the case for Florida and then spent much of his career on indigent defense)
• Eve Brensike Primus, Not much to celebrate: Fifty years later, the promise of Gideon remains largely unfulfilled (op ed)
• Martha F. Davis, A strong need for civil legal assistance: Gaps in civil representation that undermine equality and fairness must still be addressed (op ed)

Earl Gideon file from Fla. Div. of Corrections

Graphic credit: Florida Dep't of Corrections, Florida Corrections Centuries of Progress timeline(includes other images related to the case).

Library Hours for Interim Week

Most law students will breathe sighs of relief on Friday, March 22d. That is the last day of exams for most students during Winter Quarter.

Law Library staff will also take a short breather, as the Library will operate on a reduced schedule for a week after exams end.

The Law Library and the Reference Office will be closed:

Saturday - Monday, March 23 - 25
Saturday - Sunday, March 30 - 31

The Law Library will be open Tuesday - Friday, March 26 - 29, from 8am - 5pm.

The Reference Office will also be open those days, from 9am - 12noon and from 1 - 5 pm.

Best wishes for relaxing a bit!

Crocs Chomps on Lawsuit Victory Against Counterfeiters

At the end of 2012, Chinese courts sentenced eighteen Crocs counterfeiters to a total of more than 46 years in prison. One might be surprised that the comfortable footwear company has taken a less than relaxed approach against counterfeiters.

Dan Hart, the chief legal and administrative officer for Crocs made the following statement “If you attempt to produce or sell infringing Crocs products, we are going to find you and take definitive action to protect our intellectual property...We will not tolerate counterfeiters compromising our brand, and will continue to work with the authorities to hunt down and prosecute anyone who uses Crocs’ name, design or other intellectual property without permission.” Yikes, apparently Crocs have teeth!
 

Up until September 2012, more than 600,000 pairs of counterfeit Crocs were confiscated in China. In the meantime, we are left wondering how many of the 600,000 pairs of plastic footwear were destined for the "country's most dressed-down city"?

Photo credit: www.crocs.com

Open States: legislative information from all 50 states

Have you ever found yourself in a state of frantic, trying to compile legislative information from multiple states?  Rather than hopping from one state's web site to the next, trying to learn how each one is arranged, you can save your precious time by visiting one site that compiles legislative information from all 50 states.  Open States.org is easy to use and it's free. 

You can enter an address or choose a state to research upcoming legislation and bills or information about your state’s legislators and committees.  Check out the site for yourself at openstates.org or watch the video for more information.  

 

 

Gallagher's Fun Friday Tip - Be comfy and grab your koozie!

Classes have ended and you're preparing for finals.  We get it - you don't have time to get dolled up and go out to some hot spot this weekend.   Just because you don't have time to change out of your stinky sweats doesn't mean you can't have fun this Friday!  In fact, you should not be ashamed if cozy clothes and drinking are the only two things you have planned this weekend (besides stuDYING).

According to Seattle Times news librarian Gene Balk, Seattle may be the most dressed-down city in America AND Seattleites are the biggest binge drinkers in the Northwest. Be a proud Seattleite this Friday, don your comfy clothes* and dedicate a toast** to the inventors of Exam4.

*Before discarding the contents of your closet in favor of flannel and UGGs, keep in mind that you might need some of your less comfortable clothes for interviews and eventually for your working days. It may be hard to imagine a life after finals but there is one and it likely involves pressed pants, blazers and some form of footwear that is not lined in fleece.

**Before consuming the contents of your liquor cabinet, keep in mind that the CDC has identified major risks associated with binge drinking including but not limited to: unintentional injuries (e.g., car crashes, falls, burns, drowning), intentional injuries (e.g., firearm injuries, sexual assault, domestic violence), alcohol poisoning, sexually transmitted diseases, unintended pregnancy... Has your buzz been sufficiently killed now?

Photo Credit: http://blogs.seattletimes.com

The EU's Bold Stand Against Animal Testing

Do the birds seem to be chirping a little louder today? Maybe it is because the European Union banned the sale of cosmetics with animal tested ingredients yesterday!  Cue adorable animals singing and dancing:
 
Though the EU previously banned animal testing in various forms of finished cosmetic products, yesterday's announcement is particularly significant because the ban applies "regardless of where in the world testing on animals was carried out", effective immediately!  As expected, the cosmetics industry is not pleased, however animal rights groups, animal lovers and animals themselves are likely jumping for joy and hoping the ban will serve as an example to the rest of the world. 

For more information see Kathy Guillermo's (PETA Vice President of Laboratory Investigations) blog post, How the EU's Ban on Animal Tested Cosmetics Protects People and Advances Science.

Polish Your Vocabulary

Lawyers and law students spend most of their time using words—reading, writing, or speaking. And so it is important to know words, including subtle differences in meaning. I'm talking about a general English vocabulary, not just legal terms of art, like "certiorari" and "trespass on the case." 

When you're reading cases and law review articles, do you find yourself skimming past some words, hoping the context will help you understand the passage? Do you ever mix up "discrete" and "discreet"? How about "sanguine" and "sanguinary"? Or "imply" and "infer"?

Vocabulary.com is a terrific site. It has a very fast dictionary and lots of tools for helping you learn words. AND it has NO ADS!

Public Service Law Retreat

Interested in public service law? Sign up for the Trina Grillo Retreat, which will be here March 22-23. Friday evening's events are at the Talaris Conference Center and Saturday's workshops are at UW Law. The retreat provides a unique opportunity for law students, faculty and practitioners to exchange viewpoints, explore career opportunities, and formulate creative strategies for social justice. 

There will be great content and a collegial environment, with law students and practitioners from the West Coast.

Attending is cheap! Cost to a UW law student (or a student from another consortium law school)? $0.  That's right: it's free!  Cost to practitioners? Just $25.

Celebrating Women’s History Month

March is Women's History Month!



Women’s History Month honors the achievements of women in society, taking one month a year to remember their contributions.

Women’s History Month had its origins as a national celebration in 1981 when Congress passed Pub. L. 97-28 which authorized and requested the President to proclaim the week beginning March 7, 1982 as “Women’s History Week." 

Over the next five years, Congress continued to pass joint resolutions designating a week in March as "Women’s History Week."  In 1987 after being petitioned by the National Women’s History Project, Congress passed Pub. L. 100-9 which designated the month of March 1987 as “Women’s History Month."  Between 1988 and 1994, Congress passed additional resolutions requesting and authorizing the President to proclaim March of each year as Women’s History Month.  Since 1995, Presidents Clinton, Bush and Obama have issued a series of annual proclamations designating the month of March as “Women’s History Month.”

From the Law Library of Congress's guide to the legislative history of Women's History Month. Available here)




Check out the following books available at Gallagher Law Library to learn more about the contributions of women in the law:

• Baer, Judith A.,  Women in American Law: the Struggle Toward Equality from the New Deal to the Present. KF478 .W67 2002 (Classified Stacks)
• Blakely, Susan Smith, Best Friends at the Bar: the New Balance for Today’s Woman Lawyer. KF299.W6 B59 2012 (Reference Area)
  
• Epstein, Phyllis Horn, Women-at-Law: Lessons Learned Along the Pathways to Success. KF299.W6 E67 2004 (Classified Stacks)
  
• Fletman, Abbe F., The Woman Advocate. KF299.W6 W652 2010 (Classified Stacks)
  
• Gutgold, iIchola D., The Rhetoric of Supreme Court Women : From Obstacles to Options. KF8775 .G88 2012 (Classified Stacks)
  
• Salkin, Patricia E., Pioneering Women Lawyers: From Kate Stoneman to the Present. KF299.W6 P56 2008 (Classified Stacks)
• Smith, Patricia, Women and the United States Constitution : history, interpretation, and practice. KF478.A5 W654 2003 (Classified Stacks)
• Schneider, Elizabeth M., Women and the Law Stories. KF478.A5 W645 2011 (Reference Area)
• Rackley, Erika, Women, Judging and the Judiciary : from difference to diversity. KD472.W65 R33 2013 (Classified Stacks)

Gallagher's Fun Friday Tip: International Women's Day

If you use Google at any point today, you'll see this little picture celebrating the 100th Anniversary of International Women's Day:

Cute? Yes. But the issues facing women today are not so cute. The Financial Times posted on their Facebook page this alarming infograph:

Bryce Covert has also detailed several areas where women are still struggling for equality in her Forbes article, Seven Ways Women Are Still Falling Behind on International Women's Day. Earlier today, President Obama commented on International Women's Day:

"Empowering women isn’t just the right thing to do – it’s the smart thing to do," he said in a statement. "When women succeed, nations are more safe, more secure, and more prosperous. Over the last year, we’ve seen women and girls inspiring communities and entire countries to stand up for freedom and justice, and I’m proud of my Administration’s efforts to promote gender equality worldwide."

For this week's Fun Friday, we encourage you (men and women) to celebrate women, empower women and inspire women. There are several local events lined up this weekend to celebrate women, check them out here, here and here!

Photo Credit 1: www.google.com
Photo Credit 2: www.ft.com
Photo Credit 3: www.forbes.com

Next Up: Croatia

It began in the early 1950's with the Treaty establishing the European Coal and Steel Community with just six members: Belgium, Germany, France, Italy, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands. 

Now, the European Union is preparing to welcome Croatia as its 28th country through the process of Enlargement. 

For a summary of the process and to learn about the U.S. perspective, a recent report is available from the Congressional Research Service on European Union Enlargement (18 pages).


Source: European Union

A Record Number of Women

The Congressional Research Service recently published a report, Membership of the 113th Congress: A Profile.

If you love compiled data (and who doesn't!), you will enjoy this brief (nine pages) but informative report with highlights such as:

• 100 women - a record - serve in the 113th Congress
• 169 Members of the House and 57 Senators have law degrees

The section on "Occupations" might be my favorite. (Do you know which House Member was a professional football player? Hint: Philadelphia Eagles.)

Gallagher's Fun Friday Tip: SNL, Hot Chocolate & the Alabama Shakes

I'm afraid the quarter is closing in and finals are fast approaching. You might expect all of us here at the law library to be shushing your whispers and pushing dusty treatises in your faces but really, with the endless reading, outlining, memorizing, and exams you are juggling, do you really need us adding to your anxiety? No way! In fact, we feel your pain! Mental health is an issue that should be taken seriously. As a non-medical professional, I think laughter, exercise, chocolate, and music are four fundamental pillars of maintaining good mental health. Here's how you can hit all four pillars this weekend:

This Saturday (March 2), watch comedian Kevin Hart host and Seattle rapper, Ben Haggerty aka Macklemore perform on Saturday Night Live!  Watch to see if Macklemore performs Same Love, a song he wrote in support of gay rights and Referendum 74. If you're not a fan of Hart or Macklemore, watch SNL anyway to get some laughs! Maybe Stefon will make an appearance! New York's hottest club is...

This Sunday (March 3) get your blood pumping by running for chocolate at the Seattle Hot Chocolate 15k/5k.  At the post race party, runners receive finisher’s mugs filled with Hot Chocolate, Chocolate Fondue and other tasty treats!  The goodie bag is rumored to be epic and registration is still open!

Finally, the Alabama Shakes are performing at the Paramount Theatre in Seattle this Sunday (March 3)! The band (from Athens, Alabama) has been compared to epic musicians, including Janis Joplin, Otis Redding and Aretha Franklin. Incidentally, the Alabama Shakes recently performed on SNL as well!

If laughing, running, eating chocolate and hippie dancing are not particularly your cup of tea, (seek medical assistance immediately) take a break and try to do something that you enjoy this weekend. After all, stress is a killer.

Photo Credit 1: www.huffpost.com
Photo Credit 2: http://www.hotchocolate15k.com/seattle/