In The Client, based on the John Grisham novel, an 11-year-old boy (Brad Renfro) witnesses the confession and suicide of a mob lawyer. With the mob after him and a federal attorney (Tommy Lee Jones) who wants him to tell everything he knows, he must find a way to protect himself. He hires attorney Reggie Love (Susan Sarandon), who puts her career and life on the line to help him.
Check it Out: The Client
Published May 24, 2013 legal movies Leave a CommentTags: law library, lawyers, legal movies
Legal Ethics Links
Published May 23, 2013 Library Guides , research Leave a CommentTags: ethics, law library, legal research
Legal professionals are expected to follow the Rules of Professional Conduct. This research guide provides you with a whole array of resources in this important area, including ethics opinions, WSBA Disciplinary Notices, and Freivogel on Conflicts. It’s a must-read for guidance in professional responsibility.
Today in Legal History: U.S. Term Limits v. Thornton
Published May 22, 2013 legal history Leave a CommentTags: Arkansas, term limits, U.S. Constitution
The state of Arkansas imposed term limitations through Amendment 73, a ballot measure that prohibited the listing of any person who served the maximum terms allowed in the U. S. House or Senate on the general election ballot. Soon after the measure was adopted in 1992, Bobbie Hill, the League of Women Voters, and U.S. Representative Ray Thornton filed suit in Arkansas state court alleging that Amendment 73 violated Article I, sections 2 and 3 of the U.S. Constitution.
On May 22, 1995, the Supreme Court decided, in U.S. Term Limits, Inc. v. Thornton (514 U.S. 779), that the states could not add to or change the qualifications listed in the U.S. Constitution for those elected to Congress. The Supreme Court ruled that the qualifications listed in the Constitution are inclusive, and therefore no state could impose additional qualifications either directly or indirectly.
More information is available at:
Online Index to Treaties
Published May 21, 2013 research Leave a CommentTags: legal information, legal research, treaties
The FLARE Index to Treaties is a searchable database of information about over 2,000 multilateral and bilateral treaties. The database provides citation format, publication information, and links to full text. Information in the database is derived from a host of sources, including the British Yearbook of International Law, the United Nations Treaty Series Index, and international organizations. The database is supported by major United Kingdom libraries, including Cambridge, Oxford, and the British Library.
Featured Database: Index to Foreign Legal Periodicals
Published May 20, 2013 Featured Database Leave a CommentTags: database, law, legal information
Looking for international or foreign law materials? The Index to Foreign Legal Periodicals (IFLP) is now available through Hein Online from the library’s database page. IFLP indexes articles and book reviews from more than 500 legal journals, covering international law, comparative and foreign law, and the law of many foreign jurisdictions. The fully searchable database (1985-present) also includes access to the full text of more than 100 journals. Earlier content (1960-1984), not yet part of the fully searchable database, is available in searchable PDF format via the “Print edition” selection button.
The user-friendly interface allows both searching and browsing (by country, subject, or publication title). And you can “search within” search results, as well as refine results by language, type of material, or date.
Today in Legal History: Brown v. Board of Education Decided
Published May 17, 2013 legal history Leave a CommentTags: civil rights, history, legal history
On May 17, 1954, in a monumental civil rights victory, the U. S. Supreme Court unanimously decided in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka that racial segregation in public schools is unconstitutional. The court argued that segregation of children based solely on race denied black children equal protection of the laws guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment. The “separate but equal” doctrine handed down by the court in Plessy v. Fergson (163 U.S. 537), had been applied in three federal district courts’ decisions to uphold segregation in public schools. The Supreme Court, however, argued that the segregated schools could never be “equal” as guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment, and were therefore unconstitutional.
A year later, the Supreme Court published procedures requiring all public school systems to fully integrate. The Brown v. Board of Education decision significantly aided the civil rights movement, and eventually led to the desegregation of all public facilities.
More information is available at:
- History.com
- Cornell Law
- National Center.org
- James T. Patterson, Brown v. Board of Education: A Civil Rights Milestone and Its Troubled Legacy (Law Library 4th Floor @ KF4155.P37 2002)
- Jack M. Balkin, et al., What Brown v. Board of Education Should Have Said: The Nation’s Top Legal Experts Rewrite America’s Landmark Civil Rights Decision (Law Library 4th Floor KF228.B76W48 2001)
Check it Out: Hart’s War
Published May 17, 2013 legal movies Leave a CommentTags: law, law library, legal movies
Lt. Tommy Hart is a second year Harvard Law student who enlisted to fight in World War II, but instead of fighting he was taken prisoner by the Germans. When a black Tuskegee airman, Lt. Lincoln Scott (Terrence Howard), is accused of murdering one of the other prisoners, Col. William McNamara (Bruce Willis) convinces the German Col. Visser to allow the prisoners to hold their own trial. Lt. Hart tries the case and finds out Col. McNamara’s true intentions for staging the trial. Check out Hart’s War from the law library.
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