Over on the SCOTUSblog, Prof. Stephen Wermiel offers a quick review of the debate dividing the justices about when to overrule constitutional precedent and when to follow it.  It’s a debate he describes as certain to continue when the Court begins its new term on Monday.  Read the post here.

The new Supreme Court term is set to begin this year on Monday October 7, 2019.

For previews of arguments scheduled for this term, visit the SCOTUSblog. Cornell’s Legal Information Institute (LII) also offers a comprehensive preview of the upcoming term.

You can listen to oral arguments at the Supreme Court’s Oral Arguments link, where the audio is posted at the end of each argument week. You can access the parties’ briefs at the Supreme Court’s web site. (Under Case Documents click the link for Docket Search.)

Take a break from the tedium of law study and enjoy the pleasures of punctuation!

September 24 is National Punctuation Day: “A celebration of the lowly comma, correctly used quotation marks, and other proper uses of periods, semicolons, and the ever-mysterious ellipsis.”

How do you celebrate such an event? Find ideas here on the National Punctuation Day website.

Constitution Day is observed each year on September 17 to commemorate the date on which thirty-nine delegates to the Constitutional Convention, held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, signed the United States Constitution in 1787. The Convention was convened as a result of dissatisfaction with the Articles of Confederation, the first constitution of the United States.

In celebration of Constitution Day (and Citizenship Day) this year, a number of federal judges have been conducting naturalization ceremonies for hundreds of new citizens at a dozen major and minor league ballparks across the country. The effort will continue through September 20.

For deeper coverage on the world’s longest surviving written charter of government, download the Library of Congress’s free app containing the official, annotated version of the United State Constitution, U.S. Constitution: Analysis and Interpretation.

The original Constitution is held at the National Archives in Washington, D.C. but you can pick up your own pocket-copy at the library’s reference desk!

September 11 marks one of the darkest days in New York City history. That day in 2001, close to 3,000 people were killed when four US commercial planes were hijacked and then weaponized. Two of the planes were intentionally flown into the Word Trade Center’s Twin Towers, New York City landmarks within walking distance of the Law School. Both towers soon collapsed.

New York Law School community members were deeply affected by the events. Many shared their thoughts, experiences, and recollections. Some of them are summarized below.

Andrew Baffi ‘02, was working as a commercial airline pilot while attending New York Law School in 2001.  He offers his perspective on 9/11 in the December 2001 issue [page 5] of the New York Law School Reporter

The Honorable Roger J. Miner ’56, was in his chambers on the 22^nd floor of the federal courthouse on Foley Square that day.  He recounted his experience here:

Later that year, the Law School published Eight Blocks Away: Memoirs of September 11 2001, highlighting the memories and reflections of Law School community members.  Contributors to the memoir included:  Former Law School Dean Richard Matasar, Associate Librarian and Professor of Legal Research Bill Mills, Professors Arthur Leonard, David Schoenbrod, Nadine Strossen, Stephen Ellmann, David Ferstendig, Lawrence Grosberg, Michael Perlin, Richard Bernstein and Jethro Lieberman. Students and staff members also contributed their own personal stories and a collection of emails and memos details the school’s recovery process.

Does your phone or laptop need a charge? Stop by the Library’s Circulation Desk and the juice is on us; no charge to charge – it’s free! Charging is limited to 30 minutes if another student needs the charger too. Otherwise, you can fill ‘er up.

The Mendik Library will be closed on Labor Day, Monday September 2, 2019. It will be reopened for its regular hours on Tuesday September 3, 2019. Check the Library’s home page for all hours information.

Win… and Learn!

Have you submitted your Legally Clueless Info Hunt entry?

The drawing takes place this Thursday August 22 at 5:45 pm, just outside the Library. We plan to award many prizes, including OneCards (with pre-loaded cash values), First Year course study aids, legal dictionaries, NYLS swag, and who knows what else!

All 1Ls should have received (and worked on) the gray and blue-colored entry form during the First Week Foundations/Finding the Law class. If you need another copy pick one up at the Reference Desk. Spend a few minutes learning more about research and the library’s resources. You don’t even need to get the right answers, and you should always feel free to ask one of the reference librarians for help.

Good luck to all!

On behalf of the Mendik Library, I extend my welcome to the incoming Class of 2019.  We all look forward to meeting you as you embark on this challenging and exciting journey. 

We have worked hard to make your library a comfortable study and learning environment.  The Mendik Library is a vibrant and dynamic information and research center. You can be assured that you are getting the benefit of an outstanding collection of information and technology resources, an extensive offering of services, and an excellent and dedicated library staff.

We describe our resources and services in great detail on our web pages and in the handouts in this folder. What you might not realize from these publications is the outstanding quality of the Mendik Library staff and why that is important to you.  Our staff includes ten professional librarians with master’s degrees, five of whom also have J.D. degrees from law schools around the country. They have been where you are going. Your librarians have many years of experience working in law libraries and teaching legal research.  Many also have years of legal practice experience. They can help you with your library and research needs, of course, but their value to you goes far beyond that. Do not hesitate to ask us questions about the law school, particular courses, or any of the extracurricular activities available.  We can help you, or we will direct you to the best person to give you the help you need.  

Law school is a new experience for each of you, and we are committed to making that experience a rewarding one.  We welcome the opportunity to work with you throughout your law school career and thereafter as alumni.  

Welcome!  We hope the library will quickly become your second home.

Sincerely,

Professor Camille Broussard

Library Director & Associate Dean

Retired Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens died at the age of 99 on July 16, 2019, in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.  With over three decades on the Supreme Court bench, wearing his trademark bowtie, Stevens was the third-longest serving Justice of the high court before his June 2010 retirement.

Born and raised in Chicago, Stevens grew up in the heyday of the Roaring Twenties. After graduating from the University of Chicago, he served as a codebreaker in the U.S. Navy during World War II, and upon his discharge, enrolled at Northwestern University School of Law.  Shortly after his graduation, he secured a Supreme Court clerkship with Justice Wiley Rutledge, and when that ended, went into private practice specializing in antitrust law.  In 1970, President Richard Nixon nominated Stevens to the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, where he made a name for himself as a moderate conservative judge.  Five years later, President Gerald Ford appointed him to fill the Supreme Court vacancy created by the retirement of Justice William O. Douglas.

Justice Stevens leaves an indelible impression on many of the critical social issues that have reached the Supreme Court.  The broad scope and range of his many opinions include those impacting abortion, affirmative action, civil rights, climate change, criminal justice, the death penalty, and many other pressing issues.

Despite a perceived evolution in his ideology over the course of his years on the bench, Justice Stevens was known to be an intellectual and pragmatic jurist, with a strong aversion to ideological and partisan characterizations.  His commitment to justice and passion for “learning on the job” helped him garner a reputation for honesty, humility and wisdom as well as the respect of many.

If the impact and influence of a jurist can be determined by how much has been written about him and his body of work, the numerous tributes and memorials that have proliferated since his passing provide testimony to Justice Steven’s exemplary life and judicial career.

The following is a list of works written by Justice Steven that are available in the Library’s collection:

The Making of a Justice: Reflections on my First 94 Years (2019)
KF8745 .S78 A3 2019

With William N. Eskridge Jr., Interpreting Law: A Primer on How to Read Statutes and the Constitution (2016)
KF425.E833 2016

Six Amendments: How and Why We Should Change the Constitution (2014)
KF4557 .S74 2014

Five Chiefs: A Supreme Court Memoir (2011)
KF8745.S78 A3 2011