First Monday in October
We are nearing the end of September and that means the new Supreme Court term is right around the corner! Every year, the first Monday in October marks the beginning of a new term. This year’s term begins on Monday, October 2.
As of now, the Court has agreed to hear 32 cases. Justices will hear arguments on several important issues including partisan gerrymandering, immigration, and marriage equality and religious freedom.
Some cases of note include Trump v. International Refugee Assistance Project and Trump v. Hawaii, both of which involve challenges to President Trump’s controversial Executive Order suspending for 90 days entry into the United States by foreign nationals from specific countries. Carpenter v. U.S. asks whether a warrantless search and seizure of cellphone records is a violation of the Fourth Amendment. Finally, in Masterpiece Cakeshop, Ltd. v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission the justices will decide between a same-sex couples’ right, under a state anti-discrimination law, to obtain a custom wedding cake to celebrate their marriage and the constitutional rights of a small business owner who refused to create the cake because of religious beliefs.
You can find more information on the upcoming Supreme Court term at HeinOnline’s Preview of United States Supreme Court Cases, SCOTUS Blog and Supreme Podcast. You can also listen to oral arguments at the Supreme Court’s website and find the parties’ briefs at the ABA’s Preview of United States Supreme Court Cases.
Happy Constitution Day!
Constitution Day (officially observed this year on September 18) commemorates the formation and signing of the Constitution on September 17, 1787. On this date, after fewer than one hundred working days, thirty-nine of the Philadelphia Convention’s delegates signed the Constitution, the longest surviving written charter of government.
Of the three delegates from New York, only Alexander Hamilton participated through to the end and affixed his name. The other New York delegates, John Lansing, Jr. and Robert Yates, left after six weeks because they opposed the movement to consolidate the United States into one government.
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!
Got Food? (Or Drink?)
Did you know the Mendik Library has a very liberal food and drink policy? To help maintain it, we need everyone’s cooperation. Drinks are permitted only in spill-proof containers (e.g., bottles with caps, commuter mugs or tumblers with secure lids, etc.) Spill-proof NYLS mugs are always available at the circulation desk for $5.00.
Library staff have been lenient for the first few weeks of school, but that is about to end. Please cooperate for the benefit of everyone. Thanks.
Interested in Presidential Power?
In conjunction with a course on presidential power at the University of Washington School of Law last year, the Gallagher Law Library created a large and growing resource guide filled with links, readings, videos, podcasts and much more all focused on the presidency and presidential power and the relationship with other branches of government. You’ll find official documents as they become available and plenty of background material to keep you in the know.
Need a Quick Boost?
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.
Attention all 1Ls
Have you submitted your Legally Clueless Info Hunt entry? The drawing will be on Monday August 28 at 3:50 pm for day students and at 5:50 pm for evening students, just outside the Library. The deadline for submission is 3:30 pm (5:30 for evening students) on the 28th.
As promised, we’ll be picking many winners from the raffle drum and awarding lots of prizes, including Starbucks cards, study aids, law school swag, and more! If the prizes aren’t incentive enough, remember that submitting your entry is a requirement of your First Week Introduction to the American Legal System course.
Say Goodbye to Mendik Mobile
With the new semester, the Library is changing the way we offer services on mobile devices.
In place of the Mendik Mobile app many of you have used, we’ve created a responsive webpage – http://lawlib.nyls.edu –that gives you easy access to all our services in a format that looks good and works well on a mobile device.
You should eliminate the Mendik Mobile app and create a shortcut in its place to our responsive webpage. If you don’t know how to do this, just follow these instructions: Take the Library with you!
Although the Mendik Mobile app may continue to work, it won’t have current information. Make sure you delete it and start using the new system.
If you’ve never experienced the convenience of checking course reserves, renewing your loans, or searching our catalog on your phone, you should give it a try.
Balancing the Scales
Check your local PBS television listings. Starting July 5 many public television stations will begin showing the documentary “Balancing the Scales,” a film by Georgia lawyer and filmmaker Sharon Rowen. American Public Media is distributing the film to affiliates in all the major markets, including New York, and stations will be allowed to air the film any time over the next two years. Through interviews conducted over the past twenty-years, the documentary examines a wide range of topics from discrimination, persistent biases and work/life balance to what it takes to become a partner in today’s law firms. The hour long film features U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, civil rights lawyer Gloria Allred, State Supreme Court and Appellate Court Justices, female equity partners, women of color, as well as young associates and law students
ABA Ethics Opinion on Confidentiality of Electronic Documents
On May 11th, the American Bar Association’s Standing Committee on Ethics and Professional Responsibility issued Formal Opinion 477, Securing Communication of Protected Client Information. This important ethics opinion discusses confidentiality obligations relating to electronic client communications, including e-mail. According to the ABA, an updated opinion was necessary given the evolution of the “role and risks of technology in the practice of law” and the 2012 “technology amendments” to the ABA’s Model Rules of Professional Conduct.
The Opinion states that if a lawyer has “undertaken reasonable efforts to prevent inadvertent or unauthorized access,” a lawyer can generally transmit client information over the Internet without violating the Model Rules. Special security measures may be required, however, by “an agreement with the client or by law, or when the nature of the information requires a higher degree of security.” The Opinion doesn’t define the reasonable efforts lawyers should take to comply with the Model Rules, but offers seven factors to help guide and inform decisions.
You can and should read the entire Opinion here: ABA Comm. on Ethics & Prof’l Responsibility, Formal Op. 477 (2017).