Listen to Second Circuit Court of Appeals Arguments

If you can’t make it to the U.S. Courthouse in Foley Square to attend oral arguments before the Second Circuit Court of Appeals, next month you’ll be able to access audio recordings of them from the court’s own website.  See the court’s announcement here or here.

The recordings will become available on August 15, 2016, the first day of the court’s 2016 term.

Most of the other circuit courts of appeals also make audio recordings available on their respective web sites.  The 10th and 11th circuits are the exception.

Bar Study Update

Extended Library study hours begin on Tuesday, July 5. On Sundays thru Thursdays, the Library will remain open until midnight. Starting on July 11, classroom space available outside the library for bar studying will be limited before 5:30 p.m. The Library understands that many of you like to study in small groups and occasionally converse.  To that end, beginning on July 5, reasonable conversations will be allowed on L-4 for the remainder of the bar study period.  If the group study room (L400), the compact shelving area, and two seminar rooms (L402 and L405) are available, please use those first for group study.  The group study rooms on L-2 and L-3 are also available for your use.  As our signs have always said – one person is not a group. But if a group study room is not available, you are welcome to engage in reasonable conversation at the table spaces on L-4.  Floors L-2 and L-3 will remain quiet study spaces.  We understand that July can be a stressful month in bar study land.  Please remember to be kind to your colleagues:  Control the decibel levels and help us keep your Library clean.

 

If you have questions, please let the reference librarians know.  Good Luck and Stay Focused!

Law School 411

The study and practice of law has frequently been described as encompassing both the scholarly and popular aspects of cultural life. The Mendik Library’s Law School 411 LibGuide provides an online multimedia bibliography to students thinking about law school as well as to those currently enrolled. It features books, movies and websites dedicated to the all-pervasive discipline of law.  Take a moment to explore the Guide’s many offerings, which run the gamut from inspiring stories about social justice, to ways in which students can maximize the many facets of the law school experience.

Celebrate Law Day

In 1958, President Eisenhower designated May 1 “Law Day, USA.” Law Day celebrates the rule of law and its contributions to Americans’ many freedoms. Law Day 2016 is especially significant as it marks the 50th anniversary of perhaps the best-known U.S. Supreme Court case, Miranda v. Arizona.
The theme for this year’s observance is Miranda: More than Words. Additional information on Law Day and many downloadable resources relating to Miranda can be found on the ABA’s Law Day web page.

Michael H. Roffer wins The Joseph L. Andrews Legal Literature Award!

At this year’s Annual Meeting of the American Association of Law Libraries, our very own Michael H. Roffer, Associate Librarian for Reader Services & Professor of Legal Research will be honored with The Joseph L. Andrews Legal Literature Award, for his book The Law Book: From Hammurabi to the International Criminal Court, 250 Milestones in the History of Law. 

Established in 1967 to honor Joseph L. Andrews, reference librarian at the Association of the Bar of the City of New York, the Andrews Legal Literature Award recognizes significant textual contributions to legal literature.  To find out more about Michael’s book, click here or stop by the Library and check it out.

Congratulations, Michael!  Your Library family is proud of you!

mhr law book

The Supreme Court Vacancy

The passing of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia created a vacant seat on the nation’s highest court. Article II section 2 of the Constitution provides the mechanism to fill that seat, stating that the President “shall nominate, and by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, shall appoint Judges of the Supreme Court.”  Since the Supreme Court was established in 1789, 160 nominations have been submitted to the Senate.  The last Justice nominated and appointed to the Supreme Court was Justice Elena Kagan on August 5, 2010, after Justice John Paul Stevens announced his retirement in April of that year.  Because it is a presidential election year, more controversy than usual now surrounds the nomination and appointment process .

For more information on the nomination and confirmation process as well as the history of past nominations and appointments, visit HeinOnline’s “History of Supreme Court Nominations” and the Georgetown Law Library’s Supreme Court Nominations Research Guide. .