Legal Research

MUTCD: Manual of Uniform Traffic Control Devices

Posted on July 28, 2010
MUTCD: Manual of Uniform Traffic Control DevicesAnother research resource alive and well on the web, but remember, not everyone has web access. The digital divide is also alive and well. Support your libraries that make digital documents available to people who don't have easy access to online resources!

Oregon Lawyers on Speaking to ?The Media?

Posted on July 28, 2010
Many lawyers, law professors, and judges have to talk to the press (print and online news writers and reporters) at some time in their careers. Sometimes reporters just want some background information, facts checked, or some legal procedural step clarified...

Oregon Tattoo Artist Licensing Update

Posted on July 28, 2010
Willamette Week, July 21, 2010, story: The Skin Game: Unlicensed tattooing is on the rise?with bad consequences? about the Oregon Health Licensing Agency (OHLA) and tattoo artists:Excerpt: ?It takes more than dyed hair, gauged ears and a wardrobe inspired by Kat Von D to become a tattoo artist in Oregon...

Error in the Court Report: Legal Publishing

Posted on July 28, 2010
A Law Librarian Blog July 27, 2010, post was interesting on several counts:It May Be Just One Letter But ? When West Refuses to Correct Scopes v. Tennessee Because of ?Cost,? I Think We Have a Problem1) Yes, the writer is correct. The error should be corrected...

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Oregon State Bar (OSB) Public Website Update

Posted on July 28, 2010
The Oregon State Bar public website has a great new look. There is a lot of information in print and on video.The Legal Links cable TV shows are terrific and worth watching if you need information about landlord-tenant law, DUII, Small Claims Court, and many more...

Oregon November 2010 Election: REGISTER TO VOTE (and Gubernators)

Posted on July 27, 2010
Brace yourself for a fun Oregon Election ballot in November 2010.If you want to participate, don?t forget to register to vote. Visit the Oregon Secretary of State Election Division or your county election office for information on registering online or in person...

Oregon State Bar Public Website

Posted on July 26, 2010
The Oregon State Bar public website has a great new look. There is a lot of information online and on video.The Legal Links cable TV shows are terrific and worth watching if you need information about landlord-tenant law, DUII, Small Claims Court, and much, much more...

Exotic Pets in Oregon and Beyond. Book: "Forbidden Creatures"

Posted on July 25, 2010
While on a rare, and all too brief, break from work, I caught, so to speak, a wonderful, and not a little bit terrifying, interview on Fresh Air with Peter Laufer, author of "Forbidden Creatures: Inside the World of Animal Smuggling and Exotic Pets.?It was hard on the heels of my Exotic Pets post: Animal Law: Thou Shall Not Covet Exotic Pets in Oregon (and beyond)

Oregon Liquor Control Commission (OLCC) and Home-Brewers

Posted on July 25, 2010
If you?ve been reading stories about the Oregon Liquor Control Commission (OLCC) ban on sharing home-brewed beer (and the Oregon Homebrewers Alliance has links and information), you might want to read the law itself and a bit more on how this all came about...

Oregon Small Claims and Traffic Court: A Free CLE, July 29, 2010

Posted on July 24, 2010
If you?re interested in learning more about how Oregon Small Claims and Traffic courts operate, here?s your chance:Oregon Small Claims and Traffic CLEPresented by: Judge Steven A. Todd, Multnomah County Circuit CourtPortland State University?s Student Legal Services Office is hosting a Small Claims and Traffic CLE this summer on July 29th, 2010...

What is a ?Valid Signature? on an Oregon Initiative Petition?

Posted on July 21, 2010
Questions about Oregon initiative and referendum signature petitions are as old as the petition itself (1902) and as new as yesterday (see History links, below). The latest challenges are to the Secretary of State's office tossing petition signatures for a 2010 ballot initiative that would change how the state manages legislative redistricting...

Oregon November 2010 Election: Gubernator (aka Governor) Candidates!

Posted on July 20, 2010
Brace yourself for a fun ballot in November.If you want to participate, don?t forget to register to vote. Visit the Oregon Secretary of State Election Division or your county election office for information on registering online or in person.November 2010 is the time to vote for a new Oregon Gubernator! (Why else would they call it a gubernatorial election?)Oregon Gubernatorial Candidates (or party websites) I have found so far:1) Constitution: Greg Kord2) Democrat: John Kitzhaber (and Wikipedia and Facebook pages)3) Independent: Richard Esterman (and Facebook)4) Libertarian: Wes Wagner (also Wikipedia)5) Pacific Green Party (no candidate?)6) Progressive Party (also Wikipedia) (no candidate?)7) Republican: Chris Dudley (and Wikipedia and Facebook pages)8) Working Families Party (also Wikipedia and Facebook) (no candidate?)REPEAT: Don?t forget to register to vote...

Law Librarian (and law library) Jobs in Oregon

Posted on July 19, 2010
There are a number of Law Librarian position openings in Oregon this summer 2010. Visit the usual suspects for librarian job postings, but don?t forget the Oregon State Library Jobline.The positions include an Assistant Law Librarian position in my own law library...

Oregon Estate Law: Wills and Trusts: Forms and ?Self-Help? Advice

Posted on July 16, 2010
This is an update to previous posts on estate planning (and on pro se litigants):Public law libraries, and public libraries generally, get a lot of questions from people (non-attorneys) who want to write their own wills, draft their own powers of attorney, and who want fill-in-the-blank estate planning legal forms...

Oregon Estate Law: Basic Forms and Practice Materials

Posted on July 14, 2010
While there are dozens of print resources (and even more online) on specific wills, trusts, and estate planning issues and questions, here?s a short list of the basic, not to be skipped, Oregon estate planning forms and practice materials. These are print-only resources in most law libraries, though some libraries may have on-site online or CD-ROM access...

DIY Legal Research vs. DIY Lawyering

Posted on July 11, 2010
I?m an energetic advocate of DIY Legal Research (as are most public law library librarians) and a somewhat less than enthusiastic advocate of DIY Lawyering (aka self-help, self-representation, pro se litigation, pro per representation), especially for people who don?t have any research experience or aptitude for hours of study, note-taking, writing, preparation, decision-making, and the sense to consult experts when necessary (not to mention having the patience of a cat watching its prey)...

Indexes: How to Save Time When Researching Legal or Criminal Justice Subjects

Posted on July 10, 2010
Whether you?re researching juvenile sex offender laws or marijuana taxation or jails or something in between, you will want to use an Index, that is, ?indexes to periodical literature,? including magazine, journal, newsletter, and other print and online specialty or general publications indexes...

Oregon Federal Court Jury Instructions

Posted on July 09, 2010
Periodically we are asked about jury instructions for the Oregon federal district court. We have the following on good authority, though in the world of legal research, all is subject to variation, circumstances, and change:1) The Oregon Federal District Court has not (as of this date) produced its own jury instructions...

United State Code (U.S.C.) Lost Laws

Posted on July 09, 2010
It?s not hard to be perplexed when trying to understand the U.S. Code (link to searchable versions) and the niceties of codification. Maybe this will help:Lost Laws: What We Can?t Find In The U.S. Code, Legal Research Plus (blog), May 23, 2010, by Paul Lomio:(Re Article: Lost Laws: What We Can?t Find In The U...

Oregon Judicial (Judge) Vacancies, Selection, and Election

Posted on July 06, 2010
There are a number of ways to research Oregon judicial vacancies and candidates and here are a few to start with:1) The Oregon State Bar Judicial Vacancy website.2) Oregon Governor?s judicial appointments website.3) Oregon Bluebook4) Oregon newspaper and blog searches are useful too, though one has to keep one's fact-check hat on tight...

(4) Places to Start Your Search for that Elusive Book Title

Posted on July 02, 2010
Libraries get a lot of those ?I can?t remember that book (story, poem, etc.) title? types of questions, which we love because every good librarian loves a mystery that requires some biblio-detective work.Even with the web, some titles remain elusive, so what?s a librarian or a reader to do?There are a number of websites that might help with the search...

Oregon Supreme Court and Miranda Warnings (Vondehn case)

Posted on July 01, 2010
Hot on the heels of the June 30, 2010, Oregon Court of Appeals Court case on Miranda warnings, comes this July 1, 2010, Oregon Supreme Court case:State of Oregon v. Hyatt Robin Vondehn (SC S056371):Media Release excerpt: "Today the Oregon Supreme Court held that Article I, section 12, of the Oregon Constitution requires the police to give Miranda warnings before they conduct custodial interrogation to ensure that a suspect's decision to waive the right against self-incrimination is both knowing and voluntary...

Justice Bedsworth Pays Homage to the Judicial Clerks Amongst Us

Posted on July 01, 2010
Justice Bedsworth in his July 2010 Criminal Waste of Space column, in the OC Lawyer Magazine, tells a couple of his favorite judicial clerks stories. New lawyers, especially, should pay attention:The Power and the Glory, by Justice William W. Bedsworth, July 2010Excerpt: ??I don?t know, there may be some 9-armed, 6-eyed, 3-brained creatures on Arcturus 7 who can handle a clerk?s duties better than Dwayne, but certainly nobody on this planet could touch him...

Oregon Drivers Licenses: Appealing a Suspension, Revocation, or Cancellation?

Posted on June 30, 2010
One possible answer to a frequently asked question in public law libraries: ?Can I appeal my license suspension??(Hurrah for the web. It was a lot harder in the ?old days? to find this info. (But keep in mind, that it costs a whole lot more to maintain useful government websites than it took to answer telephones and print a directory or phonebook listing...

Oregon Miranda Rights: State v. Gardner

Posted on June 30, 2010
Did you know that many police officers are advised and trained not to recite Miranda Warnings (see also about Ernesto Miranda) but instead to read them to the person who has been arrested? (Even if the officer can recite ?Miranda Warnings? by heart, and most can, they are not infrequently advised to read them from a printed card, primarily to avoid any dispute over dropped words or phrases, however inadvertent...

Animal Law: Thou Shall Not Covet Exotic Pets in Oregon (and beyond)

Posted on June 30, 2010
I?m not big on buying stuff, especially stuff that eats, so am not inclined to feel acquisitive or broody when I see a cute critter, but apparently it?s a real problem in the real world (i.e. the non-bibliophile world ? we apparently covet only time to read ? and maybe Hood strawberries and Ranier Cherries...

Oregon Gutter-Cleaning Scam: Scoundrels, Swindlers, and Other People to Avoid

Posted on June 29, 2010
If you or your neighbors run into Gutter-Cleaning Man, please call the WC Sheriff to find out if he is still a Wanted Person."Police seek man accused of several elder abuse cases," Monday, June 28, 2010, by Nick Christensen, The Hillsboro Argus:Excerpt: ?...

Indian Arts and Crafts Act (IACA): The Perilous Business of Selling ?Indian-styled? Arts & Crafts

Posted on June 29, 2010
I was looking at the Dykema law firm?s website and saw that they posted (with permission) this interesting article on the IACA:?Little Known Statute Can Create Staggering Liability.?(You can also link to it from the Dykema Publications webpage, but however you read it (and other articles), please, please respect and observe copyright laws before copying, which you can do only with permission unless otherwise noted...

Oregon Public Records Laws and Concealed Weapon Licenses

Posted on June 26, 2010
Mail Tribune, Inc. v. Winters (A139107) (See also Court of Appeals Media Release dated 6/23/10)Excerpt:?The Jackson County Sheriff appeals a judgment declaring that all concealed handgun licenses issued by the Sheriff of Jackson County are public records and ordering the sheriff to disclose a list of all concealed handgun licenses issued in the county in 2006 and 2007...

?The Wit, Wisdom, and Worthlessness of Law Reviews?

Posted on June 25, 2010
Gallagher Blogs on June 23, 2010, takes us to this article, which caught my eye because I comment often on how few state law school law reviews publish useful articles anymore on their own state?s laws. There was a time when you could go to them, the law reviews, for excellent case or statute histories...

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