Law Librarian Blog

Chief Justice William Rehnquist Has Died

Cable news services are reporting that Chief Justice William Rehnquist has died. AP's first report.

University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law in Sacramento,California Welcomes Students and Faculty from Tulane and Loyola-New Orleans.

From an email sent to me by Mary C. McGuire, Student Services Counselor, Office of the Assistant Dean of Students.

University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law in Sacramento,California Welcomes Students and Faculty from Tulane and Loyola-New Orleans.  Please see details and contact information below:

Who: Law students at all levels (J.D. and LL.M.) or faculty members from Tulane or Loyola-New Orleans.  Pacific McGeorge will rely upon LSAC for verification of matriculation at Tulane or Loyola-New Orleans.

How Long: The fall 2005 semester or the 2005-2006 academic year, the latter depending on the policies of Tulane and Loyola-New Orleans.

Tuition/Fees:  Pacific McGeorge will waive all tuition and fees for the fall 2005 semester if the student has paid tuition to Tulane or Loyola-New Orleans.  If necessary, the same offer will be extended to the spring 2006 semester.

Academic Support:  The faculty at Pacific McGeorge will assist students in transitioning and will tutor students as necessary.  Student mentors will be provided.

Housing: Pacific McGeorge will provide emergency housing on a temporary basis and will work with students to secure permanent housing.

Contact: Emily Randon, Office of Admissions
             916-739-7105, erandon@pacific.edu, or
             Mary C. McGuire, Office of the Dean of Students
             916-739-7089, mmcguire@pacific.edu

LexisNexis Offers Free Books to Displaced Tulane and Loyola-New Orleans Law Students

From LexisNexis:

LexisNexis' Law School Publishing group has implemented a plan to respond to the needs of law school students displaced by Hurricane Katrina. LexisNexis will provide free coursebooks to all displaced students enrolled in a law school class that requires a LexisNexis coursebook. LexisNexis will also provide free copies of relevant titles from our Understanding Series and our Q & A Series to all displaced students enrolled in a law school class that corresponds to a title in our Understanding and Q & A product lines.

To receive this assistance, an appointed school administrator (e.g., the registrar) must make this contact on behalf of the displaced student(s) who have been invited to participate in their Fall 2005 program. Requests must include:

Students' name
Mailing address
Email address (if any)
Phone number
Home law school
Author name & title of adopted LexisNexis coursebook
Fall 2005 course listing (to determine relevant study aid titles to send to each student).

Please send this information to: Lisa Hughes, LexisNexis Law School Sales Operations Manager, via email at Lisa.A.Hughes@lexisnexis.com, or via fax at 518-641-6090.

Source: Paul Caron (Cincinnati) TaxProf Blog;

See also , Details about free book offers from Aspen, Foundation Press and West.

Katrina "I'm Safe" Lists

Here's several "I'm Safe" and missing persons lists. I'm sure there are more somewhere:

• Hurricane Katrina Family News Network of the International Committee of the Red Cross
• Craig's List
• Survived Katrina
• NOLA
• Katrina I'm OK

Additons:

• National Next of Kin Registry
• MSNBC's Missing Persons List
• MSNBC's I'm Safe List

Finally

• Rexblog has an excellent list.

And remember folks, from the displaced person's perspective, getting the word out via listservs may not be as effective as getting it out via websites or blogs. Refugee email accounts are most likely down. Certainly put information out on your listservs but don't forget to use alternatives. People will be searching Google by personal or corporate names so it doesn't matter where on the web the information gets published. For example, Ernie the Attorney is dedicating most of his blog space to messages from Katrina refugees. Great job. See also New Orleans Metrobloggers.

IRS Expands Tax Relief for Victims of Hurricane Katrina

Paul Caron (Cincinnati) has the details with links to docs at TaxProf Blog.

Bush Signs $10.5 Billion "Downpayment" for Katrina Relief

News account.

This has to be the shortest Presidential Signing Statement on a significant appropriations bill in recent history:

Statement on H.R. 3645, the "Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act to Meet Immediate Needs Arising From the Consequences of Hurricane Katrina, 2005"

On Friday, September 2, 2005 the President signed into law:

H.R. 3645, the "Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act to Meet Immediate Needs Arising From the Consequences of Hurricane Katrina, 2005".

Source

Blogger Faces Lawsuit Over Comments Posted by Readers

David Kesmodel is reporting in the Wall Street Journal Online about "a legal case being watched closely by bloggers," an Internet company has sued the owner of a Web log for comments posted to his site by readers. You've got my attention, David!

A Perfect Gift for Law School Students

Hammacher Schlemmer is offering an iPod Alarm Clock Radio. The clock radio houses and charges any size iPod, including photo and mini models, allowing you to playback your entire music catalog at bedside, or wake to your favorite selection.

What next, iPod cellphone? As a matter of fact, yes! Rumors are that one is imminent.

Update on Louisiana Supreme Court & Law Library of Louisiana

From Kevin P. Gray, LSU Law Center Library:

Georgia Chadwick of the Law Library of Louisiana called in to report that Carol Billings and Catherine Lemann as well as Georgia herself are safe.  Any other staffers of the Louisiana Supreme Court / Law Library of Louisiana are asked to check in by sending an e-mail to louisianasupremecourt@yahoo.com.  Others who may know the whereabouts of Supreme Court or library personnel are also asked to check in at that address.

Apparently, the Supreme Court building itself is flooded in the basement and has been looted

Aspen, Foundation Press & West to Provide Free Books to Displaced Tulane and Loyola-New Orleans Law Students

Aspen:

We will provide replacement titles for those students who lost Aspen books in the hurricane and its aftermath, or students who are enrolling in sections at other schools using an Aspen title different than the one they purchased. We ask that these requests come from the school – academic dean, registrar, etc. All school requests should be sent to legaledu@aspenpublishers.com or 800.950.5259, where they will be given highest priority. Books will be sent to the school requestor for student distribution, unless we are directed to send to another distribution point (bookstore, direct to students, etc).

Foundation Press and West:

In an effort to assist Tulane and Loyola-New Orleans law students in need of Fall textbooks, West Law School and Foundation Press are providing new or replacement course materials free of charge to those impacted by Hurricane Katrina. Those in need should contact Christopher Hart, Director of Sales and Account Management for West Law School and Foundation Press at 1-800-313-9378 or Christopher.Hart@thomson.com. Requests should include the name of the student's home law school, the name of the student's Fall 2005 law school, the author and title of the book(s) being requested and current shipping and contact information for the student.

Source: TaxProf Blog.

FirstGov Launches Hurricane Katrina Website

Law Dawg Blawg reports (by way of beSpecific) that "FirstGov, the U.S. Government's Official Web Portal, has launched a "Hurricane Katrina Recovery" website that includes sections devoted to the following topics: Finding Loved Ones; What To Do If You Are a Victim; How to Help Victims; Health and Safety; and Disaster Cleanup and Agency Resources. Each section of the website provides links to helpful sources (e.g., Persons Missing in New Orleans site, Louisiana Hurricane Assistance, Disaster Help gateway)."

Republicans Release Witness List for Roberts Hearings

CNN is reporting that Judiciary Republicans have released a tentative list of witnesses for the Roberts hearings. Republican witnesses include Juneau Mayor Bruce Botelho, National Collegiate Athletic Association lawyer Elsa Cole, U.S. Civil Rights commissioners Jennifer Braceras and Peter Kirsanow, and former attorney general Dick Thornburgh.

To Thomson West customers affected by Hurricane Katrina

From Peter Warwick, President and CEO of Thomson-West:

Thomson West is committed to helping customers restore their livelihood and their practice as soon as possible. If you have been displaced by the disaster, please contact Thomson West Customer Service at 1-800-328-4880, ext. 67281, to let us know that you’re safe. 

When you’re ready to get back on your feet, affected Westlaw customers can contact their Sales representative or call Customer Service to access a complimentary Westlaw password. Thomson West Reference Attorneys are standing by to help support your research needs, and our Technology organization can help establish new high-speed connections to support your practice or your government or academic office. And, when it's time to re-open your office, Thomson West will work with you to help you rebuild your West print library. 

Very best wishes,

Peter Warwick
President & CEO, Thomson West

Library Resources for ABA Hurricane Relief Efforts

The ABA's Business Law Section is collecting resources for a library on ABA's hurricane portal page. If your Committee has produced any programs, books, or articles that would be of assistance to businesses or consumers facing the long task of rebuilding after Hurricane Katrina, please work with Robert Rupp to gather and submit them to the ABA webmaster. Contact Robert by phone at 312-988-5680 or via email at ruppr@staff.abanet.org.

Sounds like a perfect project of law librarians. Even if you do not belong to an ABA committee, I would hope the ABA would accept law librarian contributions. Contact Robert Rupp.

5th Circuit Employees Communication Resources

[This is excerpted from an email from the Administrative Office of U.S. Courts and has been supplied by Ann Fessenden, Circuit Librarian, 8th Circuit.]

The 5th Circuit has begun to set up temporary operations in Houston. The staff there have email access and the Circuit’s website is up at http://www.ca5.uscourts.gov/

Information is also available at the Southern Texas website, http://www.txs.uscourts.gov/

Preliminary reports are that damage to the 5th Circuit Bldg to be relatively minor. [No specific information available on the library.]

All 5th Circuit court employees should call the emergency contact (ARMA)# and provide their location and contact information: 866-406-7346

(Note: this # has a recording that will direct the caller to another # where someone will answer and collect the caller’s information).

If you hear from anyone from the Fifth Circuit offices, please ask them to call in to that number and provide their information.

Loyola-New Orleans Communication Resources

From Brian Huddleston, Senior Reference Librarian, Loyola University New Orleans School of Law Library:

Loyola University New Orleans has a temporary web page with current information:

There’s a blog where employees can post contact information, look for colleagues, and families can seek out Loyola personnel. I saw several law school folks listed, but none from the law library:

And the ABA has a page about the ongoing efforts to possibly allow our students to transfer into other law schools for the semester.

[Editor's note: AALS is publishing infomation about law schools that are accepting transfers. See earlier post.]

And on a personal note for those who know me, my wife and I and the animals evacuated early Sunday to my parents' house on the Eastern Shore of Mobile Bay. It was crowded and without power so Wednesday we left for North Carolina where friends can put us and our pets up for weeks or longer. Our new house in New Orleans is (was?) uptown in one of the few areas that probably didn't flood at all, but even if the house is leveled we are still the lucky ones with family and friends who can help us and jobs that eventually we can return to. The scenes on TV are probably not the worst of what has happened, and many of those people will not be able to bounce back like we will be able to do. If you can, please donate something to the Red Cross or other charities working on the relief effort. - Brian Huddleston

New Orleans: Satellite Before and After Images

NASA has posted before and after high res images of New Orleans.

See also Hurricane Katrina Media Gallery Thanks to Eric Montes for the tip.

UPDATE: See animated before and after images. Thanks to In the Hat for the tip.

OT: Friday Fun

With all the grim news, perhaps we need to take a break. Can you fix my mouse?

GPO Launches New RSS Feed

A new RSS Feed for "What's New" on GPO Access is available for free from the U.S. Government Printing Office (GPO) at http://www.gpoaccess.gov. RSS feeds ensure more timely and efficient information dissemination, as subscribers receive up-to-the-minute updates from GPO.

For more information or to submit comments on GPO's RSS feeds, visit http://www.gpoaccess.gov/rss/. As additional feeds are added, they will be compiled on this page.

Housing for Katrina Victims

From Amy Hale-Janeke:

If you feel that you have room to take in a Katrina victim, please go to http://www.hurricanehousing.org/ and post. This site is hosted by MoveOn.org