Law Librarian Blog

State appeals court upholds New York's marriage law

From Newsday:

ALBANY, N.Y. -- A midlevel state appeals court on Thursday upheld the state's marriage law as constitutional, handing a defeat to same-sex couples seeking to be married in New York.

The five-judge panel ruled in three separate cases brought on behalf of gay couples denied marriage licenses. The similar cases are among a handful that could eventually end up before the state's highest court, the Court of Appeals, which is widely expected to make the ultimate judicial decision on the legality of gay marriage in New York.

The Appellate Division of state Supreme Court ruling keeps the status quo on same-sex marriage. Thursday's decision follows a 4-1 December ruling by the state Supreme Court's Appellate Division in New York City to reverse a lower court decision that would have permitted same-sex couples to wed in New York City.

Read more about it.

Read the opinion.

Ron Jones, University of Cincinnati Law Library

Calculate your Life-Expectancy

The Original Death Calculator: Life-Expectancy Quiz  "calculating death dates since 1974"
By Dr. David J. Demko, professor of gerontology and editor.

"Your chances of living 100 years are "90 to 1". The odds get better with each new scientific discovery. One million boomers are expected to reach 100 years of age. Will you achieve membership in this prestigous "one-in-a-million" club? Don't sit and wonder. Find out ... right now.

Answer the questions, adding or subtracting years. Your score estimates life-expectancy. But, years can be added if you improve your lifestyle. Created in 1974, and continually updated based on new research, the calculator promotes successful aging."

Now that's creepy...and a lot of work...ha!

Ron Jones, University of Cincinnati Law Library

Editor's Note: Yikes! I've got less than 20 more years to live! Only someone in his early 30s ie Ron Jones, would post something like this. (jh)

Policing Porn Is Not Part of Homeland Security Job Description

The Washington Post is reporting that county homeland security officers were reassigned for overstepping their authority after a library incident wherein they announced that viewing Internet pornography was forbidden. Librarians stepped in to stop the officers from removing patrons who were viewing materials the officers found objectionable.

Brookings Work on the Atlantic Alliance's Struggle to Deal With It's Most Pressing Hot Spot

Crescent of Crisis
U.S.-European Strategy for the Greater Middle East
Ivo H. Daalder, Nicole Gnesotto, and Philip H. Gordon, eds.
Brookings Institution Press and the EU Institute for Security Studies 2005
c. 200 pp.
Cloth Text, 0-8157-1690-7, $44.95 
Trade Paper, 0-8157-1689-3, $18.95

From the book description: Crescent of Crisis brings together several leading American and European experts to develop a common approach to the pressing worries of the region. The contributors include some of the foremost analysts of the region from both sides of the Atlantic. They provide succinct synopses of the crises, compare U.S. and European perspectives, and suggest ways to increase cooperation. The editors synthesize this into a road map for U.S.-European cooperation in meeting the present and future challenges of this volatile part of the world.

Opening: Reference Librarian, Texas Wesleyan University School of Law

Dee J. Kelly Law Library
Texas Wesleyan University School of Law
Fort Worth, TX

The Reference Librarian, a professional position reporting to the Head of Public Services, is responsible for providing reference services to the law school community, bench, bar and public.

Basic Responsibilities:  Provide reference using print, microform and electronic resources for the law school faculty and students.  Provide directional reference for attorneys and public patrons. Actively participate in public services department (reference, ILL, circulation, reserve and collection maintenance). Responsible for circulation including reserve collection and overdue notices.

Requirements: MLS and JD from accredited institution(s).  Proficiency with automated library system, Internet, LEXIS/NEXIS, Westlaw.  Team player.  Strong service orientation.  Energetic self-starter with desire to excel.

Hours include at least one weekend day and some evenings.

Salary commensurate with qualifications.  Minimum: $45,000.

Available immediately.

WE ENCOURAGE MAY/JUNE 2006 GRADUATES TO APPLY.

Send resume and three references to:

Susan Phillips
Associate Dean and Director of Library
Dee J. Kelly Law Library
Texas Wesleyan University School of Law
1515 Commerce St.
Fort Worth, TX 76102

Coloring Books Introduce Children to Legal System

Learning the Law and Learning More About the Law are coloring books prepared by the Maryland Judicial Conference's Committee on Public Awareness to introduce children to the legal system and the judicial branch. Geared toward children in third grade and younger, they include a variety of activities, offering a fun way to teach children the basics of the legal system in Maryland.

Both books are free downloads (pdf)

Job Opening: Librarian Relations Manager, Thomson West

West Librarian Relations seeks a Librarian Relations Manager to serve law librarians in Chicago and Michigan.  Visit http://west.thomson.com/careers/, click on "Search All Opportunities," and use the term "librarian" in the search box for additional information.

The War on Science Continues, EPA Libraries Threatened by Bush Budget

Press release:

"Under President Bush’s proposed budget, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is slated to shut down its network of libraries that serve its own scientists as well as the public, according to internal agency documents released today by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER). In addition to the libraries, the agency will pull the plug on its electronic catalog which tracks tens of thousands of unique documents and research studies that are available nowhere else."

• Impact of the EPA library system cuts (pdf) 
• Library services on the chopping block (pdf)
• Staff and budget cuts, library-by-library (pdf)

Hat tip to beSpecific for calling attention to this very important story.

Mark Giangrande, DePaul Law Libary

The February Issue of First Monday is Now Online

Articles from the February issue include:

• Law and Borders: The Rise of Law in Cyberspace
  by David R. Johnson and David G. Post (originally published in May 1996)
• The Great Debate — Law in the Virtual World
  by David G. Post and David R. Johnson
• Virtual Borders: The Interdependence of Real and Virtual Worlds
  by James Grimmelmann
• Dispute Resolution Without Borders: Some Implications for the Emergence of Law in Cyberspace
  by Ethan Katsh
• The Life of the Law Online
  by David R. Johnson

Ron Jones, Univeristy of Cincinnati Law Library

Electon Reform: What's Changed, What Hasn't and Why 2005-2006

From the Election Reform Information Project:

"Report reveals that efforts to upgrade voting equipment and registration databases have been delayed in nearly half of the states, throwing into doubt whether the goals of the Help America Vote Act can be achieved in time for the 2006 vote."

Ron Jones, University of Cincinnati Law Library

National Military Strategic Plan for the War on Terrorism

From the U.S. Department of Defense:

"The National Military Strategic Plan for the War on Terrorism, developed by the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, supports the national U.S. government strategy for the war on terrorism by outlining strategic guidance for military activities and operations. The document designates a global-supported combatant commander for the war on terror. This commander will write a national campaign plan, and each combatant commander will be required to write a regional campaign plan. This is the authoritative document to describe the nature of the war, the nature of the enemy, and the military strategy to face the enemy. This plan was needed because conflicting views within DoD were hurting cooperation and efficiency."

Check it out.

Ron Jones, University of Cincinnati Law Library

Reminder: West Excellence in Law Librarianship Scholarship Applications Due by Feb. 28

The West Excellence in Law Librarianship Scholarships program encourages leadership and excellence within the profession.  West awards scholarships of $2,500 each year to several full-time students working toward graduate-level library science degrees with a demonstrated interest in law librarianship.  Law librarians pursuing library science, law or graduate-level technology or computer science degrees as continuing education within the profession are also eligible.

Applications are accepted between Dec. 1 and Feb. 28 for the following academic year. Once the application period ends, recipients are selected by an independent scholarship advisory board made up of practicing law librarians from private, academic, corporate, and government law libraries.  The awards are announced during National Library Week 2006.

Please visit the Librarian Relations Web site http://west.thomson.com/librarian/scholarships/ for full details and an application form.

Where is your library?

The University of Chicago Law School submitted by a former reference intern and cataloging assistant. Hi Lorna!

Click on the image for a larger view.

Email a image of your library's location using Goggle Earth to me and I'll upload it for everyone to view.

Senate Ethics Committee To Meet In New Ethics Committee Mansion

This just in: "In the wake of several major lobbying scandals, the Senate Select Committee on Ethics announced Tuesday that it will hold a special series of intensive sessions inside its recently completed 200-room Ethics Mansion.  "In this time of rampant corruption, it is essential that we have a sufficiently lavish setting in which to enforce laws that ensure the integrity of public officials," said committee member Sen. Mark Pryor (D-AR), wearing a gold-lined cashmere robe donated by pharmaceutical lobbyists."

Read more about it.

Ron Jones, University of Cincinnati Law Library

Podcasting and Advanced Legal Research Classes

I have been participating in the CALI Podcasting Project this semester with my Advanced Legal Research – Foreign, Comparative and International Law class.  I record 15 min. summaries of the class sessions and post them to a blog  to which students may subscribe using RSS and am working to make them available through iTunes soon. 

Monday I went to a training session conducted by Apple on Podcasting and Education.  They demonstrated how to create podcasts using the Apple software Garage Band.  Instead of just hearing my voice you can easily add background music, photos and hyperlinks to websites using Garage Band.  Another piece of software discussed was Prof Cast which allows you to show PowerPoint slides along with your voice.  You can insert cues in the program to move through a series of slides.  I am anxious to try this type of podcasting as it is especially well suited to advanced research courses.  In these types of courses students learn by seeing and doing as much as they learn by hearing or reading.

Lee F. Peoples, Oklahoma City University Law Library

St. Thomas School of Law (Minneapolis) Receives Early Accreditation

Rick Goheen, Associate Director for Public Services, Schoenecker Law Library, University of St. Thomas, writes to announce that St. Thomas School of Law (Minneapolis) has been granted early accreditation. From yesterday's press release we learn that even before receiving full accreditation, the St. Thomas School of Law and its faculty have received a number of honors:

In its “Best Graduate Schools 2006” issue, U.S. News and World Report magazine ranked the St. Thomas School of Law in the top-20 legal-writing programs in the nation.

The School of Law was ranked the No. 1 law school in the country in 2005 for “Best Quality of Life” among students, according to the Princeton Review’s The Best 159 Law Schools.

The School of Law’s Mentor Externship Program in 2005 was awarded the prestigious E. Smythe Gambrell Professionalism Award by the American Bar Association Standing Committee on Professionalism.

The Mentor Externship Program, also in 2005, was one of three finalists nationally for the American Bar Association’s Award for Innovation and Excellence in Teaching Professionalism.

The St. Thomas School of Law ranked second in the state, behind the University of Minnesota, for the percentage of graduates who passed the bar exam.

Congratulations. Sounds to me like St. Thomas (Minneapolis) is running on all eight cylinders! [Rick is a huge NASCAR fan.]

Recent CRS Reports on Congressional Issues

PROTECTION OF CLASSIFIED INFORMATION BY CONGRESS: PRACTICES AND PROPOSALS
CRS Publication Date: 01/25/2006
Document No.: RS20748
Author(s): Frederick M. Kaiser, Government and Finance Division

Abstract: The protection of classified national security and other controlled information is of concern not only to the executive branch, which determines what information is to be safeguarded, for the most part, but also to Congress, which uses such information to fulfill its constitutional responsibilities. To do so, Congress has established mechanisms to protect controlled information in its custody. These arrangements, however, differ between the two chambers and among panels in each one. The Senate, for instance, created an Office of Senate Security to consolidate personnel and information security responsibilities, whereas the House has not set up a counterpart. Proposals for change, some of which could prove controversial or costly, usually seek to set uniform standards or increase requirements for access.

CONGRESSIONAL LIAISON OFFICES OF SELECTED FEDERAL AGENCIES
CRS Publication Date: 01/17/2006
Document No.: 98-446
Author(s): Zina L. Watkins, Knowledge Services Group

Abstract: This is a directory of about 150 government agencies designed to assist congressional staff in contacting agencies of the legislative branch, cabinet departments and other executive branch agencies and boards and commissions. It contains names of congressional liaison officers, addresses, telephone and fax numbers, and occasionally e-mail addresses.

CONGRESSIONALLY CHARTERED NONPROFIT ORGANIZATIONS ("TITLE 36 CORPORATIONS"): WHAT THEY ARE AND HOW CONGRESS TREATS THEM
CRS Publication Date: 01/13/2006
Document No.: RL30340
Author(s): Ronald C. Moe and Kevin R. Kosar, Government and Finance Division

Abstract: The chartering by Congress of nonprofit organizations with a patriotic, charitable, historical, or educational purpose is essentially a 20th century practice. There are currently some 92 nonprofit organizations listed in Title 36 of the U.S. Code. This report discusses the history, legal basis, and accountability issues associated with congressionally chartered organizations as well as the continuing debate over whether the chartering process serves the public interest.

CONGRESSIONAL OVERSIGHT
CRS Publication Date: 01/03/2006
Document No.: 97-936
Author(s): Frederick M. Kaiser, Government Division

Abstract: Congressional oversight of policy implementation and administration has occurred throughout the history of the United States government under the Constitution. Oversight - the review, monitoring, and supervision of operations and activities - takes a variety of forms and utilizes various techniques. These range from specialized investigations by select committees to annual appropriations hearings, and from informal communications between Members or congressional staff and executive personnel to the use of extra congressional mechanisms, such as offices of inspector general and study commissions. Oversight, moreover, is supported by a variety of authorities - the Constitution, public law, and chamber and committee rules - and is an integral part of the system of checks and balances between the legislature and the executive.

STATUS OF A MEMBER OF THE HOUSE WHO HAS BEEN INDICTED FOR OR CONVICTED OF A FELONY
CRS Publication Date: 01/05/2006
Document No.: RL33229
Author(s): Jack Maskell, American Law Division

Abstract: This report summarizes the potential consequences, with respect to congressional status, that may result when a sitting Member of the House of Representatives is indicted for or is convicted of a felony.

CRS Reports can be obtained from GalleryWatch.com. Individual reports are available from Pennyhill.com.

Ron Jones, University of Cinncinati College of Law

Recent Noteworthy NBER Reports

Uses and Abuses of Empirical Evidence in the Death Penalty Debate
by John J. Donohue III, Justin Wolfers - #11982 (LE)

Abstract: Does the death penalty save lives? A surge of recent interest in this question has yielded a series of papers purporting to show robust and precise estimates of a substantial deterrent effect of capital punishment. We assess the various approaches that have been used in this literature, testing the robustness of these inferences. Specifically, we start by assessing the time series evidence, comparing the history of executions and homicides in the United States and Canada, and within the United States, between executing and non-executing states. We analyze the effects of the judicial experiments provided by the Furman and Gregg decisions and assess the relationship between execution and homicide rates in state panel data since 1934. We then revisit the existing instrumental variables approaches and assess two recent state-specific execution morartoria. In each case we find that previous inferences of large deterrent effects based upon specific examples, functional forms, control variables, comparison groups, or IV strategies are extremely fragile and even small changes in the specifications yield dramatically different results. The fundamental difficulty is that the death penalty -- at least as it has been implemented in the United States -- is applied so rarely that the number of homicides that it can plausibly have caused or deterred cannot be reliably disentangled from the large year-to-year changes in the homicide rate caused by other factors. As such, short samples and particular specifications may yield large but spurious correlations. We conclude that existing estimates appear to reflect a small and unrepresentative sample of the estimates that arise from alternative approaches. Sampling from the broader universe of plausible approaches suggests not just"reasonable doubt" about whether there is any deterrent effect of the death penalty, but profound uncertainty -- even about its sign.

Measurement Error, Legalized Abortion, and the Decline in Crime: A Response to Foote and Goetz (2005)
by John J. Donohue, Steven D. Levitt - #11987 (HE LE LS PE)

Abstract: Donohue and Levitt (2001) argue that the legalization of abortion in the United States in the 1970s played an important role in explaining the observed decline in crime approximately two decades later. Foote and Goetz (2005) challenge the results presented in one of the tables in that original paper. In this reply, we regretfully acknowledge the omission of state-year interactions in the published version of that table, but show that their inclusion does not alter the qualitative results (or their statistical significance), although it does reduce the magnitude of the estimates. When one uses a more carefully constructed measure of abortion (e.g. one that takes into account cross-state mobility, or doing a better job of matching dates of birth to abortion exposure), however, the evidence in support of the abortion-crime hypothesis is as strong or stronger than suggested in our original work.

How's Your Government? International Evidence Linking Good Government and Well-Being
by John F. Helliwell, Haifang Huang - #11988 (EFG)

Abstract: In this paper we employ World Values Survey measures of life satisfaction as though they were direct measures of utility, and use them to evaluate alternative features and forms of government in large international samples. We find that life satisfaction is more closely linked to several World Bank measures of the quality of government than to real per capita incomes, in simple correlations and more fully specified models explaining international differences in life satisfaction. We test for differences in the relative importance of different aspects of good government, and find a hierarchy of preferences that depends on the level of development. The ability of governments to provide a trustworthy environment, and to deliver services honestly and efficiently, appears to be of paramount importance for countries with worse governance and lower incomes. The balance changes once acceptable levels of efficiency, trust and incomes are achieved, when more value is attached to building and maintaining the institutions of electoral democracy.

The Value of Broadband and the Deadweight Loss of Taxing New Technology
by Austan Goolsbee - #11994 (IO PR PE)

Abstract: With fixed costs of developing technology, taxes can generate large efficiency costs by slowing the rate of diffusion and these costs are not accounted for in conventional analyses. This paper illustrates this by analyzing the impact that taxes would have had on broadband Internet access at an early stage of its diffusion around the country, combining data on individual demand by area with data on supplier entry in those markets. Applying a tax to broadband in 1998 would have reduced the quantity and generate a large deadweight loss in the conventional model but when the analysis accounts for the fixed costs of entering new markets, taxes would have also delayed entry in several markets. In these places, the lost consumer surplus from delay is an additional deadweight loss and it more than doubles the estimated efficiency costs of taxation. The conventional model also dramatically understates the share of tax burden that would have been borne by customers.

Valuing Consumer Products by the Time Spent Using Them: An Application to the Internet
by Austan Goolsbee, Peter J. Klenow - #11995 (EFG IO PR)

Abstract: For some goods, the main cost of buying the product is not the price but rather the time it takes to use them. Only about 0.2% of consumer spending in the U.S., for example, went for Internet access in 2004 yet time use data indicates that people spend around 10% of their entire leisure time going online. For such goods, estimating price elasticities with expenditure data can be difficult, and, therefore, estimated welfare gains highly uncertain. We show that for time-intensive goods like the Internet, a simple model in which both expenditure and time contribute to consumption can be used to estimate the consumer gains from a good using just the data on time use and the opportunity cost of people's time (i.e., the wage). The theory predicts that higher wage internet subscribers should spend less time online (for non-work reasons) and the degree to which that is true identifies the elasticity of demand. Based on expenditure and time use data and our elasticity estimate, we calculate that consumer surplus from the Internet may be around 2% of full-income, or several thousand dollars per user. This is an order of magnitude larger than what one obtains from a back-of-the-envelope calculation using data from expenditures.

Incarceration Length, Employment, and Earnings
by Jeffrey R. Kling - #12003 (LS)

Abstract: This paper estimates effects of increases in incarceration length on employment and earnings prospects of individuals after their release from prison. I utilize a variety of research designs including controlling for observable factors and using instrumental variables for incarceration length based on randomly assigned judges with different sentencing propensities. The results show no consistent evidence of adverse labor market consequences of longer incarceration length using any of the analytical methods in either the state system in Florida or the federal system in California.

Piracy on the Silver Screen
by Rafael Rob, Joel Waldfogel - #12010 (IO LE)

Abstract: New information technology has reduced marginal production and distribution costs of information goods to negligible levels and promises to revolutionize many industries. Unpaid copies of digital products can be as good as paid first-generation copies, and their availability can undermine the ability of sellers to cover first-copy costs. As a result, unpaid distribution has emerged as a major issue facing the music and movie industries in the past few years. Using survey data on movie consumption by about 500 University of Pennsylvania college students, we ask whether unpaid consumption of movies displaces paid consumption. Employing a variety of cross-sectional and longitudinal empirical approaches, we find large and statistically significant evidence of displacement. In what we view as the most appropriate empirical specifications, we find that unpaid first consumption reduces paid consumption by about 1 unit. Unpaid second consumption has a smaller effect, about 0.20 units. These estimates indicate that unpaid consumption, which makes up 5.2 percent of movie viewing in our sample, reduced paid consumption in our sample by 3.5 percent.

Ugly Criminals
by Naci Mocan, Erdal Tekin - #12019 (CH HE LS)

Abstract: Using data from three waves of Add Health we find that being very attractive reduces a young adult's (ages 18-26) propensity for criminal activity and being unattractive increases it for a number of crimes, ranging from burglary to selling drugs. A variety of tests demonstrate that this result is not because beauty is acting as a proxy for socio-economic status. Being very attractive is also positively associated adult vocabulary test scores, which suggests the possibility that beauty may have an impact on human capital formation. We demonstrate that, especially for females, holding constant current beauty, high school beauty (pre-labor market beauty) has a separate impact on crime, and that high school beauty is correlated with variables that gauge various aspects of high school experience, such as GPA, suspension or having being expelled from school, and problems with teachers. These results suggest two handicaps faced by unattractive individuals. First, a labor market penalty provides a direct incentive for unattractive individuals toward criminal activity. Second, the level of beauty in high school has an effect on criminal propensity 7-8 years later, which seems to be due to the impact of the level of beauty in high school on human capital formation, although this second avenue seems to be effective for females only.

AALL/LexisNexis Research Fund Accepting Applications through April 1

The AALL Research Committee is accepting applications through April 1, 2006 for research grants from the AALL/LexisNexis Research Fund Grants Program, totaling up to $5,000.

Has ABA Ordered Law Schools to Engage in Racial Preferences in Admissions and Hiring Contrary to Law?

TaxProf Blog calls attention to an op-ed in the weekend Wall Street Journal, Affirmative Blackmail, by David E. Bernstein (George Mason) about controversial new ABA Accreditation rules. See also the new ABA Accreditation rules that are the subject of this controversy.