November 3, 2020 marks the five-year anniversary of publication of Prof. Michael Roffer’s book, The Law Book: From Hammurabi to the International Criminal Court, 250 Milestones in the History of Law. The book explores 250 of some of the most significant, far-reaching, and often controversial cases, laws, and trials that have changed our world—for good and bad.

This five-year anniversary falls on election day, with a presidential election enveloped in acrimony and controversy. Two highly charged legal disputes that underlay some of the political battle comprise the last two entries in the book—the Affordable Care Act (2012) and The Legal Fight for Gay Marriage (2015)—which address the Supreme Court decisions that upheld the Affordable Care Act and affirmed the constitutional right of gay couples to marry.

Despite the seeming resolution of those issues eight and five years ago, respectively, both have reemerged as hot-button topics in this year’s presidential election and the recent confirmation hearings for Justice Amy Coney Barrett.  (The politicization of the Supreme Court appointment and confirmation process is another topic covered in the book, Robert Bork’s Supreme Court Nomination (1987) and Confirming Clarence Thomas (1991).)

Happy Halloween from the Mendik Library!

Here’s your chance to WIN some great study aids from the Q & A series and the Examples & Explanations series.

Just post answers to these 3 Halloween Info Hunt questions to your Instagram or Facebook along with a photo relating to the question (or any fall or Halloween related picture) by November 1st. Your answers don’t need to be perfect—just close! Be sure to tag nyls_mendiklibrary on Instagram and @mendiklib on Facebook.

We’ll select five winners who will each get to choose one of the listed study aids.

Questions & Answers: Torts || Property || Con Law || Contracts || Civ Pro || Crim Law

Examples & Explanations: Torts || Property || Contracts || Civ Pro || Crim Law || Corporations || Prof Responsibility

#1: Is insulting one’s neighbors on Halloween tombstone decorations constitutionally protected speech, or is it the sort of abusive speech that would tend to incite a breach of the peace and is thereby prohibited? Find and cite the Seventh Circuit case deciding this issue.

• • Log into Lexis+
  • In the search box, type <<Halloween /p tombstone>>
  • Select the “Court” filter on the left and then choose 7^th Circuit and then 7^th Circuit Court of appeals

 

#2: In the early 1990s, a house buyer sued to rescind a purchase after learning the house was said to be possessed by poltergeists. Find the case in which the New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division, ruled the house haunted as a matter of law.

• • Go to Westlaw Edge and choose State materials and then New York
  • Select All New York State Cases
  • Under “Start a New Search,” click on Advanced Caselaw Search
  • Type possess <<poltergeist haunted>> in the search field
  • Run the search

 

#3: With Halloween come witches (and pumpkins, of course!). In his article, Something Wicked This Way Comes: A History of Witch Hunts, Associate Librarian and Professor of Legal Research Michael Roffer writes about the role the legal system played in historic and modern day “witch hunts.” After locating the article, provide the names of three of the five “witch hunts” detailed in the article and in Professor Roffer’s book from which the article was adapted: The Law Book: From Hammurabi to the International Criminal Court, 250 Milestones in the History of Law.

• • Go to Lexis+
    Under Content, select Legal News
  • Select the Advanced Search option above the search bar
  • Enter the title of the article (put it in quotation marks) in the Title field
  • Select Search

We can help you learn how to . . .

• use research resources to find what you need efficiently
• maximize the value of annotations, headnotes and secondary sources
• narrow search results to find the cases most on point
• update your research to make sure it remains valid
• use the Bluebook effectively

There is a reason your LP professors allow you to seek research help from the librarians. Why not give it a try! Send an email to reference@nyls.edu and we’d be happy to schedule a Zoom or Microsoft Teams appointment.

In an age of confusion, injustice and obfuscation, civil rights issues have seen an intense resurgence. As the nation continues to grapple with inequality, access to reliable information is critical to foster knowledge and facilitate civil discourse. To that end, the Mendik Library is pleased to announce the availability of Civil Rights and Social Justice, a new database in HeinOnline’s Social Justice Suite, which also includes Slavery in America and the World and Gun Regulation and Legislation in America.

Civil Rights and Social Justice covers the topic of civil rights in the United States as legal protections and definitions are expanded. It brings together a diverse collection of publications from the Commission on Civil Rights, hearings and committee prints, legislative histories of landmark legislation, reports by the Congressional Research Service (CRS) and the Government Accountability Office (GAO), briefs from seminal Supreme Court cases, as well as curated lists of scholarly articles, books, and prominent civil rights organizations.

The larger HeinOnline legal database is linked from the Library’s updated Electronic Resources page. HeinOnline contains more than 2,800 law journals and law-related periodicals, essential government documents, Supreme Court records and briefs, constitutions, classic treatises, and much more.

The new Supreme Court term will begin this year on Monday, October 5, 2020. It will occur amidst political drama in light of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s recent death and the nomination and confirmation process for her potential successor.

In accordance with Supreme Court tradition, Justice Ginsburg’s Bench Chair and the Bench directly in front of it have been draped with black wool crepe in memoriam. In addition, a black drape has been hung over the Courtroom doors. The flags on the Court’s front plaza will be flown at half-staff through October 20. Visit the Supreme Court’s web site for an In Memoriam.

If you want a preview of the cases and arguments that lie ahead, visit the ABA’s Preview of the United States Supreme Court Cases. You can also visit Georgetown University Law Center’s Supreme Court Institute, A Look Ahead, Supreme Court of the United States October Term 2020. Finally, summaries of the cases to be heard this term can be found at the SCOTUSblog.

To follow the nomination of Judge Amy Coney Barrett to become the next Associate Justice of the U. S. Supreme Court, visit Georgetown Law Center’s Supreme Court Nominations Guide. It compiles a list of resources concerning Judge Barrett, including biographical information, court opinions, appellate briefs, Congressional hearings, and scholarly publications.  More information, including links to documentation for the confirmation hearings, will be posted there as it becomes available.

As you may know, the Law School recently moved to a new website. Until migration of the Library web pages has been completed, please use these links to access the Library’s resources:

Library home page
https://www.nyls.edu/academics/library

Library Catalog
https://lawlib.nyls.edu

Course Reserves
https://nylaw.bywatersolutions.com/cgi-bin/koha/opac-course-reserves.pl

Electronic Resources
https://libguides.nyls.edu/electronicresources

Library Orientation Materials
https://libguides.nyls.edu/findingthelaw20

• Bloomberg Law, Lexis+ & Westlaw Edge Registration Information
• CALI
• Research Skills Workshops (RSW) Registration

Research Tools
https://libguides.nyls.edu/researchtools

Please contact us if you have any questions:

Circulation 
email: circulation@nyls.edu

Reference Desk
Email: reference@nyls.edu
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