It’s that time of year again! Are you looking for tax forms? You can find federal forms on the IRS site here.
The IRS also provides a list of free resources to help you file your taxes.
If you are looking for New York forms, find them here. If you need forms from other states, there are links to all state tax forms from the Federation of Tax Administrators. The Journal of Accountancy has also compiled a list of additional tax filing resources for the year 2012.
On March 18, 1963, the Supreme Court handed down the decision in Gideon v. Wainwright, a case that made significant changes to the face of criminal law in the United States.
Charged with breaking and entering into a Florida pool hall, Clarence Earl Gideon could not afford an attorney. After being convicted and sentenced to five years imprisonment, he appealed and asserted that his conviction was unconstitutional because the trial court refused to appoint counsel. The Supreme Court’s unanimous decision, written by Justice Hugo Black, found that the Sixth Amendment gives criminal defendants the right to counsel when charged with a serious offense, even if they cannot afford it. Gideon was subsequently retried and acquitted.
In ruling that states are required to provide attorneys to indigent criminal defendants, the Supreme Court effectively created the public defender system that is today accepted as an integral part of the legal community.
Further reading:
Gideon’s Trumpet (Book)
Kyung M. Lee, Reinventing Gideon v. Wainwright: Holistic Defenders, Indigent Defendants, and the Right to Counsel, 31 Am. J. Crim. L. 367 (2004). (Article mentions The Bronx Defenders.)
Bruce R. Jacob, Memories and Reflections about Gideon v. Wainwright, 33 Stetson L. Rev. 181 (2003). (The author is the former Florida Assistant Attorney General who argued the case before the United States Supreme Court.)
The Right to Counsel and Privilege Against Self-Incrimination: Rights and Liberties Under the Law
Happy April Fool’s Day from the Mendik Library! As a springtime treat, here’s an easy opportunity to be entered into a drawing to WIN valuable study aids, texts and other prizes.
Click here to access the April Fool’s Day Info Hunt (works best with Internet Explorer). Each slide includes one question (there are only 6) and easy, step-by-step instructions. Press Enter to reveal each step. Click here to access an answer sheet, or pick up a copy at the Reference Desk. Drop your completed answer sheet in the Raffle Drum at the Reference Desk or e-mail it to reference@nyls.edu by 5:00 PM on Thursday, April 4. The drawing will take place outside the library entrance on April 4 at 5:40 PM. You need not be present to win, but an additional entry form will be added for each student who does attend!
Among the titles the winners will choose from are:
Acing Criminal Procedure
Federal Criminal Practice: A Second Circuit Handbook
Foundations of Labor and Employment Law
Foundations of Tort Law
Leading Constitutional Cases on Criminal Justice
Legal Writing: Ethical and Professional Considerations
Plain English for Drafting Statutes and Rules
Property: Examples and Explanations
Questions & Answers: Business Associations
Questions & Answers: Civil Procedure
Questions & Answers: Contracts
Questions & Answers: Criminal Law
Questions & Answers: Criminal Procedure
Questions & Answers: Torts
Understanding Islamic Law
Learn how to do cost effective legal research using WestlawNext and Lexis Advance. It’s a vital skill that employers expect you to have and that you’ll want to tout. Check the training calendars for Westlaw and Lexis and register while you can. On Westlaw, select the Training tab at the top of the toolbar. Then choose the Training at my school link. On Lexis, click the Training Calendar tab and follow the on screen instructions. It’s never too soon to start saving money!
THOMAS, the Library of Congress’s longstanding Web site for congressional and legislative research, is gradually being supplanted by a new research platform, congress.gov. Although still in beta, congress.gov is intended to make searching for legislation easier and more convenient for the next generation of internet users. The Web site’s responsive design adapts to tablet or smartphone screens and features an easy-to-locate, front-and-center search field. As the Web site continues to be refined over the next year to improve functionality, public feedback is strongly encouraged. Check it out!
On February 1, the New York Court of Appeals launched a free online document database called Court-PASS. Practitioners will be able to upload court papers and the database will serve as permanent digital archive of all cases filed after January 1, 2013. Researchers will be able to search or browse Court-PASS and view decisions, briefs, motion papers, criminal/civil case records, and videos/transcripts of oral arguments. For more information see the Court’s Notice to the Bar.
Freedom’s Journal, founded in 1827 to provide a voice against racism and intolerance, was the first newspaper published in the United States by and for African-Americans. A number of sources place its home at 236 Church Street, which is today encompassed by NYLS’ 57 Worth Street building. This neighborhood was home to a large number of free northern blacks who, at that time, constituted a small minority in the city.
Freedom’s Journal denounced slavery and lynchings and advocated for black suffrage. It also published articles on how the U.S. legal and political systems helped to perpetuate slavery. But the publication itself was not long-lived. Founding editor John Brown Russwurm published the last issue in 1829, shortly before emigrating to Liberia.
Read more about Freedom’s Journal in the Fall/Winter issue of New York Law School Magazine. You can access a copy of the article here.
Bloomberg Law and the SCOTUSblog are offering cash prizes to the top three student teams in a competition to predict the outcomes of six Supreme Court cases and six cert. petitions that will be considered by the Court in March. First prize — $3,500; second prize — $1,500; third prize — $1,000. There will be cash bonuses for teams that “beat the experts.” Details appear below. Make sure to visit www.scotuscompetition.com for information and the official rules. Note the deadlines for registering (February 28) and for submitting your picks (March 14). Good luck!
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You are invited to participate in Bloomberg Law and SCOTUSblog’s Supreme Court Challenge! Teams of up to five law students from New York Law School will use resources available on Bloomberg Law (www.bloomberglaw.com) and SCOTUSblog (www.scotusblog.com) – including opinions, Supreme Court briefs, Justices’ profiles, and news – to perform any research needed to make predictions for merits cases and cert. petitions that will be considered by the Court in March 2013.
Prizes will be awarded to the three student teams with the most points as follows:
*First prize is a minimum of $3,500, with an additional $1,500 awarded if your team also beats the experts at SCOTUSblog.
*Second prize is $1,500 with an additional $1,000 if they beat the SCOTUSblog team.
*Third prize is $1,000, with an additional $500 if they beat the SCOTUSblog team.
Blaise Woodworth and Eric Hanson, your Bloomberg Law Product Advocates, are available to answer any questions. Blaise & Eric will be at the Bloomberg Law table on the 5th floor every Tuesday & Wednesday from 11-4pm . They can also be reached at blaise.woodworth@law.nyls.edu / eric.hanson@law.nyls.edu.
All teams must be registered by February 28th and submit picks by March 14th, so visit www.scotuscompetition.com today for more information and the official rules.
Congratulations to the NYLS Racial Justice Project, which recently filed an amicus brief on behalf of Congressman John Lewis in Shelby County v. Holder. The case challenges the constitutionality of Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and will be argued before the Supreme Court on February 27. The brief attests to the high price many paid for the enactment of the law and discusses the mechanisms that continue to suppress, dilute, and infringe upon minorities’ right to vote. Hats off to co-authors Associate Dean Deborah Archer; Professors Tamara Belinfanti, Erika Wood and Aderson Francois of Howard University; and Civil Rights Clinic students Sondah Ouattara, Cortney Nadolney, Jeremiah Rygus, Jason Sender, Joycelyn Pittard, Shantal Sparks, Vanessa Craivero, Megan Crespo, Jacob Korder, Sonia Tapryal and Will Lemon.
An early Happy Valentine’s Day from the Mendik Library! As a Valentine’s treat, here’s an easy opportunity to be entered into a drawing to WIN great study aids, texts and other prizes. And did we mention chocolate?
Click here to access the Valentine’s Day Info Hunt – Questions from Cupid (use Internet Explorer for best results). Each slide includes one question (there are only 6) and easy, step-by-step instructions. Press enter to reveal each step. Click here to access an answer sheet or pick up a copy at the Reference Desk. Either submit your completed answer sheet at the Reference Desk or e-mail it to reference@nyls.edu by 5:00 PM on Thursday, February 14. The drawing will take place outside the library entrance on February 14 at 5:40 PM. You need not be present to win, but an additional entry form will be added for each student who does attend!
Among the titles the winners will choose from are:
Corbin on Contracts
Payment Systems (Examples & Explanations)
Secured Transactions (Examples & Explanations)
Acing Criminal Law Procedures
Civil Procedure Stories
Criminal Law Stories
Foundations of Tort Law
Leading Constitutional Cases on Criminal Justice
Understanding Islamic Law
Legal Writing: Ethical and Professional Considerations
Interactive Citation Workbook for The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation
Basic Legal Research Workbook
Questions and Answers: Wills, Trusts, & Estates
Foundations of Labor and Employment Law
Plain English for Drafting Statutes and Rules
Federal Criminal Practice: A Second Circuit Handbook
Property (Examples & Explanations)