Author Archives: Rosemary Campagna

Library Hours – Winter Break and Beyond

The Library will be CLOSED from Saturday, December 24th, through Monday, January 2nd.

Winter Session begins on Monday, January 2nd and ends on Friday, January 13th.

These are the Library Hours for early January:

Tuesday, January 3rd – Saturday, January 7th :     9:00 am – 10:00 pm

Sunday, January 8th –                                              10:00 am – 10:00 pm

Monday, January 9th – Saturday, January 14th –   9:00 am – 10:00 pm

Sunday January 15th –                                             10:00 am – 10:00 pm

Monday, January 16th                                               9:00 am – 10:00 pm  (Martin Luther King Day)

Everyone at the BLS Library wishes you all Happy Holidays!

 

 

 

 

Thanksgiving Library Hours

The BLS Library 2016 Thanksgiving Schedule

Wednesday 11/23                  9:00 am – 10:00 pm

Thursday  Thanksgiving        CLOSED

Friday 11/25                            9:00 am – 10:00 pm

Saturday 11/26                       9:00 am – 10:00 pm

Sunday 11/27                         10:00 am – Midnight

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LexisNexis Digital Library Now Available at Brooklyn Law School Library

lexisdigitalCurrent law students and faculty can access the Law Library’s new subscription to the LexisNexis Digital Library.  This new subscription gives provides access to primary law, code books, treatises as well as study aids, such as the Understanding and Questions and Answers series.  Just sign in with your BLS user name and password for access.

The LexisNexis Digital Library provides eBook lending capabilities, much like lending a physical book.  The books are accessible via computer, smartphone and tablets.  They are compatible with all major devices  (Apple® products, Android, Amazon® Kindle®, etc.).  You can access them 24/7.

Borrowing times vary depending on the format, ranging from 7 days for a study aid and 30 days for a treatise.  We also have multiple copies of titles, so several users may access them at once.

Check out the Lexis/Nexis Digital Library and see what it has to offer.

 

 

Constitution Day Friday September 16th

To encourage all Americans to learn more about the Constitution Congress established Constitution Week in 1956 . It was to begin each year on September 17th, the date in 1787 when delegates to the Convention signed the Constitution. constitution_day

In 2004, Senator Robert C. Byrd of West Virginia included key provisions in the Consolidated Appropriations Act of Fiscal Year 2005 designating September 17th of each year as Constitution Day and requiring public schools and governmental offices to provide educational programs to promote a better understanding of the Constitution.

Test your knowledge of the Constitution. Take the Constitution Quiz and see how well you do.

Good luck!

National Institute’s Publications Added to HeinOnline

The William S. Hein Company has added program materials from the ABA Center for Professional Development‘s National Institutes, to their digital legal library collection, HeinOnline. These substantive materials are assembled each year by the faculty for these in-person programs and represent original analyses of legal developments in the subject areas being addressed.  Coverage begins with 2012.

Below are examples of 2016 Institutes:

To access this material select Hein from the Quick Links menu on the Library’s Webpage  

heinIn the Browse Collections by Names box, expand                              ABA Law Library Collection Periodicals     hein

4thHope everyone will be enjoying the beautiful 4th of July weekend.

The Library will be open its normal hours on Saturday and Sunday and will be open from 9 to 5 on the Fourth.

The Library hours for the weekend are posted below.

Saturday July 2nd 9 am – 10 pm
Sunday July 3rd 10 am – 10 pm
Monday July 4th 9 am – 5 pm

Macy’s Fourth of July Fireworks event is scheduled to begin around 9 PM and last for about 30 minutes.fireworks

The show will take place on the East River this year. Fireworks will be set off from the Brooklyn Bridge and from barges in the water below. You can view the fireworks from any area in Manhattan, Queens, and Brooklyn with an unobstructed view of the sky above the East River.

Enjoy.

Oyez Project Gets New Home

supremecourtThe Oyez Project, a free repository of more than 10,000 hours of U.S. Supreme Court oral-argument audio and other court resources, will be getting a new home.

Developed by Prof. Jerry Goldman, Oyez has had its home at the IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law  for over 20 years.  It is a complete and authoritative source for all of the Supreme Court’s audio since the installation of a recording system in October 1955.  Oyez also provides detailed information on every justice throughout history and offers a panoramic tour of the Supreme Court building, including the chambers of several justices.

Prof. Goldman is retiring this month and a new arrangement for the Project has been formed with Cornell University’s Legal Information Institute and Justia.   All of the information of the Oyez Project will not be available at the Legal Information Institute website.

50 Years Ago, BLS Alum Helps Overturn Poll Tax

jordanJoseph A. Jordan, was born in Norfolk Virginia and was a Brooklyn Law School graduate.  He was a veteran, paralyzed from the waist down during World War II and confined to a wheelchair.

As an attorney, Jordan and his firm, Jordan, Dawley & Holt, fought civil rights cases across the South during the 1960’s.  One such case made constitutional history,

In November 1963 Jordan filed suit on behalf of Mrs. Evelyn Thomas Butts to have the state’s poll tax declared unconstitutional. The poll tax was a tax levied on individuals as a prerequisite for voting. Although levied on all voters regardless of race, the tax effectively disenfranchised the poor, including many African-Americans. The tax was outlawed nationally in January 1964 by ratification of the 24th amendment, but it only addressed federal elections and remained silent on state and local applicability.

Jordan’s suit was defeated nine times by local and state courts before finally working its way up to the U.S. Supreme Court.  In March 1966 the case became part of the landmark decision, Harper v. Virginia State Board of Elections.   Only six years out of law school,  Jordan argued before the U.S. Supreme Court that Virginia’s poll tax should be struck down.  The court agreed and ruled it unconstitutional under the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment.

Joseph A. Jordan went on to become the first black elected to the Norfolk City Council since 1889. He served three terms on the council, including two years as vice mayor. In 1977, he was appointed to Norfolk’s General District Court and retired in 1986.

Presidents’ Day Library Hours

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The Library will be open on Monday, February 15, 2016 from 9:00 am – 10:00 pm.

Presidents’ Day is an American holiday celebrated on the third Monday in February. Originally established in 1885 in recognition of President George Washington, it is still officially called “Washington’s Birthday” by the federal government. Traditionally celebrated on February 22—Washington’s actual day of birth—the holiday became popularly known as Presidents’ Day after it was moved as part of 1971’s Uniform Monday Holiday Act, an attempt to create more three-day weekends for the nation’s workers.

Most people associate Presidents’ Day with George Washington and Abraham Lincoln, since Lincoln’s birthday is in February also (February 12).

The Library has several books on both of these presidents.  Check  out the titles below if you wish to learn more about these two presidents.

Freeman, Douglas Southall, George Washington, a biography (7 vol. set)

Marshall, John et al, The Life of George Washington (1838) Online Library of Liberty

Thomas, Benjamin Platt, Abraham Lincoln: a biography

Hubbard, Charles M., Lincoln, the law and presidential leadership (E-book)

 

 

 

Supreme Court Affirmative Action, Redux

The Supreme Court heard arguments in the case Fisher v. University of Texas this past December. The case centers around the use of race in admissions at the University of Texas at Austin. The University of Texas at Austin considers race as one of various factors in its undergraduate admissions process. Abigail Fisher, who is Caucasian, was rejected for admission to the University’s 2008 entering class. She sued the University and school officials, alleging that the University’s consideration of race in admissions violated the Equal Protection Clause.  Ms. Fisher contends was rejected because of her race.

This case was originally argued before the Supreme Court in 2012 and the Justices issued a narrow opinion sending the case back down to a lower court for another look.  The Supreme Court has taken the case again and will issue their opinion sometime this year.

For those of you interested in this topic, I suggest you take a look at the following books in Library collection.​

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Affirmative Action and Racial Equity is a critical resource which helps the reader understand the nuances of the affirmative action legal debate and identify the challenges and potential strategies toward racial equity and inclusion moving forward.

 

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Controversies in Affirmative Action  is an engaging and eclectic collection of essays from leading scholars on the subject, which looks at affirmative action past and present, analyzes its efficacy, its legacy, and its role in the future of the United States.

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What precisely is affirmative action, and why is it fiercely championed by some and just as fiercely denounced by others? Does it signify a boon or a stigma? Or is it simply reverse discrimination? What are its benefits and costs to American society? What are the indications determining who should or should not be accorded affirmative action? When should affirmative action end, if it must? In For Discrimination, Randall Kennedy gives a concise summary of the policy.