The Goodson Blogson

The Duke University Libraries now provide full-text unlimited access to The Atlantic , featuring news and commentary on today's issues as well as a complete online archive of back issues dating back to 1857. To access the subscription, go to https://www.theatlantic.com and click "Sign In." Under "Accessing a group subscription?" select "Sign in through your institution" > Duke University > Continue to sign in via NetID. Links to this access are available on the Duke Libraries A-Z research database list or on the Law Library's Legal Databases & Links page. This access also works with The Atlantic mobile apps for Android and iOS ; be sure to use the "Sign in through your institution" option rather than username/password. In its nearly 200 years of history, many notable authors have published in The Atlantic , including Frederick Douglass, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Ernest Hemingway, and Mark Twain. The Atlantic Writers Proje...

As most of the United States prepares to set its clocks an hour earlier overnight on Saturday, it’s time again for frequently asked questions like "Is it better to wake up in the dark, or to go home in the dark?" and "Why are we doing this, again?" Daylight Saving Time ends at 2 a.m. Sunday, November 3, as outlined in 15 U.S.C. § 260a . DST will resume with a "spring forward" on the second Sunday of March. In 2020, the Congressional Research Service issued a helpful report on Daylight Saving Time . The CRS report details the history of DST in the U.S. and congressional action related to it. DST was first adopted in the United States during World War I, with the Standard Time Act of 1918 (also called the Calder Act). This act created standardized time zones for the United States and set a DST, which was already in place in parts of Europe to help conserve fuel during the war. (Temporary year-round DST, also known as "War Time," reappeared in t...

September 17 is Constitution Day , commemorating the 1787 signing of the United States Constitution in Philadelphia. The National Archives and Records Administration, which houses the original document, maintains a page for America's Founding Documents: The Constitution of the United States with a transcription and historical background about the document and its signing. (Constitution Day shares the September 17 holiday with Citizenship Day , an occasion often marked by naturalization ceremonies across the country. The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service offers a sample citizenship test on its website: can you achieve a passing score?) As always, you can pick up a pocket copy of the U.S. Constitution at the library service desk, while supplies last. You might also want to take a look at the thousands of resources in the Duke Libraries Catalog on constitutional law and interpretation. Some recent highlights from the print and electronic collections: Elie Mystal, Allow Me...

Curious about how casebooks and study aids have treated a particular court opinion or doctrine over time? The Goodson Law Library now has access to a brand-new collection in HeinOnline: the West Academic Casebooks Archive , available to the Duke University community with NetID and password. This collection contains nearly 4,000 historical West casebooks and study aids, including the American and University Casebook series, Hornbooks, and Nutshells. Contents of this collection date from the 1830s to 2018. Hundreds of additional titles will be added in the near future. However, don't go looking for the latest editions of casebooks and study aids here: The two most recent editions of any series are held back from the collection until a newer one arrives to push the third-oldest title into the archive. (Recent West Academic study aids series can be found in the separate database of West Academic Study Aids , while recent West casebooks assigned in Duke Law courses can be found in the ...

If you’ve ever ventured to the Superseded Looseleaf collection on Level 1 on a cite-checking quest, you know that locating archived issues of BNA Law Reports and similar titles can be challenging. Bloomberg Law , which acquired BNA more than a decade ago , has long offered access to the full text of various Law Reports back to the 1990s, but many titles have had a much longer history in print than that. Thanks to an inquiry from Indiana University Maurer School of Law Library Director Susan deMaine this summer, Bloomberg Law has now activated a fuller archive of Law Reports publications for its users.  The BNA Current Reports Archive is accessible from the Practice Centers & Tools home page. To reach it, click on " Practice Centers & Tools " under "Popular Links" on the Bloomberg home page, then scroll down to News & Analysis > " Bloomberg BNA Law Reports (Archive) " to view available titles. Once you've selected a title, you can sea...

Since the founding of America, the United States has ratified 27 amendments to the Constitution. The first ten, of course, form the Bill of Rights ; subsequent amendments expanded rights for Black citizens and women, prohibited (and later repealed the prohibition on) the sale of alcohol, added presidential term limits and clarified presidential succession, abolished poll taxes and lowered the voting age, among other modifications. Background on each amendment can be found in the online treatise Constitution Annotated: Analysis and Interpretation of the United States Constitution . For every amendment in the Constitution, though, there are thousands more that failed to complete the arduous ratification requirements outlined in Article V. (For details, see the 2016 Congressional Research Service report The Article V Convention to Propose Constitutional Amendments: Contemporary Issues for Congress .) The Amendments Project at Harvard University , launched on July 4, has compiled over 2...

2023 marks the 100th anniversary of The American Law Institute (ALI) , whose mission is "to clarify, modernize, and improve the law" through its highly respected publications and projects . While the Restatements of the Law are likely the ALI's best-known publications (due to their frequent citation and endorsement by courts, which can "adopt the Restatement view" of a particular topic), the ALI has also developed important codifications like the Model Penal Code and the Uniform Commercial Code , among other publications, studies, and projects. The Goodson Law Library is joining the celebration of the ALI Centennial with an exhibit on Level 3 of the Library. From Monday, March 20 through the end of spring semester classes, visit the main floor of the library and the Riddick Rare Books and Special Collections Room (accessible on weekdays from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm) to learn more about the history of the ALI and of Duke Law faculty contributions to their semin...

The end of 2022 also marked the end of a long-running government publication series, when the Administrative Committee of the Federal Register published a rule announcing the discontinuation of the Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States . The Public Papers book series began in 1957, after the National Historical Publications Commission recommended the creation of an official government publication that brought together the various speeches, remarks, and writings for a particular presidential administration. Prior to the Public Papers , access to presidential materials was less consistent and less timely, with some materials published decades later at the direction of Congress (such as Richardson's 20-volume set A Compilation of the Messages and Papers of the Presidents, 1789 – 1897 ), and other materials privately published (such as the Public Papers and Addresses of Franklin Delano Roosevelt ). The Public Papers has covered the administration of every U.S. preside...

As the legal fallout over Elon Musk's bid to purchase social network Twitter continues to unfurl, the Wall Street Journal recently explored the situation from an unusual perspective: what would Charles Dickens think of it all? In a story for the paper's humorous A-Hed section , Ellen Gamerman notes the parallels between Twitter v. Musk and Jarndyce v. Jarndyce , the all-consuming inheritance dispute at the center of Dickens's 1852 novel Bleak House (available to the Duke community in a variety of formats) . Although Gamerman is careful to note that the lumbering Chancery Court of the Dickens tale (described at one point in the tale as "being ground to bits in a slow mill") bears little resemblance to Delaware's Court of Chancery today, she quotes a few fans and even one Dickens descendant who express amusement at the prospect of a modern-day chancery case playing out, should the parties fail to settle the dispute before the November trial date. Gamerman br...

As part of a new consortial arrangement, Duke now has campus-wide access to all database titles published by Adam Matthew Digital . While the Duke University Libraries already subscribed to a number of the company's historical research titles, the deal has added more than a dozen new sources to the Duke community’s access. One of the most intriguing of these new additions is London Low Life: Street Culture, Social Reform and the Victorian Underworld , a full-text research database of primary sources related to London in the 1800s and 1900s. The "Browse Documents" section provides easy access to materials on topics like "Crime and Justice" (pamphlets, broadsides, and news accounts of crimes and trials), "Politics, Scandal, and the News" (political cartoons and other publications, often related to legal proceedings), and "Disreputable London" (tourist guides to the seedier side of the city as well as slang dictionaries of the era). The databas...

This afternoon marks the start of the second Senate impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump, a first in U.S. history. Trump was previously impeached last year by the House but acquitted in the Senate for abuse of power and obstruction charges, in connection with the Robert Mueller investigation of Russian election interference. The 2021 articles of impeachment are focused on Trump's role in inciting the deadly events of January 6, in which supporters of the 45th President stormed the U.S. Capitol as Congress formalized the 2020 election results. If convicted by a two-thirds vote of the Senate, he could then be barred from holding federal office in the future (by a simple majority). The House of Representatives voted to impeach on January 13, and delivered the article of impeachment to the Senate for trial on January 25. As NPR outlines , the first day of the trial will contain arguments on the constitutionality of holding an impeachment trial for a former president. (F...

"As extra precaution against too much confidence as a result of improvement in the situation, the board in its daily statement issued last night urges the people of the city not to celebrate Hallowe'en night in the usual manner (by congregating) owing to danger from crowding in rooms and on the sidewalks." While this statement could just as easily be written today, it comes from a 1918 influenza briefing by the Durham City and County Board of Health, published in the October 31 issue of the Durham Morning Herald ( available to the Duke community via Newspapers.com ). Durham was no outlier -- officials around the country restricted public gatherings and Halloween festivities during the influenza epidemic of 1918, as CNN and History.com have both explored recently. The discouragement wasn't entirely successful -- only days later, the Nov. 3 society page of the Herald highlighted the "very bright and attractive Hallowe’en party […] given by the nurses of the Wa...

The coronavirus pandemic has forced a reckoning nationwide about the administration of bar examinations, usually offered two times a year in each jurisdiction. While about two dozen states did hold a late-July, socially-distanced bar exam in person, other states postponed to a planned September administration, which some jurisdictions postponed again in favor of a remotely-administered online exam to be held on October 5 and 6 (see chart at the National Conference of Bar Examiners ). Concerns have grown over the possibility of technical issues with the upcoming online bar exam, with a number of test-takers reporting problems with practice exams and difficulty in obtaining remote support . Michigan's online bar exam, held in late July, experienced widespread technical issues which the State Board of Law Examiners later blamed on a hacking attempt. Whether or not next week's online examination faces similar technical issues, it seems certain that conversations about alternative...

The Friday night announcement of Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg's death prompted national mourning. Over the weekend, hundreds gathered on the steps of the United States Supreme Court, and at courthouses around the country, to celebrate the life of this trailblazing jurist. This week, the Justice will lie in repose at first the Court steps, and then at the U.S. Capitol. To learn more about Justice Ginsburg's remarkable life and career, the Duke University community can access the 2018 documentary film RBG online. Additional biographical resources can be found in the Duke Libraries catalog with a subject search for "Ginsburg, Ruth Bader" . The "Available Online" filter will limit your results to e-books and video links; the Duke community may also request circulating print materials via Takeout service. Justice Ginsburg's death has prompted not only an important national conversation about filling a vacant Court seat during a presidential elect...

This Thursday marks the 233rd anniversary of the signing of the U.S. Constitution. Constitution Day and Citizenship Day are recognized together, as described in 36 U.S.C. § 106(b) to "commemorate the formation and signing on September 17, 1787, of the Constitution and recognize all who, by coming of age or by naturalization, have become citizens." While the restricted library building access and quarantine protocols mean we can't provide our usual pocket Constitutions to visitors for the time being, the Government Publishing Office's Constitution of the United States with Index and the Declaration of Independence, Pocket Edition is available as House Doc. 112-129 (be sure to select "Booklet" if printing!). The text of the Constitution is also available in the Organic Laws of every print or electronic version of the U.S. Code , in the Library of Congress's Constitution Annotated site, and as a high-quality scan at the National Archives . To lear...

Today marks the centennial of the ratification of the Amendment XIX to the U.S. Constitution, guaranteeing: "The right of the citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex." On August 18, 1920, Tennessee became the 36th state to ratify the amendment, which had passed in both chambers of Congress during the summer of 1919. The National Archives include a high-resolution image of the House Joint Resolution at its America's Founding Documents site for the U.S. Constitution . To commemorate the occasion, the New York Times has published Suffrage at 100 , a series of articles exploring the fight for women's right to vote and the stories of those left behind by it. As the articles note, Native American women and Asian immigrants were excluded due to citizenship laws of the era, while Black Americans faced discriminatory measures such as poll taxes in much of the country. For more informatio...

Ahmaud Arbery was jogging in south Georgia when he was pursued and shot by several white men. Breonna Taylor, an EMT from Louisville, was shot multiple times in her bed by police officers executing a surprise "no-knock" warrant. In Milwaukee last month, George Floyd died after a police officer placed a knee on his neck for nearly nine minutes. These brutal and horrifying deaths of Black citizens are recent high-profile examples of a long history of injustice and inequality. These deaths, along with murders and law enforcement abuses that have taken place before and since, have generated widespread public protest as well as calls for justice, accountability, and police reform. As demonstrations and calls to action continue to grow, many activists and organizations have developed resource and reading lists for people who wish to educate themselves about the history of inequality and racism in America, as well as proactive next steps toward reforming unjust systems. One compre...

Over the next week or so, you may notice library staff members taking notes about where our users are sitting (or standing, in the case of our sit/stand desks). It's no cause for alarm – we're conducting an assessment of library space usage, in order to identify patterns (such as the most popular places, times of day, and furniture types), and to help inform future space planning projects. No individually-identifying information is being recorded or reported, just tallies of where and when library visitors are using our space at certain times of day. Consider our space assessment a warm-up, of sorts, to another important counting project taking place this spring: the 2020 Census . A decennial requirement from Article I, section 2 of the U.S. Constitution , Census data helps to determine such critical matters as congressional seats in the House of Representatives and federal funding distribution for public services. Everyone living in the United States and its territories is...

The Goodson Law Library has recently subscribed to Gale Primary Source's new database, The Making of Modern Law: Landmark Records and Briefs of the U.S. Courts of Appeals, 1950-1980 . The eleventh library in the Making of Modern Law series expands access to online court records and briefs with more than half a million pages of content spanning three decades. Materials may be searched by keyword, browsed by jurisdiction, or explored in the Topic Finder. A "Term Frequency" tool allows researchers to conduct textual analysis. Coverage varies by jurisdiction, but the First through Tenth Circuits as well as the D.C. Circuit are represented (the Eleventh Circuit was formed from part of the Fifth in late 1981, one year past the database’s cutoff date). The "Circuits" browse menu shows the source libraries and approximate number of pages available for each jurisdiction. Coverage is currently strongest for the Second Circuit and D.C. Circuit, each with about 225,000 pa...

The Goodson Law Library's subscription to HeinOnline now includes the module History of International Law . This library currently contains more than 2,000 titles and one million pages on international law topics, including the development of the Hague Conventions, international arbitration, the Nuremberg trials, law of the sea, and much more. While the earliest titles in this collection date back to the 17th century, more modern texts and treatises are also available, including a number published by Duke University Press (such as 2016's Man or Monster? The Trial of a Khmer Rouge Torturer ). The full list of titles can be accessed in the Hein library , and the Duke Libraries Catalog will point to individual works in the collection as well. For additional help with researching the history of international law, check out the library's research guide to International Law or Ask a Librarian .