The Goodson Blogson

Still missing a ninth justice after the death of Antonin Scalia in February, the eight remaining members of the U.S. Supreme Court will begin hearing oral arguments on Tuesday, October 4. But it is Monday, October 3, which marks the official beginning of the Court's October Term 2016 – for the last century, the "first Monday in October" has been the start date of the U.S. Supreme Court's annual term, thanks to Public Law No. 64-258 . The treatise Supreme Court Practice (10th ed. 2013), section 1.2(f) (KF9057 .S8 2013 & on Bloomberg Law ) describes the long history behind the Supreme Court's now-famous start date: In the First Judiciary Act of 1789, 1 Stat. 73, Congress mandated that the Court hold two sessions a year, "the one commencing the first Monday of February , and the other the first Monday of August ." The provision for two sessions was apparently inspired in large part by a desire to allow the Justices to perform their time-consumin...

How well do you know the U.S. Constitution? Today is the official observance of Constitution Day , a national holiday commemorating the signing of the United States Constitution on September 17, 1787. If it's been a while since you last reviewed the Constitution's seven articles and 27 amendments, take a moment to re-read this founding document. Considering its monumental importance to the American government and its legal system, it is a surprisingly short and simple read. You can pick up a pocket-sized Constitution at the Goodson Law Library service desk, courtesy of either LexisNexis or Westlaw . You can also print your own mini-Constitution from House Document 112-129 -- be sure to choose the "booklet" option when printing! Alternatively, the text of the Constitution is available online through the U.S. Senate , the National Archives , and at the start of every print or online version of the United States Code , as part of the "Organic Laws." Thin...

Pop quiz: which book in the library contains an organization chart for the U.S. Coast Guard, lists of current congressional committees and their membership, and contact information for the National Pasta Association ? You'll probably never need all three of those things at once, but you should know that you can find them all in the Washington Information Directory , whose 2016-2017 edition has just landed in the Reference Collection on level 3. Published since 1975, the Washington Information Directory compiles contact information and descriptive summaries about governmental and non-governmental organizations in and around the nation's capital. Organized by topics (such as Law and Justice) and subtopics (such as Criminal Law, or Constitutional Law and Civil Liberties), each subsection includes lists of government agencies and non-governmental organizations, along with a brief description of their missions and public contact information. The directory is an interesting way t...

Need to punch up a presentation with some visual interest? Duke University's Visual Studies Librarian Lee Sorensen has created a new online portal to help you with Finding Images , along with tips for using them without running afoul of copyright laws. The guide includes tips for locating images and maps online, such as through many of Duke's subscription databases like the AP Image Archive . Links also include copyright-free resources like Creative Commons images on the photo-sharing site Flickr or Google Advanced Image Search . However, as the guide sagely notes, the copyright status of images found online is often unclear. Sorensen states two basic rules of image-finding on the Internet: Assume an image is copyrighted unless there is an explicit indication that it is copyright free. People and institutions frequently claim ownership to images they don’t own. The Finding Images guide includes information about Copyright and Fair Use . Many educational uses of copyri...