The Goodson Blogson

Researchers might consult the transcript of a trial for many reasons-- perhaps even entertainment. Although it might be hard to believe if you've ever slogged through the volumes of a modern trial transcript, the proceedings of high-profile cases were popular reading material in the 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries. (Of course, the retellings were often a bit more sensationalized than your modern court reporter might like...resulting in a "transcript" that was more akin to today's true-crime genre.) The Goodson Law Library collection includes many historic accounts of notorious trials. Today, we've added even more with the new database The Making of Modern Law: Trials 1600-1926 ( http://library.duke.edu/metasearch/db/id/DUK03557 ). The database includes searchable page-image versions of more than 10,000 published trial proceedings from all over the world. The publications offer unique historical perspective into legal systems and the lives of those involved in...

Today, President Obama announced 2d Circuit Judge Sonia Sotomayor as his pick to replace Supreme Court Justice David Souter, who plans to retire later this year. [ NY Times ] As you may recall from the recent appointments of Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Samuel Alito, Sotomayor’s nomination will have to be confirmed first by the Senate Judiciary Committee and then by a majority of the Senate. For updated discussion and analysis of the Supreme Court nomination and confirmation process, check out SCOTUSblog ( http://www.scotusblog.com/wp/ ) and the National Journal’s new blog Ninth Justice ( http://ninthjustice.nationaljournal.com/ ). For general background on the nomination process, the 2008 Congressional Research Service report Supreme Court Appointment Process: Roles of the President, Judiciary Committee, and Senate ( http://wikileaks.org/leak/crs/RL31989.pdf ) provides useful commentary. A companion report, Supreme Court Nominations Not Confirmed, 1789-2007 ( http://www.f...

Since convening on January 6, the 111th Congress has already generated nearly 2,500 bills in the House and another 1,000 in the Senate. How many have become public law so far? About 25. With odds like those, how can you possibly stay on top of all the proposed legislation which could affect your client’s case, your law review article, or even your country’s official language ? The Goodson Blogson investigated some popular free and fee-based online sources for tracking legislation at both the federal and state levels. Federal THOMAS ( http://thomas.loc.gov ) This free service from the Library of Congress remains a favorite source for finding information about federal legislation. Bill summary and status information is available back to the 93rd Congress; as well as the full text of bills from 1989-present. Search by keywords, bill numbers, or a variety of other options (e.g. sponsors and actions taken); bills can also be browsed. Bill summary and status reports provide links to the te...

Today, the federal government released its spring 2009 Unified Agenda of Federal Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions (also known as the "Semiannual Regulatory Agenda"). The “Unified Agenda” fulfills a requirement set forth in the U.S. Code that federal agencies must provide updates each spring and fall of new rules which the agency expects to propose or finalize, along with reasons for issuing such rules and the agency’s expected timetable. 5 U.S.C. § 602. From 1983-2007, the entire Unified Agenda was published in April and October issues of the Federal Register . Historic issues of the Agenda are available in HeinOnline ’s Federal Register Library (from 1983), Lexis and Westlaw (from 1985); GPO Access (from 1994); and RegInfo.gov (from 1995). Beginning in fall 2007, the Unified Agenda became a primarily web-based publication, available at the Regulatory Information Service Center ( http://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/eAgendaMain ). The Federal Register version of the...

The federal government generates a huge amount of information every year: budgets, statutes, regulations, brochures, pamphlets, speeches, press releases…the list goes on and on. Who is responsible for keeping track of these millions of pages? Established by Congress in 1861, the Government Printing Office is charged with "gathering, cataloging, producing, providing and preserving published information in all its forms." Today this daunting task is tackled by more than 2,000 employees, who print thousands of government documents each year and disseminate many more via websites such as GPO Access (soon to become FDSys ). In recent years, the government has reduced its print publications in favor of more cost-efficient electronic access, but many federal documents are still published in paper (and distributed free of charge to depository libraries, including the Goodson Law Library). As this fascinating video from today’s Washington Post illustrates, some of GPO's paper d...

Congratulations to the Class of 2009! If you are a recent graduate who plans to remain in the Triangle area this summer for bar exam study, please note the following information about Duke Law building access and library resources/services. Building Access : Although your law student IDs (which provide 24-hour access to the Law School and Law Library) are deactivated shortly after graduation, you are eligible for a free alumni card from the DukeCard Office ( http://dukecard.duke.edu/idcards.html ). E-mail your alumni card number to the Law School's Building Manager, Catherine Hall ( chall@law.duke.edu ), in order to activate 24-hour access for the summer. The access will continue until August 15, 2009. LexisNexis : Graduating students who are studying for the bar exam may extend their passwords until August 1, 2009. To register for summer access, see http://support.lexisnexis.com/lawschool/record.asp?articleid=summer_access . Westlaw : Graduating students may extend their Westlaw p...

Effective today, the Goodson Law Library service desk will be staffed under summer operating hours, Monday-Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Current Law School students, faculty and staff will retain 24-hour building access over the summer. The building and library entrance doors will lock automatically at 5:00 p.m.; please remember to bring your Law School DukeCard if you plan to access the library during evenings and weekends! For more information about visiting the Goodson Law Library, please see Hours & Directions .