The Goodson Blogson

If you’ve ever had a cite-checking assignment which involved locating various constitutions, you probably have a few tricks up your sleeve already. The U.S. Constitution and its amendments are widely accessible: GPO Access offers the annotated Constitution of the United States: Analysis and Interpretation as well as unannotated “pocket editions” which are printed for each new Congress. The United States Code Annotated , the United States Code Service , and even Black’s Law Dictionary (to name just a few sources) reprint the text in every edition. You can even pore over a high-resolution scan of the original at the National Archives’ web site – in short, it’s probably harder to miss the U.S. Constitution than to find it. Current state constitutions can be quickly accessed through the current state code (see the library’s State Codes collection on Level 3). Historical versions are available online to the Duke University community in Constitutions of the Countries of the World: Nat...

Whether you’re a would-be law clerk investigating a potential boss’s background, or a history buff who loves to read about law practice in Dickens’s day, there will be times when you need to conduct some biographical research . Fortunately, the Goodson Blogson is here to help. The library’s research guides to Directories of Courts and Judges and Directories of Lawyers point to many sources of information for currently-practicing judges and attorneys. The amount of information will vary in each source, but most will include basic biographical facts (particularly educational background) and often a summary of career experience and achievements. Additional information may be available in the general Biography Databases available from the Duke University Libraries. Although these databases do not focus exclusively on law, many notable lawyers and judges (current and historical) are included. Try Biography Resource Center for full-text entries from sources like Who’s Who in American L...

Calling all policy wonks! In 2009, we blogged about online sources for tracking legislation , where to find your members of Congress on Facebook, Twitter, and other social-networking havens , and how to access campaign finance and lobbying data . Today we suggest sources for locating the unsung heroes of Capitol Hill – congressional staffers and legislative aides. Whether you’re angling for a job in your favorite representative’s office, or you’re hoping to meet with your senator to make an impassioned appeal for your pet issue, cultivating a personal relationship with a congressional staffer can make the difference between getting face time with the legislator…or getting no response at all. The Duke University community has access to two major sources for congressional staff data: CQ’s Congressional Staff Directory (current year available also at Law Library Reference JK1012 .C62) and the Congressional Yellow Book (available to Duke University students, faculty and staff through the...

Traditionally, the new year brings much reflection on the previous 365 days— last week’s media focused heavily on the top events, people, and films of 2009. But some folks are looking forward—at the new laws which took effect at the stroke of midnight on January 1. From the nearly 41,000 new state laws passed in 2009, CNN rounded up a selection of notable legislation which took effect after Jan. 1 . Unsurprisingly, North Carolina’s smoking ban is featured on this list. On January 2, the country’s leading tobacco producer became the 29th state to prohibit smoking in most establishments, including restaurants and bars. (Tobacco shops, cigar bars, and country clubs are among the exempted entities in the Tar Heel State.) Not everyone is breathing easy about the new smoking regulations, particularly the owner of a hookah bar in Chapel Hill. The Independent Weekly details the owner’s plan to ignore the ban in order to trigger a legal challenge in the courts. This story should prove an int...