The Goodson Blogson

Recently, HeinOnline added the new library Democracy in America , an enhanced digital edition of Alexis de Tocqueville's classic text on the American political system. There's no shortage of copies in the Duke Libraries collection (with 18 e-book versions alone), so what makes this one special? As Hein's user guide for this new library explains, this version provides an interactive experience that links readers directly to the source material that Tocqueville referenced during the creation of Democracy in America . Alan Keely, Associate Director for Collection Services at Wake Forest Law Library, has curated links to contemporaneous source materials and supplemental editorial or translator notes. The Democracy in America library also includes the full text of Works Cited, 18 varying Editions/Translations (with a plan to eventually include all known editions and translations), and a small library of Related Works also published by Tocqueville. The Democracy in America...

Halloween is just around the corner. Maybe you're too busy with law school to properly plan a costume. Maybe the party store has been picked clean by the time you get around to it, and now you're stuck with a risqué postal worker outfit from the bargain bin. Oh well, you can't just show up to the party dressed as a stressed-out law student, right? Except now, that gunner from your criminal law section who reads the U.S. Code for fun starts telling you how your last-resort costume is actually a federal crime. Wait, what? Is your legal career over before it even begins? Probably not (at least, not for this). 18 U.S.C. § 1730 does state that "Whoever, not being connected with the letter-carrier branch of the Postal Service, wears the uniform or badge which may be prescribed by the Postal Service to be worn by letter carriers, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than six months, or both." Originally enacted in 1872 ( 17 Stat. 296 ), Congress am...

Monday, October 7 marks the official start of oral arguments in the U.S. Supreme Court 's new term. In 1916, Congress enacted a law establishing the Court's opening date as the "first Monday in October," although the number of sessions per year and the timing of the opening day has varied throughout American history. This new term is already packed with dozens of cases, with still more to come as the Court continues to decide on pending petitions for certiorari. The Supreme Court website provides Calendars in PDF and HTML formats. First up on Monday morning is argument in Kahler v. Kansas ( docket ), on the ability of individual states to abolish the insanity defense for criminal defendants. To learn more about individual cases on the Court's docket, SCOTUSblog offers quick access to case information and filings on its October Term 2019 page, organized by argument date. Yesterday, Bloomberg published A Lawyer's Guide to the Upcoming Supreme Court Term ...