UHLC Nota Bene

Did you know that the law library subscribes to over 100 Bloomberg BNA publications? From topics ranging from health care to intellectual property, environmental law, and tax, Bloomberg BNA's publications provide current law and expert analysis. They can serve as a tremendous resource for lawyers and law students seeking to interpret and understand legal principles in their practice areas. If you've ever taken a glance at our list of Bloomberg BNA databases by topic   or the A to Z list on our website, you will notice that for some areas of law, there are numerous resources available. For example, there are 14 publications related to healthcare law. This includes titles like Health Law Reporter, Health Care Daily Report, and Health Insurance Report. You may wonder how to choose the correct publication for researching your topic. Why not try searching them all (or a few) at once? Now, when you enter any of our Bloomberg BNA publications you will see a link in the upper right-h...

September 22-28 is the 31 st annual banned book week, an awareness campaign that celebrates the freedom to read in America. Though individual books in American are not banned by specific laws,   they are none the less often restricted by other entities. Many of the cases regarding these “banned” books center on a school library restricting access to the material in some way. Historically, in cases where a book is removed or restricted from a school library due to the graphic nature of the content or language, courts have usually sided with the judgment of the school board ( see, e.g. Presidents Council, Dist. 25 v. Cmty. Sch. Bd. No. 25, 457 F.2d 289 (2d Cir. 1972)). Yet, when book removals appear from the facts to be motivated by political or religious censorship, courts have typically ruled that this violates the challenging student’s First Amendment rights ( see, e.g. . Minarcini v. Strongsville City Sch. Dist., 541 F.2d 577 (6th Cir. 1976)).  The United States S...

If any of you are looking for a good book, you might check out the list of the 25 greatest law novels recently compiled by the ABA.   Chosen by a panel of experts , the list contains the best “novels whose storylines revolved around lawyers or legal cases or the moral milieu of the law.”   The top 5 include:  To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee (1960) Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky (1866) Bleak House by Charles Dickens (1852) The Trial by Franz Kafka (1925) Les Miserables by Victor Hugo (1862) To see the full list, visit the ABA website .   To find out if a book is available at the law library or any of the other UH libraries, check the library catalog .

Happy Constitution Day everyone!  In celebration of the day, the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration, the Library of Congress, and the Government Printing Office have teamed up to launch U.S. Constitution: Analysis and Interpretation , a new app providing an annotated version of the Constitution.  It contains discussion of each clause of the Constitution, information about Supreme Court cases relevant to interpreting the Constitution, and lists all federal, state, and local laws struck down by the Supreme Court. Users have the ability to search the entire text or browse by section.  The app also contains other helpful features including a table of contents, table of cases, and an index.  Currently, the app is available for free on iOS devices such as iPads and iPhones.  An Android version is also being developed.  For more information on the app, see the GPO press release .  To download the app, visit the iTunes App Store .

Each semester the law library presents a series of presentations on legal research topics. These presentations are held at 12 noon on Tuesdays and Wednesdays in Room 4 BLB. We will be offering the following sessions during the Fall 2013 semester: 1. Power Searching on Westlaw, Lexis, and Bloomberg Law Tuesday, 10/1, Wednesday, 10/2, 12:00-12:45 P.M. Katy Stein Badeaux, Reference and Research Librarian 2. Federal Legislative History Research Tuesday, 10/8, Wednesday, 10/9, 12:00-12:45 P.M. Dan Donahue, International and Foreign Law Librarian 3. Researching Federal Income Tax Law Tuesday, 10/15, Wednesday, 10/16, 12:00-12:45 P.M. Chris Dykes, Reference and Research Librarian 4. Federal Administrative Law Research Tuesday, 10/22, Wednesday, 10/23, 12:00-12:45 P.M. Mon Yin Lung, Associate Director of the Law Library 5. Advanced Databases Search Strategies Tuesday, 10/29, Wednesday, 10/30, 12:00-12:45 P.M. Emily Lawson, Reference and Research Librarian

A major topic in current events is the questionable legality of any potential move by the United States to intervene in the ongoing Syrian civil war.   For those interested in better understanding this issue by reviewing the state of the laws governing the use of force, here are some resources that may be useful: Article 2(4) of the United Nations (UN) Charter pledges member states to refrain from the threat or use of force against other states.   However, there are two exceptions: Articles 34 and 51 permit the use of force when authorized by the UN Security Council or in self-defense, respectively.   Although these articles constitute the law on the international use of force, many modern legal theorists have nonetheless developed justifications for humanitarian intervention when the UN refrains from authorizing the use of force for political or procedural reasons rather than declining to do so on the merits of a given case. These justifications were used i...

Seminar from the Fort Bend County Bar Association The Fort Bend County Bar Association will host a unique seminar on September 13, 2013, 11:45 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., titled   How to Practice in Fort Bend County . The speakers slated for the event include judges from all district courts and county courts at law. Judges are expected to cover a variety of topics related to practice in their respective courtrooms, which will include discussion of local rules and office management procedures as appropriate. Anyone who currently practices in Fort Bend County, or who plans to in the future, is likely to benefit from such a practical and comprehensive CLE. The seminar is available to both members and non-members of the Fort Bend County Bar Association. The deadline to register is September 10, 2013 at 5:00 p.m. For registration and membership information,   visit the event webpage . If you are unable to attend the seminar in person, the Fort Bend County Bar Association plan...