This Week in the Law Library ... October 6, 2025

This week in the Law Library we're teaching AI and the Law, Anonymous Grading on Canvas, Researching Case Law and Using Citators, Researching Secondary Sources, Civil Litigation,. Online Searching, and Researching Statutes. This Week is Banned Books Week and we are highlighting issues and resources on censorship and banned books. October is also Domestic Violence Awareness Month and Cybersecurity Month so we're also turning a spotlight on resources on issues in those areas. Finally, we're previewing US Supreme Court oral arguments.

Tuesday, October 7, 2025

AI & the Law

• 10:40am - 12:05pm
• Profs. Laura Dixon-Caldwell, Shannon Kemen, Ashley Russell, and Michael Whiteman

Technology Tuesdays

• Anonymous Grading on Canvas 
• 12:15pm - 1:15pm
• Zoom
• Shannon Kemen, Legal Technology & Research Instructional Services Librarian​

LLM Research & Writing

• 1:30pm - 2:55pm
• Researching Case Law & Using Citators
• Shannon Kemen, Legal Technology & Research Instructional Services Librarian​

Wednesday, October 8, 2025

Advanced Legal Research Civil Litigation

• 3:05pm - 4:05pm
• Laura Dixon-Caldwell​, Instructional & Reference Services Librarian​

Thursday, October 9, 2025

Lawyering 1, Cohort 6

• 9:00am - 10:25am
• Researching Secondary Sources
• Ron Jones Electronic Resources Instructional Services Librarian

AI & the Law

• 10:40am - 12:05pm
• Profs. Laura Dixon-Caldwell, Shannon Kemen, Ashley Russell, and Michael Whiteman

Lawyering I, Cohort 2

• 10:40am - 12:05pm
• Online Searching
• Susan Boland, Associate Director

Lawyering 1, Cohort 3

• 10:40am - 12:05pm
• Researching Secondary Sources
• Ashley Russell, Instructional & Reference Services Librarian

LLM Research & Writing

• 1:30pm - 2:55pm
• Researching Statutes
• Shannon Kemen, Legal Technology & Research Instructional Services Librarian​

Friday, October 10, 2025

Lawyering I, Cohort 5

• 9:00am - 10:25am
• Introduction to Legal Research & Sources of Legal Authority
• Shannon Kemen, Legal Technology & Research Instructional Services Librarian​ 

Lawyering I, Cohort 1

• 10:40am - 12:05pm
• Introduction to Legal Research & Sources of Legal Authority
• Laura Dixon-Caldwell, Instructional & Reference Services Librarian

The theme for Banned Books Week 2025 is “Censorship Is So 1984 — Read for Your Rights.” Current efforts to ban books and information held in schools, libraries, archives, and bookstores are a truth close to fiction – namely, the depiction of extreme censorship by an oppressive regime in George Orwell’s cautionary and prescient tale 1984. Pioneering actor, author, and activist George Takei has been named honorary chair of Banned Books Week. The majority of book censorship attempts that ALA tracked in 2024 come from organized movements. Pressure groups and government entities that include elected officials, board members, and administrators initiated 72% of demands to censor books in school and public libraries.  PEN America reports nearly 23,000 book bans in public schools nationwide since 2021. According to PEN America Florida was the No. 1 state for book bans, with 2,304 instances of bans, followed by Texas with 1,781 bans and Tennessee with 1,622.

In honor of Banned Books Week, our featured resources are focusing on the First Amendment, Freedom of Speech, and banned books.

In honor of Banned Books Week, we’re featuring study aids dealing with the First Amendment and Freedom of Speech.

• The First Amendment (Concepts & Insights)
  • Available online via the West Academic Study Aid subscription, Farber’s First Amendment covers all of the major areas of this complex doctrine, including the religion clauses. The text also probes theories of free speech and debates over controversial issues such as campaign finance regulation, hate speech, and religious exemptions. The new edition covers recent Supreme Court decisions transforming doctrine under the religion clauses, redefining the scope of the "true threats" category of unprotected speech, and defining the rights of social media platforms. 
• First Amendment: Examples and Explanations
  • Available through the Aspen Learning Library study aid subscription, this book covers all of the First Amendment’s major topics – with emphasis on speech and religion. The topics covered include a comprehensive review of the most recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions on speech, association, and religion as well as cutting edge issues raised by current events, including the COVID-19 pandemic. While providing deep coverage of abstract concepts, the book includes many practical introductions to law practice reality. Figures, examples, explanations, and varying difficulty in the presented material ensure that the book will serve the needs of a variety of users and will appeal to different learning styles.
•  Understanding the First Amendment
  • Available via the LexisNexis Digital Library, this study aid covers the origins and nature of the First Amendment, speech advocating violent or illegal action, content regulation of speech, limited protection of speech, content neutrality of speech, freedom of association and compelled expression, media and the first amendment, the Establishment Clause, and the Free Exercise Clause. The beginning of each chapter highlights key points of coverage. The end of each chapter indicates essential points to remember. The eighth edition covers all of the recent relevant decisions, including Houston Community College System v. Wilson, Barr v. American Association of Political Consultants, Inc., City of Austin, Texas v. Reagan National Advertising of Austin, LLC, Federal Election Commission v. Cruz, Americans for Prosperity Foundation v. Bonta, Mahanoy Area School District v. B.L., Shurtleff v. City of Boston, Agency for International Development v. Alliance for Open Society International, Inc., Kennedy v. Bremerton School District, Espinoza v. Montana Department of Revenue, Our Lady of Guadalupe School v. Morrisey-Berru, Fulton v. City of Philadelphia, and Carson v. Makin. It also includes a variety of new problems involving new situations that have arisen in First Amendment law.

• Book Censorship Database
  • The EveryLibrary Institute and EveryLibrary are partnering with Dr. Tasslyn Magnusson, an independent researcher focused on the networks, organizations, and individual actors who are leading book banning and book challenge efforts in our nation's school libraries and public libraries.

• Banned Books Week Guide
  • Celebrate your right to read! This guide covers information on Banned Books Week as well as court cases involving challenged books, and prisoner rights to read.

• Smolla & Nimmer on Freedom of Speech
  • Smolla & Nimmer on Freedom of Speech, available on Westlaw, provides in-depth coverage and expert analysis of free speech and free press First Amendment issues, including history, theory, doctrine, and insights into cases and decisions. Includes cross-references within the text and in footnotes, which contain full citations and parallel citations to other materials.

• Banned Books Week YouTube Channel
  • View Banned Books Virtual Read-Outs and more! The Banned Books Virtual Read-Out features videos of readers exercising their First Amendment right to read a banned book.

• Banned Books Week
  • Banned Books Week is an annual event that highlights the value of free and open access to information. The event is supported by a coalition of organizations dedicated to free expression, including American Booksellers for Free Expression, American Library Association, American Society of Journalists and Authors, Amnesty International USA, Association of University Presses, Authors Guild, Banned Books Week Sweden, Children’s Book Council, Comic Book Legal Defense Fund, Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE), Freedom to Read Foundation, GLAAD, Index on Censorship, Little Free Library, National Book Foundation, National Coalition Against Censorship, National Council of Teachers of English, PEN America, People For the American Way Foundation, PFLAG, and Project Censored. It is endorsed by the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress. By focusing on efforts across the country to remove or restrict access to books, Banned Books Week draws national attention to the harms of censorship.

October is National Domestic Violence Awareness Month. Begun in 1981 by the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, it is a Day of Unity to connect battered women’s advocates across the country. In 1989 Congress passed Public Law 101-112 declaring the month of October to be Domestic Violence Awareness Month. This month's theme is "With Survivors, Always."

More Resources for Domestic Violence Awareness

National Hotlines

National Child Abuse Hotline/Childhelp
1-800-4-A-CHILD (1-800-422-4453)

National Dating Abuse Helpline
1-866-331-9474

National Deaf Domestic Violence Hotline
Video phone: 855-812-1001

The National Domestic Violence Hotline
1-800-799-7233 (SAFE)

Strong Hearts Native Helpline
1-844-7NATIVE (762-8483)

October is also National Cybersecurity Awareness Month. Cybersecurity Awareness Month was launched by the National Cyber Security Alliance & the U.S. Department of Homeland Security in October 2004. The theme this year is "Stay Safe Online." 

Stay Safe Resources

• Fall 2025 Annual Shred Event
  • Tuesday, October 7, 2025 – Bearcat Commons Lot A (behind the Arts & Sciences Building)
  • 9am to 1pm, or until the truck is full
• Office of Information, Security Phishing
  • What is phishing? What are the types of phishing? How can you identify and protect yourself from phishing
• Office of Information Security, Travel & Cybersecurity
  • Guidelines to help you with the security of your technology devices like laptops, smartphones, and tablets when you travel.    
• Federal Trade Commission, Cybersecurity Basics
  • Knowing some cybersecurity basics and putting them in practice will help protect you and reduce the risk of a cyber attack.    
• National Cybersecurity Alliance, Cybersecurity Tips for College Students
  • You can be a cybersecure student by adopting a few behaviors.

US Supreme Court by Jarek Tuszyński CC-BY-SA-3.0 via Wikimedia Commons

From SCOTUS Blog:

Monday,  Oct. 6, 2025

• Villarreal v. Texas - whether a trial court abridges a defendant's Sixth Amendment right to counsel by prohibiting the defendant and his counsel from discussing the defendant's testimony during an overnight recess.
• Berk v. Choy - whether a state law providing that a complaint must be dismissed unless it is accompanied by an expert affidavit may be applied in federal court.
  

Tuesday,  Oct. 7, 2025

• Barrett v. United States - whether the double jeopardy clause of the Fifth Amendment permits two sentences for an act that violates 18 U.S.C. § 924(c) and (j).
• Chiles v. Salazar - whether a law that censors certain conversations between counselors and their clients based on the viewpoints expressed regulates conduct or violates the free speech clause of the First Amendment.

Wednesday, Oct. 8, 2025

• Bost v. Ill. State Board of Elections - whether petitioners, as federal candidates, have pleaded sufficient factual allegations to show Article III standing to challenge state time, place, and manner regulations concerning their federal elections.
• U.S. Postal Serv. v. Konan - whether a plaintiff's claim that she and her tenants did not receive mail because U.S. Postal Service employees intentionally did not deliver it to a designated address arises out of "the loss" or "miscarriage" of letters or postal matter under the Federal Tort Claims Act. 

Posted Oct. 6, 2025 by Susan Boland

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