This Week in the Law Library ... Nov. 4, 2024

This week in the law library we're teaching advanced legal research, looking at election law resources, previewing US Supreme Court oral arguments, and celebrating Native American Heritage Month. We're also presenting at this year's Mid-America Association of Law Libraries annual meeting.

Technology Tuesday

Want to get started on your Canvas page but don’t know where to start? Need some new ideas to make your class more engaging? Law faculty can join Legal Technology & Research Instructional Services Librarian Shannon Kemen's Technology Tuesdays from 12:15-1:15pm.

Technology Tuesdays are 1-hour Zoom meetings for law faculty to join as their schedule allows, to get help with Canvas and other classroom technologies. Law faculty don’t need to come prepared with anything and you don’t need to stay for the entire hour. This meeting is designed to help  problem solve issues  with classroom technologies, learn about new technologies , and exchange ideas with colleagues. Technology Tuesday videos and notes are available on our Canvas page.  

This Tuesday's class will be all about polling. Share polling tips with colleagues and learn about some additional polling tools for you class. 

Advanced Legal Research Ohio Legal Research

• 2:00pm - 2:55pm
• Room 245
• Ronald Jones, Electronic Resources Instructional Services Librarian & Shannon Kemen, Legal Technology & Research Instructional Services Librarian

Advanced Legal Research Criminal Law Procedure

• 11:10am - 12:05pm
• Room 245
• Associate Dean Michael Whiteman and Instructional & Reference Services Librarian Ashley Russell

Election day is Tuesday, November 5, 2024. Have you voted yet? If not, please vote tomorrow! Elections matter and so does your vote. Need voter information? You can find links to resources in our Election Law Guide or check out the resources below:

MyOhioVote.com

State of Ohio voting information site. Register to vote, change your address, find polling locations, see ballots, etc.

State of Kentucky Voting Website

The official website for Kentucky elections and voting, you can use this site to register to vote, see the election schedule and find your polling location.

State of Indiana Voting Website

The official website for Indiana elections and voting, you can use this site to register to vote, see the election schedule and find your polling location.

Election Law in a Nutshell

Available via the West Academic Study Aid subscription, this Nutshell provides a succinct and thorough description of the law governing elections, the right to vote, and the political process in the United States. The topics addressed include “one person, one vote,” gerrymandering, minority voting rights, ballot access, voter identification, recounts, direct democracy, and campaign finance. The Nutshell examines U.S. constitutional law in these areas, as well as the Voting Rights Act, Federal Election Campaign Act, and other essential statutes. It covers cases decided through the 2022-23 Supreme Court term, including Allen v. Milligan (on the Voting Rights Act) and Moore v. Harper (on the independent state legislature theory).

Examples & Explanations: Legislation, Statutory Interpretation, and Election Law

Available via the Aspen Learning Library study aid subscription, this text covers statutory interpretation, lobbying, bribery, redistricting, campaign finance law, and voting rights. New to the 2nd Edition: coverage through the Supreme Court's June 2019 decisions, including partisan gerrymandering, court deference to agency interpretations, and the litigation over a citizenship question on the 2020 census; updated discussion of textualist methods of statutory interpretation following the death of Justice Scalia and the arrival of Justices Gorsuch and Kavanaugh; consideration of how increased political polarization shapes the legislative process and judicial review of legislation; and updated material on campaign finance and voting rights.

Understanding Election Law and Voting Rights

Available via the LexisNexis Digital Library study aid subscription, this study aid explains election-law doctrine while also introducing the theoretical concerns that underlie the debates. Readers will come away from Understanding Election Law and Voting Rights knowing not only the holdings of cases and the meanings of important statutes, such as the Voting Rights Act, but they will also understand the contending views of free speech, equality, judicial authority, and political fairness that are present throughout the field. It takes readers through the electoral process, beginning with the right to vote and continuing through the election itself. Along the way, the authors provide thorough explanations of manifold topics, including Congress's power to protect voting rights, the use of race in districting, political gerrymandering, political parties' rights, the place of third parties, free speech and the First Amendment rights to participate in campaigns and run for office, campaign-finance regulation, vote-counting, and the role of courts in adjudicating disputes about political power and challenges to election "irregularities."

CQ Press Voting and Elections Collection

This database provides reference narratives and documents on elections, parties, voter behavior, and campaigns. It allows users to extract election results by characteristics such as: candidate, office, locality, and race type over time. Access U.S. election results across states with great historical depth and accuracy.

Election Law Guide

This guide is intended as a starting point for research in the law of elections.

Principles of the Law, Election Administration: Non-Precinct Voting and Resolution of Ballot-Counting Disputes

Available on HeinOnline and in print at Law Stacks KF 4886 .P752 2019, this work is focused on the principles, rules, and procedures applicable to recounts and ballot disputes, as well as the rules for "non-precinct" voting-the casting of ballots by means other than traditional polling places on election day.

Election Law Program​​ Videos for Judges & ​​Journalists

Created in 2005 as a joint venture of the National Center for State Courts and the William & Mary Law School, the Election Law Program seeks to provide practical assistance to state court judges called upon to resolve difficult election law disputes.These videos are a series of web-based lectures designed to educate judges and journalists about the fundamentals of election law.

Election Law Program

Created in 2005 as a joint venture of the National Center for State Courts and the William & Mary Law School, the Election Law Program seeks to provide practical assistance to state court judges called upon to resolve difficult election law disputes. Resources include an Election Law Manual, a Judicial Orders Database, streamable webinars, a resource library, and an online database of state election laws and regulations. The Program also hosts a symposium addressing a timely election law topic.  

This week librarians Susan Boland, Laura Dixon-Caldwell, Shannon Kemen, Ashley Russell, and Michael Whiteman will be presenting at the Mid-America Association of Law Libraries Annual Meeting.

Image by: The Library of Congress from Defense Logistics Agency

November is American Indian and Alaska Native Heritage Month! Celebrate with us as we explore the contributions and history of the Native people in the United States of America.

History Behind the Month

As far back as the late 1970s, Congress enacted legislation, and subsequent presidents issued, annual proclamations designating a day, a week, or a month to celebrate and commemorate the Nation’s American Indian and Alaska Native heritage.

On Aug. 3, 1990, Congress finally passed Pub. L. 101-343 which designated the month of November 1990 as “National American Indian Heritage Month.” Then, in 1991, Congress passed Pub. L. 102-123 which “authorize[s] and request[s] the President to proclaim the month of November 1991, and the month of each November thereafter, as ‘American Indian Heritage Month.’” President George H.W. Bush issued Proclamation 6368 on October 30, 1991.

5 Selected Resources to Learn More About American Indian and Alaska Native Heritage

ABA 21-Day National Native American Heritage Equity Habit Building Challenge

The goal of this Challenge is to assist each of us to become more aware, compassionate, constructive, engaged people in the quest for equity, and specifically to learn more about the Native American communities. It transcends our roles as lawyers. Non-lawyers are also welcome to participate.

ABA, Celebrating Legal Trailblazers

This ABA publication highlights Native American legal trailblazers.

Excluded & Alone: Examining the Experiences of Native American Women in the Law and a Path Towards Equity (PDF)

The American Bar Association Commission on Women in the Profession and the National Native American Bar Association collaborated to release what is only the second research study focused solely on Native American attorneys – and the first focused on Native American female lawyers. This research builds on the 2015 NNABA study, delving deeper into the unique experiences of Native American women who navigate the intersection of tribal identity, race, and gender in the legal profession. This study also explores the generational perspectives of Native American women and illustrates that, while progress in advancing Native American women in the legal profession is evident, it proceeds at a glacial pace.

The National Native American Bar Association, The Pursuit of Inclusion: An In-Depth Exploration of the Experiences and Perspectives of Native American Attorneys in the Legal Profession (2015) (PDF)

In order to raise the visibility of Native American attorneys in the legal profession at large, to effectuate lasting reforms in the legal community, and to help build a better pipeline to law school, the National Native American Bar Association (NNABA) conducted the first-of-its-kind study of Native American attorneys. This research provides the first comprehensive picture of the issues confronting Native American attorneys across all settings – including private practice; government practice in state, federal and tribal arenas; the judiciary; corporate legal departments; and academia.

ABA Section of Civil Rights and Social Justice, Status, Realities, Legal Framework and Future of Indigenous Peoples in the US and Canada (2020) (webinar)

Panelists discuss the current status and resiliency of indigenous peoples in the United States and Canada. The panelists address the critical question of how past discriminatory – and even brutal governmental policies – led us to the current status of indigenous peoples today. More importantly, the panelists discuss what steps, laws, and policies can be taken to improve the lives of indigenous peoples in the United States. and Canada. The panelists compare and contrast the history, status, and future of the First Nations People in Canada vs. American Indians and Alaska Natives in the United States. After the panel discussion, the audience will gain a high-level overview of the issues around indigenous populations, which we hope will lead to a desire to learn more.

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

From SCOTUS Blog:

Monday,  Nov. 4, 2024

Wis. Bell v. United States, ex rel. Todd Heath - whether reimbursement requests submitted to the Federal Communications Commission's E-rate program are “claims” under the False Claims Act.

Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024

Advoc. Christ Med. Ctr. v. Becerra - whether the phrase “entitled ... to benefits,” used twice in the same sentence of the Medicare Act, means the same thing for Medicare part A and Supplemental Social Security benefits, such that it includes all who meet basic program eligibility criteria, whether or not benefits are actually received.

E.M.D. Sales v. Carrera - whether the burden of proof that employers must satisfy to demonstrate the applicability of a Fair Labor Standards Act exemption is a mere preponderance of the evidence or clear and convincing evidence.

Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2024

Facebook v. Amalgamated Bank - whether risk disclosures are false or misleading when they do not disclose that a risk has materialized in the past, even if that past event presents no known risk of ongoing or future business harm.

Posted Nov. 4, 2024 by Susan Boland

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