Social Media: Evidence in Investigation

Today, John Pacenti writes on http://www.law.com/ concerning how investigators and lawyers are using social networks like Facebook and MySpace in the courtoom. If profiles are not protected by the proper privacy settings, lawyers are free to reap from those websites as much information as they want. Personal blogs are another important source of information for the questioning of witnesses or the defendent.

Lawyers are also using public social networking information in choosing jurors.

To read the full article, visit http://www.law.com/jsp/lawtechnologynews/PubArticleLTN.jsp?id=1202458756486&Social_Networks_Aid_in_Investigations.

Senators Seek Compensation for Oil Spill

On May 25, democratic senators began encouraging the Department of Justice to seek compensation for the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. These senators are looking for both criminal and civil charges against the oil companies involved.

BP and Transocean are the two companies facing the most liability. For more information, visit the full article on the BLT: The Blog of the Legal Times. http//legaltimes.typepad.com/blt/2010/05/senators-push-doj-to-pressure-oil-spill-companies.html#more.

O'Connor Critiques State Judicial Elections

Last Friday, the New York Times published a short opinion piece by former Supreme Court justice, Sandra Day O'Connor. In this column, O'Connor expresses her dismay for the partisan election of judges at the state level. Her greatest concern is the power of campaign contributors in judicial elections and the possibility of inhibitted justice.

In contrast, she proposes a merit-based system for the selection of judges that could help states save money and bring talented candidates to the forefront.

For the full article, visit http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/23/opinion/23oconnor.html.

Hat tip for Karen Kalnins for the referal.

Resources For Summer Research Projects

Are you working on summer research projects? The OCU Law Library is open and available to help you answer reference questions. While you cannot use Westlaw or LexisNexis for work-related projects, below are some resources that you can use.

Fastcase-Scroll down to Fastcase and sign in with your OCU username and password. Once signed in you will have access to statutes, case law, regulations, constitutions, court rules, newspapers, federal filings, and legal forms. Since the Oklahoma Bar Association (OBA) offers this free of charge to members, learning how to use Fastcase now will give you an edge.

Loislaw-Similar to Westlaw and LexisNexis, Loislaw also provides access to case law, statutes, and regulations. Scroll down to Loislaw where you will need to sign in with your OCU username and password to get the Loislaw access code. You will need to use this code when setting up your account.

You can use all of the library databases except for LexisNexis and Westlaw.

OSCN-Freely available to anyone with Internet access, OSCN contains session laws, statutes, and case law.

Summer associate research guide

Another Resource on Supreme Court Nominations

The Library of Congress website is another credible resource for information on Supreme Court Nominees. The website has resources on the last five supreme court nominees. It includes nomination documents, web resources, and bibliographies of the nominees' published works.



Here are the links to these sites.

Find Legal Resources: Supreme Court Nominations.

Find Legal Resources: Elena Kagan.



Hat Tip to Emily Brown and the LISNews (Library and Information Science News).

New UK Prime Minister -- David Cameron

May 11, Gordon Brown stepped down from his position of prime minister allowing David Cameron to become the new prime minister and to form a coalition government.

Cameron enters office on a promise to cut government spending and lessen the budget deficit. He also begins his work without a majority in Parliament. He is currently forming a cabinet in collaboration with the Liberal Democrats. The two parties have already published an agreement that shows the compromises the two parties are willing to make to work together to cut government waste.

For more, see this BBC article. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/election_2010/8676607.stm

For information on UK Legal System, there are several helpful Internet resources.

Update to a Guide to the UK Legal System by Sarah Carter, Law Librarian at the University of Kent at Canterbury.

United Kingdom Law by the Parliamentary Library of the Parliament of Australia.

Law Links by the University of Kent at Canterbury

Elena Kagan, The Law Professor

Here is an interesting blog post for those wanting to research the new Supreme Court nominee, Elena Kagan. It is written by Elie Mystal, one of her law students from when she taught at the University of Chicago School of Law. It is a personal look at her values and her teaching style.

http://abovethelaw.com/2010/05/elena-kagan-and-me-one-semester-of-civ-pro-with-the-new-scotus-nomiee/#more016791

New Nominee to the Supreme Court

Yesterday, May 10th, President Obama nominated Elana Kagan to the Supreme Court. She is a graduate of Harvard Law School and currently the Solicitor General of the United States.

If you would like to learn more about her, The University of Michigan Law School has created a short biographical sketch that includes her accomplishments and articles. The website is http://www.law.umich.edu/library/info/kagan/Pages/default.aspx.

Hat tip to Darla Jackson, Lee Peoples, and the listserv of the Academic Law Libraries Special Interest Section.

April's Acquisition List

The Law Library purchased many new books in April. Peruse the list of its new acquisitions, and plan your summer reading list. This month's acquisition list is on the Law Library website at http://www.okcu.edu/law/lawlib/library_geninfo.php#MonthlyAcquisition.

You may also find many of these books on the "New Book" display in the reference room.

Career Book Display for Graduates

The Law Library is featuring a book display for graduating law students. The display highlights several recent acquisitions on how to pursue a law career after graduation. Find resources on how to find the perfect job, how to interview, and how to survive that first year after law school.

Feliz Cinco de Mayo!

In honor of Cinco de Mayo, I am posting a link to the resource, "Mexico and its Legal System." It is available on the website, Law and Technology Resources for Legal Professionals at http://www.llrx.com.

This overview of Mexican legal system is by Jorge A.Vargas who is a professor at the University of San Diego School of Law, and it a useful place to begin research on the subject.

Nomination for OCU Law Alumnus

On April 28th, 2010, President Obama nominated OCU Law graduate Barry R. Grissom ('81) to the position of United States Attorney for the District of Kansas. Read the full press release here.

Grissom has run his own private practice since 1983 in Kansas City. Hat tip to OCU Law Blog.

Photo credit: Main Justice: Politics, Policy and the Law

Humor for Finals Week

Do you need a break from studying? Visit the website, McClurg's Legal Humor Headquarters. It's URL is lawhaha.com. It has growing collections of "strange judicial opinions," "weird legal news," and "funniest law school moments." Law students may even submit their own funniest moments to the website.