law

law

Tracking the Case (Law)

Tracking the Case (Law)

, Library Resources, Matt Dilworth
The law and courts’ effects on them are major topics of debate today, particularly those of the Supreme Court.  Knowing when and how the high court reverses its own previous decisions and knowing what then constitutes current law are vital skills for educated citizens. The Supreme Court has reversed its previous decisions more than 300 times in the country’s 246 year history.  Sometimes it has done this very quickly, such as Robbins v. California (453 U.S. 420), which was overruled by the United States v. Ross (456 U.S. 798) within a year, allowing police officers to conduct warrantless searches of opaque containers in cars they had pulled over.  Sometimes the law changed is quite old, such as Minturn v. Maynard … Continued
Library Resource: HeinOnline Trial

Library Resource: HeinOnline Trial

, , , Library Resources, Website
Since Fall 2020, the Campus Library has had a trial of the database HeinOnline. We have had some good usage of the database, but our trial will end on June 30th so we want to remind IU East-affiliated students and faculty that they can use it until then. HeinOnline has a lot of similarities to NexisUni, with a large emphasis on state and federal case law. It provides 300+ years of information on political development and the complete history of the creation of government and legal systems around the world. HeinOnline’s main focus may be on law, history, and politics, but with over 2,900 journals in its collection, there are intersections with subject areas such as education, psychology, political science, … Continued
Legal Research with Nexis Uni

Legal Research with Nexis Uni

, , Library Resources, Matt Dilworth, Research
With major cases coming in front of the Supreme Court, laws – and possible judicial changes to them – are often in the news.  How laws change or are reapplied in the court system is a significant point of scholarly interest, and an exceptional database for exploring the law is Nexis Uni (formerly called Lexis Nexis Academic). Nexis Uni contains a lot of different types of material – news articles, law reviews, even corporate information – but its main strength lies in legal studies.  It is not as valuable for ‘code’ law (statutes passed by a legislature, which are typically straightforward, albeit very lengthy and archaically worded – amounting to lists of ‘don’t do this, or you will be fined … Continued
Wide Awake

Wide Awake

, , , Library Resources, Matt Dilworth
This month features an opportunity to see a documentary, “Awake: A Dream from Standing Rock” about the failed Sioux-led protests against the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline, which in the process of delivering oil from North Dakota to Illinois crosses both the Missouri and Mississippi River upstream of American Indian tribal lands. Government pushback against the protests over the course of more than a year led to around 300 injuries and 500 arrests. This film is sponsored by the Diversity Events Committee and will play five more times in various venues on campus in the months of March and April. While the protest movement was not successful, it has brought national and international attention to the legal battles surrounding … Continued