This Day In The Law: U.S. Supreme Court Strikes Down Bus Segregation Laws

On November 13, 1956, the U.S. Supreme Court (352 U.S. 903 [1956]) affirmed a lower court’s ruling in Browder v. Gayle (opens PDF) that Alabama’s racial segregation laws were unconstitutional.

Read a brief summary of the context here.

Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

Research Resources: Guide to Law Online

The Guide to Law Online, prepared by the Law Library of Congress Public Services Division, is an annotated guide to sources of information on government and law available online. It includes selected links to useful and reliable sites for legal information.

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Thanksgiving Holiday Shuttle Service to JFK for Hofstra Students

Are you making your holiday plans to go home this year?  Hofstra has shuttle service to JFK!

November 26: Student Thanksgiving Shuttle Service to JFK

On Wednesday, November 26, the Department of Public Safety will offer Hofstra students shuttle service to JFK airport on a first-come, first-served, reservation-only basis.  There will be three trips leaving from the Student Center at 7 a.m., noon and 3 p.m. Seating is limited to 20 students per shuttle, as space is needed on the bus to accommodate luggage.

Students who want reserve a seat should send an email to Maryann Sarro at Maryann.Sarro@Hofstra.edu with their 700#,  cell phone number, requested shuttle time, and the airline they are flying.  They should leave enough time to account for traffic and check-in time at the airport. The shuttle will stop at the terminals in the order they are along the route, not according to flight times.

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The Supreme Court Mapping Project

The Supreme Court Mapping Project is under the direction of University of Baltimore School of Law Assistant Professor Colin Starger.  The mapper software enables users to create sophisticated interactive maps of Supreme Court doctrine.  The Project is building a library of implicating doctrinal territories in diverse areas including the 1st, 4th, 5th, 8th and 14th Amendments as well as in commerce power, patents, campaign finance, civil pleading, stare decisis, and more.

 The SCOTUS Mapper Library contains the maps created to date and an Intro page for a more in-depth explanation of the maps and how it all works.

And last, is the blog "In Progress" to keep you up-to-date with the project's activities.

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HeinOnline Tax Foundation Archive Publications

HeinOnline's Tax Foundation Archive collection provides the complete archive of the Tax Foundation's publications, which contain information on taxation, fiscal policy, finance and more.  The collection can be browsed by publication title or subject, or use HeinOnline's other capabilities to search for specific topics.To learn more about the collection click here, to access the collection click here.

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Oral Argument Video Launched on CourtListener

CourtListener, a free legal research site, is now providing audio podcasts of oral arguments for 10 federal appellate courts: the Supreme Court and the Courts of Appeal for the 1st, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 7th, 8th, and 9th Circuits, as well as the D.C. Circuit and Federal Circuit. Oral argument audio appears in results for court cases and may be searched by case name and docket number. Audios are made in real time and loaded to the site on the day they take place. The site plans to add oral argument audio for other courts, including state courts, in the near future.

To learn more about oral argument audio on CourtListener, read the announcement from the Free Law Project, sponsor of the CourtListener site.  Bob Ambrogi has more at his Law Sites blog.


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Follow the $$

Now that the mid-term elections are over, find out about money given by corporations and Super PACs to politicians at Influence Explorer.  This is a project of the Sunlight Foundation.  You can search the name of an individual to see how much was given and to whom, track the formation of Super PACs and compare contributions to candidates.


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Helpful Tips During Exam Period

Knowing where to find helpful study guides, the archived exam, and study room policies may prove helpful when preparing for final exams.

Study Guides:

Click here to access helpful study guides. Most current study guides are located in our Reserve collection and can be charged out for three hour periods.

Exam Archive

Knowing the archived exam and study room policies may prove helpful also. To access the Exam Archive:

• The exam bank can be accessed from the Library's Student Resources page. 
• Click on "Past Exams."
• You will be prompted to enter the password (contact the reference or circulation desk for the password).
• Click on “Accept”
• Click the professor’s folder to access the exams.

Library Study Rooms
Click here to access the Library’s room reservation policy
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Leadership for Lawyers or "Grit"

In this post, Larry Port talks about Leadership for Lawyers and the Biggest Indicator of Success (in part 1 of this online series).  More specifically, he talks about "grit" and what that means for lawyers.

"Talent. Education. Communication skills. They got nothing on grit.  Grit is perseverance and the ability to see something through in spite of obstacles." (cite)

Learn more about what it takes to be a successful lawyer and leader.  Follow the LegalProductivity.com Leadership for Lawyers series here.

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Remember that tomorrow is an Election Day!

For all of you eligible to vote in New York State, please go to the polls tomorrow.  Mid-term federal and state elections are just as important as when the U.S. President is on the ballot.

New York State Board of Elections  has all the information you need.  You can verify that you are registered and your polling place.  There is a General Election Candidate list.  And, there is a link to the language of the Ballet Propositions. 

One of the Propositions is to Revise the State's redistricting procedure.  This is an important issue and should be of interest to concerned citizens.

So go out and vote tomorrow!

Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat