WestlawNext: Getting negative history fast

A key step in any legal research is making sure that the case or statute you are relying on is still good law. WestlawNext offers some effective tools to dig up negative history fast.

Check out this quick guide to checking negative history in WestlawNext without clicking through the original law.

Oregon Appellate Court Oral Arguments -- Week of October 26

The Oregon Supreme Court has no cases set for oral argument this week.

The Oregon Court of Appeals hears oral arguments from Monday 10/26 to Thursday 10/29 in the Supreme Court Building.

The Enviroment, Oregon, Richard Nixon and William Douglas

The 1970 and 1971 editions of the Oregon-based journal Environmental Law showcase a hopeful moment in American politics. It its first two issues the journal published contributions from both President Richard Nixon and Justice William Douglas.

In 1969, Environmental Law was founded as America's first law review dedicated entirely to environmental issues. The journal has been published by Lewis and Clark Law School in Portland since it's first issue in 1970. Still printed on recycled paper with soy ink the publication remains a leading publication in environmental law.

In its 1970 inaugural issue, the journal published a congratulatory letter by President Richard Nixon.

In the following issue the journal published a article from U.S. Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas discussing the degradation of the ocean environment. 

Residents of the American northwest will not be surprised by Justice Douglas' commitment to environmentalism. He grew up in Yakima, Washington where he observed first had police brutality towards workers in the Northwest. According to Justice Douglas this motivated him to seek a legal education. He soon headed east to attend Yale law school. 

Even after moving east Douglas remained a frequent visitor to the Mt. Saint Helen's Lodge at Spirit Lake in Washington State.

[Bob Karm - http://pdxretro.com/2012/05/he-refused-to-leave-his-mountain/]

He advocated for the environment on and off the court. He argued that inanimate objects in the environment should have standing in his dissent in Sierra Club v. Morton 405 U.S. 727 (1972). He also published a influential review of Rachel Carson's Silent Spring. In 1984 in honor of his commitment to the wilderness area adjacent to Mount Rainier National Park was renamed the William O. Douglas Wilderness Area.

["Old Scab Mountain 16969" by Walter Siegmund (talk) - Own work. Licensed under CC BY 2.5 via Commons]

Richard Nixon was also a significant supporter of environmental issues. He signed the National Environmental Policy Act in 1969 creating the EPA.

Here on the shelves of the State of Oregon Law Library in one volume of the Environmental Law journal is a example of the Northwest's long national influence on environmental law.

Oregon Appellate Court Oral Arguments -- Week of October 19

The Oregon Supreme Court has no cases set for oral argument this week.

 

The Oregon Court of Appeals hears oral arguments on friday 10/23 in the Supreme Court Building.

GPO's Federal Register Scan Project

The U.S. Government Printing Office recently announced that it will digitize two million pages of the Federal Register The GPO currently makes digital copies of the Federal Register from 1994 available online through the Federal Digital System (FDsys), but the Federal Register itself dates back to 1936.  The new scanning project will expand FDsys’ collection back to the first issue. The project is expected to be finished in 2016.

If you just can’t wait that long, in the meantime you are welcome to use the State of Oregon Law Library’s collection of Federal Register issues. It extends back to January 1, 1970.

What is the Federal Register and why is it the most exciting publication in government?

The Federal Register is a daily publication that is the official source of legal information from the Executive Branch of the United States Government. The Federal Register contains:

·         Federal Agency Regulations

·         Proposed Rules and Public Notices

·         Executive Orders, Presidential Proclamations and other Presidential Documents

If you are looking for federal government regulatory filings you are in the right place!

I’m looking for Federal Register issues. Where can I find them besides through FDsys and at SOLL?

Never fear, this exhilarating government publication is available from several sources!

·         Free Sources

o   Federal Depository Libraries – Most libraries in the Federal Library Depository system have a print subscription to the Federal Register (including SOLL!).

o   FDsys – PDF and Text back to 1994. Their database is not searchable as of October 2015.

o   Federal Register 2.0 – This is a non-official version of the FDsys documents.  This database covers the same materials as the FDsys database but in a searchable text format.

·         Paid Databases

o   Westlaw – Full coverage back to 1936. Issues prior to January 1981 are only available in PDF.

o   Lexis-Nexis – Full coverage back to 1936. Older issues are available in text synopsis only with full PDFs available.

Oregon Appellate Court Oral Arguments -- Week of October 12

The Oregon Supreme Court this week will hear shared oral argument in two cases on October 14th.

• Kevin Rains v. Stayton Builders Mart, Inc. - S062939
• Kevin Rains v. Stayton Builders Mart, Inc. - S062959

The Oregon Court of Appeals hears oral arguments on 10/13 in the Supreme Court Building.

California Right to Die Law Passed

On October 5th Governor Jerry Brown of California signed the  End of Life Option Act  into law. Assembly Bill No. 15 would permit Californians in certain circumstances to deliberately end their life with the assistance of a physician.

The governor issued a  signing statement explaining his support for the new law. "I do not know what I would do if I were dying in prolonged and excruciating pain," he writes. "I am certain, however, that it would be a comfort to be able to consider the options afforded by this bill. And I wouldn't deny that right to others."

The law is  closely modeled on Oregon's own assisted suicide law. In their decision, California lawmakers pointed to the 2014 decision of Brittany Maynard, a California resident with terminal brain cancer, to move to Oregon where she would have the option to take life-ending drugs. 


The law will take effect 91 days after the conclusion of the current legislative session , sometime in 2016. The law is set to expire in 10 years unless renewed. 

Oregon's law is titled the "Death with Dignity Act" and is administered by the Public Health Authority. You can get more information about the act on their website.

If you are interested in more information about assisted suicide, PBS ran a Frontline program titled "The Suicide Plan" that is available to watch for free through their website. They also have a excellent section where 6 experts wrote responses to the program.

Oregon Appellate Court Oral Arguments -- Week of October 5

The Oregon Supreme Court has no cases set for oral argument this week.

The Oregon Court of Appeals hears oral arguments on 10/6 and 10/7 in the Supreme Court Building.

Finding Oregon Statutes and Administrative Rules

Oregon Revised Statutes

Citations to the Oregon Revised Statutes look like this:

ORS § 123.456

or

Or. Rev. Stat § 123.456

Here 123 would be the chapter and 456 would be the section in the revised statutes.

You can find the current edition of the Oregon Revised Statutes on the Oregon Legislature's website here:

https://www.oregonlegislature.gov/bills_laws/Pages/ORS.aspx

The statutes are organized by subject. This means if you are looking for laws dealing with a particular subject, looking at the table of contents of the whole ORS or a particular chapter is very useful.

Oregon Administrative Rules

Citations to the Oregon Administrative rules look like this:

OAR § 123.456.789

or

 Or. Admin. R. 123.456.789 (2015)

Here 123 is the chapter 456 is the division and 789 is the section. Each chapter represents rules filed by a single agency. The division designates various topics covered by the agency.

You can view the most current administrative rules on the Secretary of State's website here:

http://sos.oregon.gov/archives/Pages/oregon_administrative_rules.aspx  

 Fastcase

You can search either the Oregon Revised Statutes or Oregon Administrative Rules using a free Fastcase account provided by the SOLL. Read about how to get a Fastcase account here:

http://stateoforegonlawlibrary.blogspot.com/2015/10/free-fastcase-access-for-all-oregonians.html

Help! 

If you need help finding or using any of these resources please contact our reference desk:

Phone: 503-986-5640
Web/Email: http://soll.libguides.com/questions

Free Fastcase access for all Oregonians

              The State of Oregon Law Library has now made access to Fastcase is available to all Oregonians without charge. Fastcase is a legal research tool that will let you search sources of law from Oregon, the U.S. Government and many other western states.  Fastcase provides advanced search tools that will help you find exactly the case or statute you are looking for. It also features the Bad Law Bot, an automated service that attempts to identify when other courts have cited a case negatively.

 

              If this sounds helpful and you are a resident of Oregon you can register for your free account today! Just click on the link below

                https://apps.fastcase.com/Research/Public/Oregon/login.aspx

Once you get to the Oregon login page just click on the “New User” link to set up your own free account.

You can learn more about using this new service using:

The Fastcase Quick Reference Guide (PDF)or,

The Complete Fastcase User Guide (PDF)

Once you are registered and ready to go use the State of Oregon Law Library’s Fastcase database to find the following:

·         Case law

o   Federal

§  U.S. Supreme Court

§  Federal 9^th Circuit

o   State

§  Oregon

§  Alaska

§  California

§  Montana

§  Arizona

§  Idaho

§  Nevada

§  Washington

·         Statutes and Session Laws

o   United States Code (2006 – 2014 HTML)

o   Oregon

§  Revised Statutes (1861 -1945 PDF) (2007 – 2013 HTML)

§  Session Laws (1941 – 2013 PDF)

o   Alaska

§  Statutes (1900 – 1933 PDF) (2007 – 2013 HTML)

§  Session Laws (1913 – 2013 PDF)

o   Arizona

§  Revised Statutes (1864 – 1936 PDF) (2008 – 2013 HTML)

§  Session Laws (2008 – 2014 PDF)

o   California

§  California Code (1853 – 1947 PDF) (2007 – 2014 HTML)

§  Session Laws (1850 – 2013 PDF)

o   Idaho

§  Statutes (1875 – 1940 PDF) (2011 - 2013 HTML)

§  Session Laws (1863 – 2013 PDF)

o   Montana

§  Montana Code (1872 – 1989 PDF) (2007 – 2013 HTML)

§  Session Laws (1864 – 2013 PDF)

o   Nevada

§  Nevada Revised Statutes (1861 – 1945 PDF) (2007 – 2013 PDF)

§  Session Laws (1861 – 2013 PDF)

o   Washington

§  Revised Code of Washington (1881 – 2010 PDF) (2008 – 2014 HTML)

§  Session Laws (1854 – 2013 PDF)

·         Court Rules

o   Federal 9^th Circuit

o   Oregon

§  Oregon Rules of Appellate Procedure (2009 – 2015)

§  Oregon Rules of Civil Procedure (2009 – 2013)

§  Oregon Uniform Trial Court Rules (2010 – 2014)

·         Regulations

o   Code of Federal Regulations (2011 – 2015)

o   Oregon (2009 – 2015)

o   Alaska (2013 – 2015)

o   Arizona (2013 – 2014)

o   California (2009 – 2014)

o   Idaho (2014 – 2015)

o   Montana  (2013 – 2015)

o   Nevada (2013 – 2015)

o   Washington (1888 – 2015)

·         Attorney General Opinions

o   Oregon (1901 – 2014)

o   Alaska (1897 – 2014)

o   Arizona (1915 -2015)

o   California (1854 – 2015)

o   Idaho (1891 – 2014)

o   Montana  (1891 – 2014)

o   Nevada (1875 – 2015)

o   Washington (1888 – 2015)