The Arizona Association of Law Libraries recently presented a full day program on Congressional Information that   featured distinguished speakers from the Department of Justice, the Federal Reserve Board, the Sunlight Foundation, GovTrack.us as well as the Arizona State Library and the ASU Law Library.  This blog will cover two of the speaker presentations: The Federal Legislative Process and Finding and Compiling a Congressional Legislative History. Part 2 will feature GovTrack.us and Congressional bill tracking.

Ellen Sweet, Legislative Reference Specialist at the Tax Division, U.S. Department of Justice, led the audience through the legislative process using a federal Indian law (NAGPRA) that included detailed information about the documents produced from the process and which of those documents are the most likely to yield legislative intent information. Excellent flowcharts illustrated the process. Her materials can be found starting at page 37 of the conference materials.

The excellent, up-to-date Finding or Compiling Federal Legislative Histories Electronically was presented by Rick McKinney, the Assistant Law Librarian at the Federal Reserve Board Library. Mr. McKinney’s expertise is the electronic availability of legislative documents and the chart that he included in his materials is a timesaver for anyone who does legislative intent research.

Ms. Sweet and Mr. McKinney are co- authors of the indispensable Law Librarians’ Society of D.C. Legislative Sourcebook 

Need help with a legislative history project? Ask a Librarian!

The case is U.S. V. Windsor.  Do you know the facts?  Read the parties' briefs on WestlawNext.

Brief for Plaintiff-Appellee

Brief for Defendant-Appellant

Also, see many other Amicus Curiae briefs and the Petition for Writ of Certiorari. 

Once logged in to WestlawNext, select "Briefs" from the "All Content" tab on the homepage.

Type the search string "US v. Windsor & DOMA."

How do you think the case will be decided?  What was the legislative intent?

Will they actually reach a decision on the merits - under Equal Protections, 10th Amendment state police power, dismissed for lack of standing?

morguefile.com

Picture Source 

Working/interning in Arizona this summer? Want to know more about legal resources in Arizona? Check out the library’s workshops on Arizona Legal Research. Learn about print, online, fee and free resources for Arizona cases, laws, practice materials, public records, legislative materials and more!!

**Snacks will be provided!**

FastCase

·     Tuesday, April 24, 2012 – 12:00-12:50pm – 13th floor computer lab

Arizona Legal Research

·     Thursday, April 26, 2012 – 5:00-5:50pm – 13th floor computer lab

·     Friday, April 27, 2012 – 12:00-12:50pm – 13th floor computer lab

Picture Source

Interested in learning how to navigate the important legal research resources available to you? Need to get a better understanding of how Congress passes a bill into law and where to find the law?

This week the Law Library is offering two different workshops at various times. ***A light meal will be provided at each workshop!***

Library Basics (using the online catalog and research databases to find the information you need)

• Monday, February 13, 2012 - 12:00 - 12:50 pm - Classroom #1721*
• Tuesday, February 14, 2012 -  12:00 - 12:50 pm - Classroom #1701*
• Wednesday, February 15, 2012 - 5:00 - 5:50 pm - Classroom #1821*

Understanding Statutes

• Thursday, February 16, 2012 - 12:00 - 12:50 pm - Classroom #1843*
• Friday, February 17, 2012 - 12:00 - 12:50 pm - Classroom #1721*

*Please note that these are recent room changes.

Can't make it this week? The Law Library will be offering workshops on many different topics throughout the semester. Take a look at our library workshops page to view a list of descriptions and a link to the workshop calendar.

Did you know? Yesterday a revision to the 2005 "Move Over" Arizona law went into effect. The revision includes any vehicle pulled over with their emergency lights flashing, as well as emergency or police vehicles.

Read more about the revision here. (ABC15)

Read the official statute here. (AZ State Legislature)

Read an explanation from the AZ Department of Public Safety.

Be safe when driving!

Picture obtained from AZ Department of Public Safety website ©2011 Arizona Department of Public Safety (DPS). All rights reserved.