Author Archives: Rosemary Campagna

Library Study Room Reservations & Library Hours for the Reading & Exam Period

During the reading and exam period all students must make a reservation to use a library study room.  Mandatory study room reservations will begin this Friday, December 4th at 8:00am.   All study rooms will be locked on  Friday, December 4th.  In order to access your reserved study room, you must go to the first floor circulation desk to charge out the key.

The link to the study room reservations is on the library homepage under “Related Links” on the right side of the page.rl

Study Room Policies:

·         Study rooms are for the use of groups of two or more students

·         Study rooms may be reserved for the current day and two days ahead

·         Study rooms may be reserved for periods from 30 minutes up to four hours

·         Students are permitted to reserve one study room for a maximum of four hours per day

·         Study room reservations are monitored and reservations violating these policies will be deleted

·         Instructions for making reservations and a list of rooms available are on the study room reservations page

 Library Hours for the Reading & Exam Period:

·         Friday, December 4th – Monday, December 21:  8:00am – 2:00am

·         Tuesday, December 22nd:  8:00am – 10:00pm

On Wednesday, December 23rd, the library will be open from 9:00am – 5:00pm.

 Good luck on your exams.

National Pro Bono Week Oct. 25 – Oct. 31

Pro Bono Celebration Week, sponsored by the American Bar Association Standing Committee Volunteering-SVGon Pro Bono and Public Service, is a national event that takes place every year in late October with events all over the country.  It is an opportunity to spotlight the difference lawyers can make in their communities, to recruit and train more pro bono volunteers and to acknowledge the partnerships that form the basis for many successful pro bono efforts.

Although national in breadth, the Celebration provides an opportunity for local legal associations across the country to take the next step in their efforts to provide high quality legal services to those living on the social margins.

The need for legal services among the poor is overwhelming. According to an American Bar Association study, at least 40% of low and moderate-income households experience a legal problem each year. Yet studies show that the collective civil legal aid effort is meeting only about 20% of the legal needs of low-income people.

Interested in volunteering and want to find out more about what opportunities are available?  Check out the NYS Pro Bono Opportunities Guide.  The Guide is a database of organizations that lawyers, law students and paralegals can search in order to find volunteer opportunities.

The New York State Pro Bono Opportunities Guide is a joint project of The City Bar Justice Center, the New York State Bar Association, Pro Bono Net and Volunteers of Legal Service.

 

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Welcome Back from Vacation!

Welcome-Back-to-school-1

The BLS Library staff sends a warm welcome to both old and new students to the 2015 fall semester at Brooklyn Law School.   Here at the Library we hope to help you make it a successful and productive one.

 

Attention all New Students – Check out the Library  Research Guide – 1L Resources, Tips and Tools.   This guide covers first year law school basics and will familiarize you with the Library and its many resources.

Chat – Have a question and you are not near the Library?  Contact a reference librarian (when he or chatshe is on duty) at the reference desk.  Library Chat may be accessed via the Library’s webpage or the Library page at BLS Connect.

Library Hours for  September

Student-HourMon – Thurs            8:00 am – Midnight

Fridays                    8:00 am – 10:00 pm

Saturdays               9:00 am – 10:00 pm

Sundays                 10:00 am – Midnight

Labor Day  Monday Sept  7                         9:00 am – 10:00 pm

Rosh Hashanah Mon. Sept 14                    9:00 am – 10:00 pm

Yom Kippur  Wed. Sept 23                          9:00 am – 10:00 pm

 

First Amendment Supreme Court Decisions

Today the Supreme Court issued rulings on two cases dealing with First Amendment issues.Judges_Gavel

In Walker v. Texas the Court ruled that Texas did not violate the First Amendment when it rejected a specialty license plate featuring the Confederate battle flag.  Justice Clarence Thomas joined four liberal members of the court to keep the flag off Texas license plates. The court’s four other conservative members called the decision an assault on free speech rights.

In Reed v. Gilbert the Court ruled for an Arizona church’s challenge to a sign ordinance.  The justices unanimously said the town of Gilbert, Arizona, ran afoul of the First Amendment by setting tougher rules for signs placed in the right of way along public streets to direct people to Sunday church services than for signs for political candidates and real estate agents.

 

Will the Supreme Court Make History Next Month?

In mid January the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear four new cases on the issue of same-sex marriage. The focus of the Court’s review is a decision issued in early November by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.  That decision upheld bans on marriage or marriage-recognition in Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, and Tennessee.

The cases in question are  Bourke v. Beshear (Kentucky); DeBoer v. Snyder (Michigan);  Obergefell v. Hodges, (Ohio) and  Tanco v. Haslam, (Tennessee). These cases are linked and being argued as Obergefell v. Hodges.  Arguments began on Tuesday, April 28th.

The questions the high court is considering are

  1. Does the Fourteenth Amendment require a state to license a marriage between two people of the same sex?
  2. Does the Fourteenth Amendment require a state to recognize a marriage between two people of the same sex when their marriage was lawfully licensed and performed out-of-state?

For a good analysis of the arguments before the court, check out the SCOTUSblog.

For further background information check out the book, Same-sex marriage in the United States: the Road to the Supreme Court, which tells the story of the legal and cultural shift regarding this social issue and how it has evolved over the past 15 years.

The justices will issue their decision by the end of June.  We all await this decision.

 

In Honor of Women’s History Month – BLS Alumna and Suffragette, “General” Rosalie Jones

rosaliejonesRosalie Gardiner Jones was born in 1883 to Mary and Oliver Livingston Jones, wealthy Oyster Bay socialites.  She graduated from Adelphi College, then a women’s school, in Brooklyn and later from Brooklyn Law School.

When she was 28, Rosalie entered the suffrage movement and led two “suffrage hikes”, one from NYC to Albany, and the second from NYC to Washington DC, to bring attention to the women’s right to vote movement.

The NYC to Albany hike took thirteen days. Rosalie along with other women, walked (in skirts), through bad weather and difficult roads, a distance of 150 miles to reach their destination. They made speeches, sang songs to keep morale up, and gave interviews to the press along the way. The press dubbed her and her followers, “General Jones” and the “suffragette pilgrims”.

The NYC to Washington, DC hike covered more than 200 miles and took 20 days to finish.  When the arrived in DC they joined over 5,000 of their fellow suffragists in the National Woman Suffrage Parade procession, marching down Pennsylvania Avenue toward Constitution Hall.

Prepare to Practice…in 30 Minutes

During the month of March the Library will be offering “Prepare to Practice” workshops on various topics to prepare for summer legal jobs and internships.

Each “session” will last for 30 minutes and will be held in Room 113M of the Library at 1:15 pm on the dates indicated below.

No reservations are required to attend any of the sessions.  Librarians  will be conducting all workshops.  Drop by and check them out.

  • Tuesday, March 3:  Kathy Darvil – Dockets and Court Documents
  • Thursday, March 5:  Loreen Peritz – Transactional Resources

                              Spring Break

  •  Tuesday, March 17:  Rosemary Campagna – Federal Legislative History
  •  Thursday, March 19:  Linda Holmes – New York State Legislative History
  •  Tuesday, March 24:  Harold O’Grady – Administrative Research ,

 

Library Hours During Winter Recess

The Library hours for the coming weeks are as follows

  • Friday, Dec. 19th      –    8 am – 10 pmholidays
  • Saturday Dec. 20th  –    9 am –  5 pm
  • Sunday Dec. 21st     –  10 am –  5 pm
  • Monday Dec. 22nd  –    9 am –  5 pm
  • Tuesday Dec. 23rd  –    9 am –  5 pm

Wednesday Dec. 24th – Friday January 2nd – CLOSED

  • Monday – Thursday, Jan. 5 – 8:          9 am – 12 am
  • Friday & Saturday, Jan. 9 & 10:          9 am – 10 pm
  • Sunday, Jan. 11th                               10 am – 10pm
  • Monday – Thursday, Jan.12 – 15:       9 am – 12 am
  • Friday & Saturday, Jan.16 & 17:          9 am – 10 pm
  • Sunday, Jan.18th                                 10 am – 10 pm
  • Monday, Jan.19th (MLK Jr. Day)           9 am – 10 pm

     

    Tuesday, Jan. 20th Spring Semester Begins   Normal Library Hours Resume

newyear2015The BLS Library staff wish you all a Happy Holiday.  See you all next year!