Supreme Court Extends Second Amendment Right to Bear Arms to State and Local Levels

The Supreme Court just ruled in a 5-4 decision that Chicago's ban on handguns is unconstitutional, this decision will extend the Second Amendment's protections to the state and local levels. The Chicago ban on handguns raised several constitutional issues as it barred city residents from bearing arms for their own use. Read the article at:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703964104575334701513109426.html?mod=WSJ_hpp_LEADNewsCollection

Informative Guide on Fair Use

The Center for Social Media at American University recently released an informative guide on fair use and navigating copyright law for scholarly research. Although the guide is created for communications scholars, it was vetted by a committee of lawyers who provide an accurate synopsis of fair use, copyright and court interpretations involving copyright issues. Access the guide at: http://www.centerforsocialmedia.org/fair-use/related-materials/codes/code-best-practices-fair-use-scholarly-research-communication.

Interesting Blog Entry on PACER Fees

Steve Schultze, Associate Director of the Center for Information Technology Policy at Princeton, recently posted an interesting entry on the issue of PACER fees and the use of its revenues to finance other government programs. Currently, PACER charges $0.08 per page which applies to both pages of search results and documents you retrieve. PACER fees can be expensive to lawyers who frequently require PACER materials but also raises the issue of whether charging fees works against public access to proceedings. Read the entry and learn more about this issue at: http://managingmiracles.blogspot.com/2010/05/what-is-electronic-public-access-to.html.

New LawInfoChina database

This database provides a comprehensive collection of English-language versions of relevant documents for Chinese law research. It has been tailored specifically to meet the legal research needs of foreigners and foreign organizations interested in Chinese law and other legal areas. The database provides access to Chinese laws, regulations, cases, treaties, law journals, legal news and more. Access and learn more about this database at: http://www.lawinfochina.com/.

Interesting and Helpful Visualizations on Legislative Processes

The Sunlight Labs Design for America contest was recently held and dealt with amazing ways to view government and imagine new ways for government to serve citizens. The top winners provided excellent visualizations entitled "How a Bill Becomes Law" and "Guide to Senate Floor Procedures." To learn more about these and view other entries please visit:
http://sunlightlabs.com/blog/2010/design-america-winners/.

New enhancement on HeinOnline Law Journal Library Database

The landing page of the HeinOnline Law Journal Library is now live and has been simplified to make searching journals faster and more efficient. The new page has several search features including a drop down menu with search options and search by citation. Find out more information on these enhancements at: http://heinonline.blogspot.com.

New Leadership Library database

This unique database provides personnel contact and other background information of the institutional leadership of the United States, including U.S. and state governments, judicial, law and lobbying firms, news media, corporate, nonprofit organizations and more. Access and learn more about this database at: http://ldi.bvdep.com.

New VersusLaw database

VersusLaw is a comprehensive database which provides fully searchable case law, legal decisions and legal opinions from state and federal appellate courts. It includes case law from the U.S. Supreme Court, federal circuit and district courts, tribal courts and limited foreign jurisdictions. It also provides case law from state appellate courts as well as state statutory resources.
Access and learn more about this database at: http://syndicate.versuslaw.com/research/wfrmSearch.aspx