UHLC Nota Bene

The United States grand jury system is receiving national attention in the wake of two controversial grand juries’ decisions that have prompted popular protests following the fatal shooting of Michael Brown and the chokehold death of Eric Garner .   For persons interested in learning about grand juries in order to better follow the national debate, the following resource links may be of use: The grand jury was established in the United States by the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution, and Title III, Rule 6 of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure governs its operations in federal court.   A grand jury practitioner’s resource guide is offered by the Department of Justice .   The Fifth Amendment does not apply to state courts; the states themselves have the authority to chose whether or not to employ grand juries.   The following links lead to the relevant constitutional provisions, statutes or criminal code sections empowering grand juries in the various states and the

Several amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil Practice and Procedure became effective on Monday. The Federal Rules govern the process of litigation in the federal courts. Amendments are proposed by the Judicial Conference of the United States and promulgated by the Supreme Court as authorized by 28 U.S.C. § 331 . The latest amendments affect the Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure, Bankruptcy Procedure, Criminal Procedure, Civil Procedure, and Evidence. The amendments, as well as the complete text of the rules, can be found at the United States Courts website .  

Back in March, “Nota Bene” featured a post about finding Congressional Research Service (CRS) reports online. Last month, a new collection of CRS reports was published as a committee print by Congress. This new publication is noteworthy because, as we pointed out in our earlier post, CRS reports are typically made available only to members of Congress and their staffs, who rely on them for background information when considering new bills. While a handful of libraries and other institutions have made a limited number of CRS reports available online, the government has yet to provide free public access to the reports, even though they are not classified or protected by copyright. The new collection of reports is called “The Evolving Congress,” and it was produced to coincide with the 100 th anniversary of the CRS. As the title implies, the collection focuses on the ways in which Congress has evolved over time. Part I provides an overview of the history of Congress in the modern

Has the popularity of crowdfunding reached the litigation realm? With the appearance of companies like LexShares , it appears so. Crowdfunding, or funding a project or venture by raising monetary contributions from a large number of people, typically via the internet, has grown tremendously in popularity over the last five years. In a typical crowdfunding endeavor, the person with the idea or project seeks funding from individuals who are interested in benefiting from, or being related to a funded project, through a third-party platform that brings the groups together. Kickstarter and GoFundMe are among the popular crowdfunding platforms that have been used successfully to fund filmmaking, video games, technology products, and even Super PACs for political campaigns . Just as it is expensive to finance the making of a film or the development of new technology, funding litigation can be equally costly. Though, for example, a small business may have a claim that is likely to lead to

This summer, members of the Texas bar were introduced to Fastcase, a legal research database that allows users to search case law, statutes, administrative materials, and other aspects of law at no additional cost. Fastcase is now available in addition to Casemaker, making Texas the first and only state to offer free access to both popular systems.   In 2013, Fastcase partnered with HeinOnline to share their many resources. Under the agreement, Hein will provide federal and state case law to HeinOnline subscribers via inline hyperlinks powered by Fastcase. In addition, Fastcase now completely integrates HeinOnline’s extensive law review collection in search results. For many years, one of the biggest disadvantages to using these low-cost legal research systems has been the lack of reliable secondary sources. With this partnership, when a case law search is performed in Fastcase, suggested results from HeinOnline journals appear in a sidebar. The journals may also be searched indiv

Earlier this year, I blogged about a new program at the Texas State Law Library that allows Texas residents to access some of the library’s legal databases remotely.  Now the Texas State Law Library is providing Texas residents with access to a number of Matthew Bender ebooks.  The ebooks cover a variety of legal topics such as family law, criminal law, civil procedure, contracts, estate planning, and oil and gas, many of which are specific to Texas law.  For a list of all titles, see the collection’s website . There are two important limitations to keep in mind.  The ebooks can only be checked out for three days and, due to licensing restrictions, the library cannot provide remote access to four of its ebooks: the Texas Litigation Guide , the Texas Transaction Guide , Collier on Bankruptcy , and Moore's Federal Practice . As with the library’s electronic databases, to gain access to these resources, you must have a library account.  You can set up an account in person in

Recently, the National Technical Information Service (NTIS) announced that it will now provide a free online database of federal science and technology reports.   Previously, this agency charged a fee for electronic copies of these reports, a practice that has caused some controversy in recent years given that these are government reports, many of which are available for free through other agency websites.   In 2012, the Government Accountability Office released a report recommending that Congress “reassess the appropriateness and viability of the fee-based model under which NTIS currently operates.”   And earlier this year, the “Let Me Google That For You” bill was introduced to abolish the NTIS.   However, NTIS supporters point out that this agency still provides a valuable service.  For instance, some reports are available via Google precisely because NTIS collects and distributes them; the NTIS provides permanent access to reports, which is not guaranteed on other, ever-c