Tag Archives: In Custodia Legis

In Custodia Legis Free Webinar Honeypot

22 Sunday Nov 2020

Posted by in Case of First Impression, Federal Law, Legislative History, Library of Congress, Research, U.S. Government

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December 2020 US Law Webinars: These Are a Few of My Favorite Things, by Margaret Wood, In Custodia Legis, Law Librarians of Congress

https://blogs.loc.gov/law/2020/11/december-2020-us-law-webinars-these-are-a-few-of-my-favorite-things/?loclr=eaiclb

A CLE honeypot for those who need CLE credits to maintain bar requirements or professional paralegal designations or who simply want to improve their legal research skills. In Custodia Legis, Law Librarians of Congress, is now giving free one-hour webinars. On December 10, 2020, sign up for a review of the U.S. Code and Statutes at Large. In February, there will be a webinar on case law.

If you are asking yourself why on earth would I need to know anything about the Statutes at Large, or do not know what it is, here is a refresher: https://bit.ly/35TKW0f. If you ever have had to research the legislative intent of a federal statute, this is one of the best research tools to find it.  

I highly recommend signing up to sharpen up your research skills regardless of whether you need the CLE credits. -CCE

Find Bills and Amendments and Who Sponsored Them.

25 Sunday Mar 2018

Posted by in Government

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How to Locate the Bills and Amendments a Member of Congress has Sponsored or Cosponsored in Congress.gov, by Robert Brammer, In Custodia Legis, Law Librarians of Congress

https://bit.ly/2I1mESZ

This looks handy. -CCE

One of the questions we are frequently asked is how to locate a bill or amendment that a member of Congress has sponsored or cosponsored. There are a few ways to do this on Congress.gov.

  1. Visit a member profile page

Locate a member you are interested in and open their member profile page. Next, you can use the filters on the left-hand side of the screen to narrow down your results. For example, if you are only interested in legislation that the member sponsored or cosponsored in the 115th Congress, under “Congress”, click on “115”. You can also use the filters in combination with one another to further narrow down your results.

If you are looking at a member profile page for a current member of Congress, note that you can click “get alerts” at the top, left-hand side of the screen to sign up to receive an email each time that member sponsors or cosponsors legislation.

Continue reading →

Update to Historical Statutes At Large Online.

19 Monday Feb 2018

Posted by in Appellate Law, Federal Law, Library of Congress, Research

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More Historical Statutes at Large Available Online, by Jennifer González, In Custodia Legis, Law Librarians of Congress

http://bit.ly/2Fdv49P

The individual statutes for congresses 68 through 81 are now available on the Law Library of Congress website. This addition closes the gap for the years for which the Statutes at Large were not available on the Internet. As with the volumes for previous congresses, each of these statutes is tagged with tailored, descriptive metadata to help users search and browse by facets.

The Largest Free Online Law Library On The Internet.

26 Sunday Nov 2017

Posted by in Library of Congress, Research

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Guide to Law Online, Library of Congress

https://www.loc.gov/law/help/guide.php

The title speaks for itself. The Law Library for the Library of Congress is the world’s biggest free law library. It has international law, federal law, and law for every state in the country.

If you are new to legal research and not quite sure how to start, click on Robert Brammer’s An Index to In Custodia Legis Legal Research Guides. (http://blogs.loc.gov/law/category/research-guide-2/) This is a honey pot of beginner guides for locating free case law on the Internet, constitutional law, consumer protection law, contracts, social security disability, employment/labor law, legal ethics, discovery, evidence, patent law, real estate, small claims, legal writing, and much, much more.

Because there is so much information here, I suggest that you go to the main site and just start browsing. Get acquainted with its structure and note what interests you most. This Guide to Law Online worth a bookmark, regardless of your legal research expertise. -CCE

 

Say Goodbye to THOMAS.

15 Sunday May 2016

Posted by in Congress.gov, Government, Research, THOMAS

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Time to Turn off THOMAS: July 5, 2016, by Andrew Weber, In Custodia Legis, Law Librarians of Congress

http://blogs.loc.gov/law/2016/04/time-to-turn-off-thomas-july-5-2016/?loclr=ealln

THOMAS appeared online on January 5, 1995: http://www.loc.gov/today/pr/1995/95-002.html?loclr=bloglaw. 

THOMAS will be retired on July 5, 2016, and replaced by Congress.gov, which was always the intent when Congress.gov came online in September, 2012.  Congress.gov was designed to replace THOMAS, and it has features that THOMAS did not, and never could, have.

You can find all posts at www.researchingparalegal.com about the additions and improvements made to Congress.gov since its inception here:

https://researchingparalegal.com//?s=congress.gov&search=Go.

Please take a NEW long look at Congress.gov here: https://www.congress.gov/.  There is much, much more to see.  -CCE

Beginner’s Guides on Researching Federal Legislative Intent.

13 Sunday Mar 2016

Posted by in Federal Law, Legislative History, Library of Congress, Research, U.S. Government

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Presidential Communications: A Beginner’s Guide, co-authored by Robert Brammer and Barbara Bavis, Research Guide, In Custodia Legis, Law Librarians of Congress

http://blogs.loc.gov/law/category/research-guide-2/

Please keep going after clicking on this link. The following posts are beginner’s guides to locating: (1) congressional documents; (2) a congressional committee print, (3) compiled federal legislative history; and (4) unpublished congressional hearing. Keep going – there is more. If you are interested in honing your research skills, learn how to research legislative intent at the state and federal level. -CCE

Enhancements to Congress.gov and “How To” on Legislative Research From The Law Librarians of Congress.

27 Sunday Dec 2015

Posted by in Library of Congress, Research, THOMAS, U.S. Government

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New End of Year Congress.gov Enhancements: Quick Search, Congressional Record Index, and More, by Andrew Weber, In Custodia Legis, Law Librarians of Congress

http://blogs.loc.gov/law/2015/12/new-end-of-year-congress-gov-enhancements-quick-search-congressional-record-index-and-more/

You may not have heard that THOMAS will be retired by the Library of Congress.  Congress.gov will take its place, and you won’t be disappointed. This post includes more that has been added to Congress.gov, including links to state legislative research. Scroll down the page to see a list of all enhancements thus far to Congress.gov. It is definitely worth a read.

If you are not familiar with how to do legislative research, this Beginner’s Guide will help you. -CCE

Locating a Congressional Committee Print: A Beginner’s Guide, co-authored by Robert Brammer and Barbara Bavis, In Custodia Legis, Law Librarians of Congress

http://blogs.loc.gov/law/category/research-guide-2/

Congress.gov – With New Features and Improvements.

01 Saturday Aug 2015

Posted by in Federal Law, Library of Congress, Research, U.S. Government

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New Features Added to Congress.gov Based On Your Feedback, by Robert Brammer, Law Librarians of Congress, In Custodia Legis

http://blogs.loc.gov/law/2015/07/new-features-added-to-congress-gov-based-on-your-feedback/

The website describes the enhancements, such as email alerts, in detail with instructions on how to use them. The website requests your continued feedback for future ways to improve the website. -CCE

Since the unveiling of Congress.gov in September of 2012, we have been constantly adding new features with each release, and many of the features in this release are based directly on your feedback. . . .

Continue reading →

Beginner’s Research Guide to Lemon Laws and Consumer Protection Law.

10 Friday Apr 2015

Posted by in Case Law, Consumer Law, Federal Law, Internet, Legal Directories, Lemon Laws, Library of Congress, Mandatory Law, Primary Law, Research, State Law, Statutes, Westlaw

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Lemon Laws: A Beginner’s Guide, Barbara Bavis and Robert Brammer, In Custodia Legis, Law Librarians of Congress

http://blogs.loc.gov/law/2015/04/lemon-laws-a-beginners-guide/?loclr=eaiclb

You are really getting two for one (and more) with this post. Please note the hyperlink to consumer protection law in the first sentence. Both posts provide guides on how to research both subjects. Click on “Legal Research” to the left once you are at the website, and you will find the link to all posts at this website on how to research other laws. -CCE

In response to our last post on consumer protection law, we determined there was additional interest in ‘lemon laws.’  Lemon laws are defined by Black’s Law Dictionary as statutes ‘designed to protect a consumer who buys a substandard automobile, usu[ally] by requiring the manufacturer or dealer either to replace the vehicle or to refund the full purchase price.’ So, if you find that the new car of your dreams is actually a waking nightmare, you can use this guide to determine what recourse you might have. Lemon laws vary by state, but this guide should help get you started with your research. . . .

Continue reading →

Beginner’s Guide to Landlord-Tenant Law.

25 Saturday Oct 2014

Posted by in Landlord/Tenant Law

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Landlord-Tenant Law: A Beginner’s Guide, by Barbara Bavis, In Custodia Legis, Law Librarians of Congress (This post is coauthored by Barbara Bavis and Robert Brammer, legal reference specialists.)

http://tinyurl.com/o997gpx

It is no wonder that we get a large number of questions about landlord-tenant law at the Law Library of Congress, in light of the fact that residential leasing, and the rights and obligations that stem from such agreements, is a pressing legal issue for many of our patrons.  Much of landlord-tenant law is state-specific, and as such, those wanting to do detailed legal research in this area might want to visit their local public law library.  However, we have collected some information below regarding books, websites, and other resources, that might help a researcher just beginning their landlord-tenant research. . . .

New and Improved Congress.gov – Resource Section.

27 Saturday Sep 2014

Posted by in Government

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Congress.gov: Removing the Beta Label and New Enhancements, by Andrew Weber, In Custodia Legis, Law Librarians of Congress

http://tinyurl.com/otfqt3s

The Library of Congress launched Congress.gov in beta two years ago. Today, I’m happy to announce we officially removed the beta label. That’s roughly three years quicker than Gmail took to remove its beta label, but we won’t give you the option of putting it back on Congress.gov. URLs that include beta. Congress.gov will be redirected to Congress.gov.

There are a range of new enhancements in this release. One of the exciting additions is a new Resources section. This section provides an A-to-Z list of hundreds of links related to Congress. If you are not sure where something is located, try looking through this list. I quickly jump through the list using Ctrl+F and searching. You can find the new Resources page in the navigation on the top right or in the footer on every page. . . .

International Law: The Supreme Court of the United Kingdom.

06 Wednesday Aug 2014

Posted by in Appellate Law, International Law, United Kingdom

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The Supreme Court of the United Kingdom, by  Donna Sokol, In Custodia Legis, Law Librarians of Congress

http://tinyurl.com/kyg8bwz

Yesterday we celebrated the fourth birthday of In Custodia Legis, and today we have reached another milestone: this is the 1,000th blog post that we’ve published!  We asked David S. Mao, the Law Librarian of Congress, to write the 1,000th post.  In it, he highlights some of the many different areas of interest for the Law Library of Congress, such as legal systems, courts, foreign law, and of course, our collection of current and historical legal materials.

On a trip to London in 2012, I walked past the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom located in Parliament Square. Unfortunately, I did not have the opportunity to visit the Court, as it was Sunday and the building was closed. I was, however, able to take a picture of the front doors.

Earlier this summer, I visited London again. This time I made sure to visit Parliament Square on a weekday so I was able to visit the Court.

While the UK has a long history as a sovereign state, the Supreme Court is a very new entity in the UK. It was created by the Constitutional Reform Act of 2005, with the Justices of the Supreme Court sitting for the first time in October 2009. The Court hears civil appeals from all parts of the UK, and criminal appeals from England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. I’ll leave it to Clare to explain the intricacies of the Court’s jurisdiction. . . .

North American Indigenous Law Portal – A Collection of Primary Sources and Websites.

03 Sunday Aug 2014

Posted by in American Indian, Constitutions, Law Libraries, Primary Law, Research, Statutes, Tribal Law

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Introducing the Indigenous Law Portal, by Tina Gheen, In Custodia Legis, Law Librarians of Congress

 http://blogs.loc.gov/law/2014/07/introducing-the-indigenous-law-portal/

At the recent American Association of Law Libraries Conference, Jennifer Gonzalez, Jolande Goldberg and I had an opportunity to unveil a new Indigenous Law Portal. The Indigenous Law Portal brings together collection materials from the Law Library of Congress as well as links to tribal websites and primary source materials found on the Web. The portal is based on the structure of the Library of Congress Classification schedule for Law (Class K), specifically the Law of the Indigenous Peoples in the Americas (Classes KIA-KIP: North America).

Indigenous law materials can be difficult to locate for a variety of reasons. Tribal laws are usually maintained by individual tribes or groups of tribal peoples who may or may not have the resources to make them available in electronic format, or they may only be passed on through oral tradition. In some cases tribal legal materials are available electronically, but they may not be available freely on the Web, or the tribe may want to restrict outside access to the materials. However, through our research, we have found many tribes compile their laws and ordinances into a code, and they often provide a digital version of their most recent code and constitution online. In the Law Library, we already have digitized copies of historic American Indian constitutions from our collection and other legal materials available on our website. It makes sense to bring all these materials together in one place.

But how to organize such a collection of digital resources? Especially when the complexity and availability of resources varies from tribe to tribe. We wanted a structure that would allow us the flexibility to organize and expand as needed. Something that would provide a basic backbone for organizing the materials and also detailed information about the tribes individually and as a whole. The answer to our dilemma came from an unexpected place: a new classification schedule developed by Jolande Goldberg of the Library of Congress Acquisitions and Bibliographic Access Directorate: the Law of the Indigenous Peoples in the Americas. . . .