Moritz Legal Information Blog

Since 1917 , the first Monday in October has marked the beginning of the United States Supreme Court term. This year, the term starts on October 5, with two oral arguments scheduled: Texas v. New Mexico and Carney v. Adams . The former concerns whether the River Master correctly allocated evaporation losses under the Pecos River Compact— stream it (ha!) live on C-SPAN.org . To hear Moritz’s own faculty break down some of the other upcoming SCOTUS cases, tune in to the annual Supreme Court Preview today at 12:10pm. This event is organized by Professor Guy Rub and co-sponsored by the Federalist Society and the American Constitution Society. Afterward, check out Georgetown’s Supreme Court Institute Preview Report for summaries of all 37 cases. Curious about the parties’ arguments? Find filings at  SCOTUSBlog , including lower court opinions and briefs from both parties and amicus curiae. Want to review what happened at oral argument? Check out the Supreme Court’s website after each or

Today is  National Register to Vote Day ! Did you know that 40 states* offer online registration? If you haven't already, register to vote using the links below. Ohio's Online Voter Registration System:  https://olvr.ohiosos.gov/ Deadline : October 5th for the November 3rd General Election For information on how to find our polling station, how to vote by absentee ballot, and more visit: MyOhioVote.com If you aren't a resident of Ohio, use the National Conference of State Legislature's website to find your state's online registration. *This figure excludes Oklahoma, which is currently phasing in online registration . 

This summer, the Moritz community developed a new library guide entitled “ Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Justice Resources ,” which offers print and digital resources on diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice-related topics for law school faculty, staff, students, and the public. The guide is not intended to be a finished product; rather, it is a living effort to build on our community’s knowledge, capacity, and pedagogy. To that end, we welcome feedback and suggestions on improvements and additions. Topics include DEIJ resources at Moritz and OSU; DEIJ pedagogy, classroom, and critical theory readings; supplemental reading for students; mentoring and higher education resources; diversity readings for law practice; fiction, non-fiction, and anti-racism reading lists; relevant websites and social media voices; and films and videos. Links to the electronic version of texts are included where available.

The Moritz Law Library offers law students access to web-based legal tutorials and other resources provided by the Center for Computer-Assisted Legal Instruction (CALI), a non-profit consortium of law schools, law libraries, and related organizations. CALI provides law students at member schools access to over 1,000 computer-based, interactive “lessons” that cover over 50 subject areas, including first-year courses like civil procedure, criminal law, and contracts. These lessons, which are created by law professors, are useful as a supplemental learning tool. CALI also features a growing eBook collection , which includes casebooks, federal rules of procedure and evidence, law-related literature, and even law-related coloring books. To access CALI lessons, new users must click the “Register” link in the upper right corner of the webpage, at: http://cali.org . You will be asked for an authorization code and an email address. Enter your Moritz student code and use your OSU email address.

Autumn 2020 Library Reference Services Despite some changes to the mode in which they will be provided this semester, the Moritz Law Library continues to offer its full menu of reference services to the Moritz community. While reference librarians will not be staffing the reference desk in person, they will still be available to provide research guidance via email, chat, or telephone from 10am- 4pm, Monday through Friday. The librarians also offer in-depth virtual research consultations via Zoom. To schedule a consultation, submit a Request a Research Consultation form. Using this service allows the librarians to conduct preliminary research prior to meeting with you so that they can more comprehensively address your research needs. Research consultations might be especially useful if you are a research assistant and are working on a difficult project, or if you need assistance researching a topic for a seminar paper or a note for law review. Please see the library’s Ask a Librarian

In celebration of National Read a Book Day on Sunday, here's some books we're currently loving. Where possible, we've included links to the  Ohio Digital Library ( https://ohdbks.overdrive.com/ ), which allows you to borrow ebooks and audiobooks for free by using your library card or signing up through text message. Matt Cooper  likes a mix of fiction and nonfiction. Currently, he's rereading J.R.R. Tolkien's  The Lord of the Rings trilogy , but he recently finished The Urban Bestiary by Lyanda Lynn Haupt and The Pioneers by David McCullough.  Stephanie Ziegler is a true crime buff. Right now she's reading Death at the Priory by James Ruddick and Gone at Midnight by Jake Anderson. Chris Galanos  recently finished Liu Cixin's  The Three-Body Problem  and has just started Washington: A Life by Ron Chernow. Emma MacGuidwin is catching up on some recent best sellers. Right now she's reading  Hidden Figures   by Margot Lee Shetterly and listening to  Bec

Position Moritz Law Library Research Assistant, Election Law Hours/week Approximately 10 Position Description The student in this position will assist the Moritz Law Library reference staff in fulfilling faculty research requests on a range of topics, both legal and interdisciplinary. A substantial focus of this position will be providing updates on major election law cases pending in courts around the country, in collaboration with the Election Law @ Moritz center. This is a particularly interesting time for election law cases as there have been numerous challenges to existing election laws, especially in light of COVID-19. These cases will likely be quite active from now until Election Day and potentially beyond. Research requested for this position may include Lexis or Westlaw searches, docket searches, statistical research, historical research, and interdisciplinary inquiries. The Research Assistant may also help develop and maintain library research guides published on the M