Goodbye to Oregon Legislative Liaisons: Hello to Legislative Contacts

I have written often about the wonderful Oregon Legislative Liaisons, but sadly they are no more.

Instead, you need to visit the Legislature’s Support and Contact Information website, where you will find lots of contact information.

You can also email Legislative Help, or call 1-800-332-2313 and leave a message.

It won’t be the same as it used to be, but what is?

Oregon (OSB) Constitutional Law Section Spring 2010 Newsletter

The OSB Or Con Law section’s Spring 2010 newsletter is an eye-popping 73 pages – that’s not a newsletter, that’s a book!

If you want to immerse yourself in some heavy, but interesting reading, here’s a link to the newsletter’s PDF. (I can’t promise that the link won’t change, so remember the link to the OSB Constitutional Law Section website.)

There is a lot of information in this issue:

1) Ed Trompke discusses a recent Fourth Amendment case where Judge Garr King analogized file-sharing on iTunes over an unsecured wireless network to “leaving one’s documents in a box marked ‘take a look’ at the end of a cul-de-sac.”

2) Greg Chaimov provides an update on legislative action from the February 2010 session.

3) Les Swanson evaluates two recent Oregon Supreme Court decisions.

4) An outline of Oregon constitutional law cases from 2009, including a 2010 update on three of those 2009 cases.

(And don’t forget this year’s upcoming 2010 Constitutional Law Day!)

Oregon Attorney, as Pro Se Litigant, Entitled to Attorney Fees (under ORS 192.490)

Craig Colby v. Karen Gunson, State Medical Examiner (SC S057691) (August 26, 2010)

Excerpt (from August 26, 2010, OJD Media Release):

“On review from the Court of Appeals in an appeal from the Marion County Circuit Court, Albin W. Norblad, Judge. 229 Or App 167, 210 P3d 917 (2009).

The decision of the Court of Appeals is reversed, and the case is remanded to the Court of Appeals for further proceedings.

Opinion of the Court by Justice Thomas A. Balmer. Today, the Oregon Supreme Court held that an attorney who, acting pro se, prevails in a suit seeking disclosure of a public record is entitled to recover the reasonable value of the attorney's legal services under ORS 192.490(3) ….
...
The Court concluded that, when used in the context of an attorney fee award, the ordinary meaning of the term "attorney fees" includes the reasonable value of an attorney's services, whether or not the client was required to pay for those services. The Court also reasoned that an attorney need not have a separate client to recover "attorney fees" under the statute. Because plaintiff was an attorney and because he performed legal services in seeking disclosure of public records, the Court concluded that he was entitled to collect attorney fees for those services if he prevailed in his suit. The Court therefore reversed the decision of the Court of Appeals and remanded for further proceedings...” (Link to full opinion.)

(Link to ORS 192.490.), which reads:

2009 ORS 92.490: Court authority in reviewing action denying right to inspect public records; docketing; costs and attorney fees. (1) In any suit filed under ORS 192.450, 192.460, 192.470 or 192.480, the court has jurisdiction to enjoin the public body from withholding records and to order the production of any records improperly withheld from the person seeking disclosure. The court shall determine the matter de novo and the burden is on the public body to sustain its action. The court, on its own motion, may view the documents in controversy in camera before reaching a decision. Any noncompliance with the order of the court may be punished as contempt of court.

(2) Except as to causes the court considers of greater importance, proceedings arising under ORS 192.450, 192.460, 192.470 or 192.480 take precedence on the docket over all other causes and shall be assigned for hearing and trial at the earliest practicable date and expedited in every way.

(3) If a person seeking the right to inspect or to receive a copy of a public record prevails in the suit, the person shall be awarded costs and disbursements and reasonable attorney fees at trial and on appeal. If the person prevails in part, the court may in its discretion award the person costs and disbursements and reasonable attorney fees at trial and on appeal, or an appropriate portion thereof. If the state agency failed to comply with the Attorney General’s order in full and did not issue a notice of intention to institute proceedings pursuant to ORS 192.450 (2) within seven days after issuance of the order, or did not institute the proceedings within seven days after issuance of the notice, the petitioner shall be awarded costs of suit at the trial level and reasonable attorney fees regardless of which party instituted the suit and regardless of which party prevailed therein. [1973 c.794 §9; 1975 c.308 §3; 1981 c.897 §40]

U.S. Ninth Circuit Manual of Model Criminal Jury Instructions, 2010 Edition

The U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Jury Instructions Committee has completed an extensive revision of the Ninth Circuit Manual of Model Criminal Jury Instructions. The 2010 edition of the Manual contains a number of new instructions. It is updated with cases and statutes through July 2010.

The 2010 edition includes renumbered instructions from the 2003 edition; a conversion table is posted online and provides equivalent jury instruction numbers in the 2003 edition.

Oregon Consumer Law: Parking Tickets, Tax Collectors, Weekend Tow Jobs, and a “Notice of Tort Claim” Appeal

There are excellent consumer law websites all over the web, but sometimes you just need the local touch and a local story. This is because a lot of consumer law is local, that is, you need to know state and local law, practice, and procedure in order to determine your rights.

I love this story – and it is so familiar to a public law librarian: many, many people come into the law library to ask, “Where and How Do I Appeal?”

Complete answers to questions people ask are often as elusive as it almost was here for Laura Gunderson – and kudos to her for persistent research, which is often exactly what one has to do – persist, persist, persist. But you can see why legal solutions so often elude those without the aptitute, resources, and time to pursue fairness, if not justice.

You can also see how the best intentions can go awry, also common amongst us ordinary people who make simple, human mistakes, as if judges never forget to pay parking tickets and police officers never make unsignaled lane changes. (They do.)

Read on about how unpaid parking tickets led to a hefty fine and an undeserved tow – and the kooky state practice of notifying counties on a MONTHLY basis that tickets have been paid. (Who thought that up? Isn’t that what computers are for – automatic and regular communication updates?)

Oregonian “Complaint Desk: Help for Frustrated Consumers” has an illustrative “consumer law” story to tell – and very interesting it is!

“Fighting a parking-ticket and tow? The Desk knows where to go,” by Laura Gunderson, The Oregonian, August 28, 2010:

Excerpt:

“...Turns out, when two parking tickets are forgotten at the bottom of a purse, the recipient eventually hears from the Oregon Department of Revenue. The state acts as the collection agency for other government entities, including Multnomah County Courts.

The Desk had two such tickets, which after being doubled twice, totaled $226. When the letter from the state arrived, on a Monday in late May, The Desk called up and paid the amount in full.

When asked whether anything else should be done, the state representative said no. She didn't mention that tag warrants can be issued for outstanding tickets. Tag warrants can lead to a tow.

The representative also didn't mention that the state alerts the county when parking tickets have been paid only on a monthly basis, not in real time. So although the bill was paid in late May, the courts wouldn't know until late June. (The Desk found out later that someone paying such a fine can ask the state to more quickly notify the courts that it's been paid.)

You can see where this is going.

That following Friday, The Desk was a little late getting to a parking meter and found the car was gone....
…
Of course, the original tickets mentioned nothing about appealing a tow.

Grrr. This back-and-forthing went on for a few phone calls. Hearings office insisting it wasn't its deal. Courthouse insisting it wasn't its, either. Just file an appeal with the city, one court representative advised, and "be vague."

The Desk was dubious but game. The appeal was filed and, within a few weeks, not surprisingly denied by the towing hearings officer with a helpful explanation: "The City of Portland Hearings Office has not been given the authority to hear appeals of these tows. You may wish to contact the Circuit Court for further information."

Taking the deep breath necessary with nearly every issue it looks into, The Desk exhaled and tried again.

After sharing the news from the towing hearings officer, court representatives dug deeper. They recommended filing a "Notice of Tort Claim," or rather a threat that you'll sue, to the Multnomah County Courts administrator….” (Link to full story -- also from the Oregonian Complaint Desk.)

Research Note: Begin your “Tort Claims, Public Bodies” research in the ORS – start with the Index. (Oregon lawyers may also write about the subject, e.g. When Government Does Wrong.)

DISCLAIMER
The information provided on this blog is for research purposes only. We do not provide legal advice, nor do we endorse any person, product, or company.

Disclaimer: It is against state law for library staff members to engage in any conduct that might constitute the unauthorized practice of law (ORS 9.160, 9.166 and 9.21). They may not interpret statutes, cases or regulations, perform legal research, recommend or assist in the preparation of forms, or advise patrons regarding their legal rights. They may, however, assist patrons in locating materials or links that would aid in individual research.

Oregon Business Taxes: Facts, Perspectives, and Commentary

Steve Duin’s column in today’s Oregonian (8/24/10) points us to an interesting report on the Oregon business climate:

Taxes feel different here, Monday, August 23, 2010, Steve Duin, The Oregonian

Excerpt: “Politicians, economist Joe Cortright says, tend to view recessions as Greek tragedies: "If something bad is happening in the Oregon economy, it's because the gods are punishing us for our sins."

They go all Antigone or Oedipus on us, bemoaning the lack of jobs or the abundance of regulations, rather than acknowledging, Cortright notes, "that this is the worst recession the nation has experienced since the Great Depression, and that might have something to do with what's happening in Oregon....
…
Hoping to season those perceptions with some perspective, cooler business heads have unfurled a white paper titled, "Is the Grass Really Greener in Other States?"

Authored by John Calhoun, the paper was inspired by Calhoun's experiences with his Nevada-based property evaluation business (a limited partnership on which he pays Oregon taxes). "There was all this talk in the media about how much worse Oregon was for business," he said. "Looking at all the empty buildings and distressed property in Reno, I knew that wasn't true in Nevada.

"Oregon isn't working in a vacuum, or in isolation," Calhoun says. "All the surrounding states have the same problems. In some cases, they are worse than ours."

Analysis by the Council on State Taxation bears that out....” (Read full Duin column.)

Direct link to report, from the Oregon Biz website: “Is the Grass Really Greener in Other States? An Oregon Perspective.”

Oregon Law Enforcement and “Loud Bird Impersonations”

"A 52-year-old Aloha man was arrested Friday night for firing a gun at his own wall after his neighbors complained about him doing loud bird impersonations."

You can’t make this stuff up! This is why you should always have friends in code enforcement, emergency rooms, and law enforcement. They have the most amazing stories and make even the crankiest amongst us feel downright normal:

A recent story reported on at OregonLive, from the Hillsboro Argus:

Think that's loud? I'll show you loud, August 17, 2010, The Hillsboro Argus

Excerpt: "A 52-year-old Aloha man was arrested Friday night for firing a gun at his own wall after his neighbors complained about him doing loud bird impersonations.

Deputies with the Washington County Sheriff's Office responded just before 10 p.m. to warn Stanley Janes that his neighbors didn't like the loud noises he was making at the home at 878 SW Liberty Bell Drive.

They didn't know the half of it...." (Read full story.)

How Do I Find Someone in Oregon to Transcribe a Court Recording?

People who work in the legal community don’t generally ask us this question, but ordinary mortals do. I am an ordinary mortal too, mostly, so the question seemed well worth a blog post on the subject:

Before trying to track down that transcriptionist, aka transcriber, or even doing it yourself:

1) First, make sure you know what is on the CD and how it was recorded. For example, Oregon Courts use FTR ("For The Record") to record trials. Is that what is on your CD?

2) Second, keep in mind that, depending on what you plan to do with that transcript, transcribing from Oregon court CDs is not a simple matter of listening to the transcript and typing what you hear:

a) The transcript is recorded using special software, i.e. that FTR software I mentioned above, and you need to download software to listen to the recording. Check with the Court that provided you with the CD if you have any questions.

b) There are rules (and a manual) about transcripts for use in court (pro se litigants should read the rules or contact the court where they are making their appeal if they want to know if there are any waivers or exceptions from the rules and fees):

** OJD: Oregon Court System: Transcript Procedures Manual (If that link no longer works (it’s not what you might call a PURL, a permanent uniform resource locator), you can also link to the Manual from the OJD website, assuming that hasn’t changed, or use your favorite search engine to find.)

3) Third: Find someone to transcribe that CD. There are a number of ways to go about doing this, from a simple phone book or online search, to more targeted searches. Try one or more of the following. Be prepared with the information above and then ask the businesses you phone about their rates, timelines, and other services as needed.

a) Look online for a transcriber: Come up with a few keywords to make sure what you find online is what you want and make sure you specify the state (Oregon!), e.g. court transcriptionist, court transcripts, transcribers, secretary, court reporting, Oregon, etc.

b) Visit the Oregon Court Reporter Association website. They have a Classified Ads section that might be useful.. They may also be able to help with referrals.

c) Visit the OSB website and look at their Products and Services Directory, or phone their information and referral service for assistance (503-684-3763)

d) Call a local secretarial service, ask friends if you don’t know any or use the phone book, and just ask if they do court transcriptions or if they can recommend someone.

Business Tax on Bloggers? In Philadelphia, Yes, and Others?

This story from the Law Librarian Blog caught my eye, “Short Takes on the News”:

Excerpt: “…If someone lives in Philadelphia and blogs, and collects even a tiny amount of income from that activity, then that person could expect a tax bill from the city for $300. It represents the cost of a business privilege license. Apparently any activity that generates even a tiny amount of money is subject to the license fee. The Philadelphia City Paper tells the story or Marilyn Bess, who operates a low traffic blog that generates about $50 in ad revenue. She received one of the bills, which was not a mistake after she investigated it. It's sad that even in rough economic times that a city such as Philadelphia would stoop to these tactics. I wonder how Ben Franklin would respond? Hat Tip to Andrew Sullivan's blog for the tip….” (Link to full blog post.)

(Read about Benjamin Franklin.)

“I Write Like” Website is Horrifyingly Addictive and Very Funny: A Powerful Combo

The website, I Write Like, is wonderful, funny, and inventive (and I’m not inquiring into their algorithms, etc. Sometimes you just have to go with the flow, even if they all lead to Corey Doctorow). Give it a spin.

For many of my sample paragraphs I feed to it, I’m also told (as a couple of the 3 Geeks folks were) that “I write like” Cory Doctorow (including this blog post!) with a few paragraphs coming up "like" David Foster Wallace. If that’s not worth a laugh (and a pang for DFW), I’m not sure what is, but if you have to choose your writer-company, it certainly pleases me muchly - such august company - even if it's all a fantasy.

Thank you (I think) to 3 Geeks and a Law, August 23, 2010, for their hot tip blog post: I Write Like Jonathan Swift - Who Do You Write Like??

CC&R, C.C.& R., C. C. & R.: Abbreviations and the Digital World

That little old “space key” or its absence can matter, a lot.

Abbreviations can drive one crazy, especially when searching online, either on the free web or in subscription databases. Those of us in the digital searching world know that searching for something by its abbreviation is an exercise in frustration. (Librarians (almost) never give up so it’s not an exercise in futility. We WILL FIND that document, if we have to die (figuratively speaking) trying.)

Most of us vividly remember searches where we had to try a dozen variations on a theme in the effort to locate a case, a person, or a document, where the only unique “name” was an abbreviation.

There are other ways to hide on the internet. A recent example is the company that changed its name from Blackwater to Xe. Try to do some (deep web) online research for Blackwater. Then try to do some substantive and useful research on Xe. (Pretty cool, eh?)

If I ever want to go underground, I’d probably change my name to something like 712, or maybe I’ll abbreviate it to 7.1. 2. (one space) or maybe live dangerously and go with 7. 1. 2. (two spaces), but I wouldn't want to be confused with the other guy, 7. 1.2., would I?

By the way, CC&R stands for Covenants, Conditions & Restrictions.

Librarians: A Great Good Place for Cranky, Stressed, and Under-Fire Librarians

Whenever I feel cranky, about my library, my patrons, our dysfunctional wireless service, about Congress, about people who don’t and won’t use libraries but feel free to spout off about their uselessness, about children who have been denied the pleasures of story time or experiencing the library as a “The Third Place” (See James’ Great Good Place and Oldenburg’s Great Good Place), and other sources of crankiness, e.g. librarian listserve participants who don’t actually contribute productively to a conversation, an argument, a discussion, or a teachable moment – or even offer simply a light moment…:

I often turn to Will UnWound (formerly known as Will Manley, fired library journal sex columnist – yeesh – some things you can’t live down – but he does so with style and substance – he also wrote about Guerrilla Librarians).

Will is old-fashioned; Will is cranky. Will is annoying. Will is a librarian, one of “my people.” Will has been for many of us in the public library world, a virtual (and literary) rock and mentor. I’ve survived, with no small degree of grace and dignity, some very tricky library administration situations due, almost solely, to reading and thinking about some of what Will has written over the years (as well as listening to other mentors’ advice). Will and I don’t always agree, but I always learn, from his humor (read his books!) and his practical words of experience, which are seldom off the mark.

Yes, there are other places I turn when I get restless and want out (Montepulciano sounds pretty good right about now), including reminders of why I am a librarian (Unshelved, Mankoff, Cul de Sac, Ranganathan, and Sacred Stacks: The Higher Purpose Of Libraries And Librarianship, by Nancy Kalikow Maxwell) or to tasks where neither books nor libraries can be found, though silence or good conversation still flourish (friends, music, food, gardens, etc.)

But I highly recommend Will UnWound for new librarians, old librarians, droll librarians, and wry ones. Happy ones, cranky ones, and especially for those feeling a bit tightly wound. Skip the parts about retirement and grandkids; if you’re really librarian-cranky and in need of immediate intervention, go right to his posts and his many, many Commentors (his Unwinders) and enjoy.

Jargon-auts, Wordsters, Acronyms, Abbreviations: Law Firm to the Rescue

If you haven’t yet discovered how much excellent information can be buried inside law firm websites, here is another example: Latham and Watkins Books of Jargon, including “book” on corporate and banking finance jargon.

See previous OLR blog on Law Firm Websites and Blogs.

(Thank you to 3 Geeks and a Law Blog for the hot tip!)

Note: An abbreviation is different from an acronym. Who knew?! (Actually, there is probably no real agreement on this, especially if you throw in the term "initialism.")

One, the abbreviation (and the initialism, I presume), is a series of letters, e.g. NLRB, and the latter, the acronym, is created if those letters create a "word," such as FOIA, which most of us pronounce "foiya" rather than spelling out the letters, "F-O-I-A." Of course you also get the fun and hybrid ones, e.g. BWI, the Baltimore Washington Airport, which is an abbreviation, but also an acronym amongst those in the know. It's pronounced "BeeWee." (LOL!)

Oregonian Archives at the Multnomah County Library

Multnomah County Library now has Oregonian Archives:

"PORTLAND, OR – Multnomah County Library now features the only publicly available, complete full-text digitized archive of The Oregonian newspaper. Multnomah County Library cardholders can now access every article, editorial, illustration, photograph and advertisement published in The Oregonian between 1861 and 1972. By the end of this year, the archive will include all editions up to 1987.

Multnomah County Library is the only source for free access to this archive and all associated features. Previously, total access to this vast resource for Oregon history was available only by paying a monthly subscription fee to NewsBank, the service provider...." Oregonian Archives.

Can Someone Use My Picture Without My Permission?

Can Someone Use My Picture Without My Permission?

Public law librarians hear this question quite frequently and while we don’t really want to make our responses more complicated than is necessary, sometimes questions like these can be about as difficult to answer as you can imagine, especially in the abstract (such as on a blog rather than with a live person in the law library or on the telephone).

In part this is because, as with most questions in life and law, answers depend on context and specific facts unique to the person asking the question.

Also, while this question may be one of law, it may also not be; instead, it may originate in a family dispute, as in:

a) “she” posted my photo to “her” webpage and I want “her” to take it down or
b) my “cousin” posted my child’s picture to a family webpage and never asked my permission

In these instances, rules of etiquette and mutual respect may be more applicable than “the Law” or at least more to the point.

But for now, let’s assume the question is one of “law.”

The simple answer is that, depending on the factors listed below, you may have no rights, you may have a certain bundle of rights, or the problem may be beyond the scope of the law. (The following is not a complete list of “factors,” but it is representative of the facts that must be determined when you search for an answer to a specific question.)

1) Legal status of person photographed, e.g. minor, public official, family member, etc.

2) Where picture was taken: workplace, family gathering, public space, private space, etc.

3)What does “use” mean (and for that matter, what does "picture" mean?): Posted online to a Facebook page? Published in a newspaper or a workplace newsletter? Printed in a book, or online, for a unincorporated non-profit organization? Other?

4) Who took the picture and why? Relative at a family gathering? Professional photographer? Group photo of a neighborhood association board of directors? Other?

You might want to read some or all of the following resources to see if any give you the answer to your question:

1) Online: “PhotoSecrets: The Law for Photographers: The Legal Aspects of Photography: A free, online guide to the rules of taking and selling photos: The law is blind; photographers aren’t,” by Andrew Hudson.

2) Book: “Legal Handbook for Photographers: The Rights and Liabilities of Making Images,” by Bert Krages, Amherst Media, Incorporated, 2006

3) Blog post: This person is not an attorney, and he states that very clearly, but he does a good job at laying out in plain language how many factors and legal issues may need to be considered when taking, and publishing, photographs: “Photography, the Law and Photographers Rights”

4) From the U.S. Copyright Office, Fair Use FAQ: "…In the case of photographs, it is sometimes difficult to determine who owns the copyright and there may be little or no information about the owner on individual copies. Ownership of a “copy” of a photograph – the tangible embodiment of the “work” – is distinct from the “work” itself – the intangible intellectual property. The owner of the “work” is generally the photographer or, in certain situations, the employer of the photographer. Even if a person hires a photographer to take pictures of a wedding, for example, the photographer will own the copyright in the photographs unless the copyright in the photographs is transferred, in writing and signed by the copyright owner, to another person. The subject of the photograph generally has nothing to do with the ownership of the copyright in the photograph. If the photographer is no longer living, the rights in the photograph are determined by the photographer’s will or passed as personal property by the applicable laws of intestate succession.

There may be situations in which the reproduction of a photograph may be a “fair use” under the copyright law. Information about fair use may be found at: www.copyright.gov/fls/fl102.html. However, even if a person determines a use to be a “fair use” under the factors of section 107 of the Copyright Act, a copy shop or other third party need not accept the person’s assertion that the use is noninfringing. Ultimately, only a federal court can determine whether a particular use is, in fact, a fair use under the law...." (Link to full URL.)

5) The Stanford Fair Use website.

6) The Society of Professional Journalists has a Code of Ethics, that may be interesting and useful.

7) If someone has published a photo online, you will need to read the policy of the online publication and also perhaps the internet host or the ISP (Internet Service Provider), if the publication is hosted on another company’s servers. For example, Facebook has its own policies and discussion lists and you can read about them in their FAQ.

8) This Urban Copyright Legends article might be useful, too, or at least interesting.

Enjoy your legal research adventure!

DISCLAIMER

1) The information provided on this blog is for research purposes only. We do not provide legal advice, nor do we endorse any person, product, or company.

2) It is against state law for library staff members to engage in any conduct that might constitute the unauthorized practice of law (ORS 9.160, 9.166 and 9.21). They may not interpret statutes, cases or regulations, perform legal research, recommend or assist in the preparation of forms, or advise patrons regarding their legal rights. They may, however, assist patrons in locating materials or links that would aid in individual research.

Oregon Citizens’ Initiative Review Panel

So, what IS the Oregon Citizens’ Initiative Review Panel?

Read about it at these sites and search the web for news stories and more:

1) Health Democracy Oregon (Facebook page and national site, Healthy Democracy)

2) Ballotpedia: Oregon citizens panel prepares to review ballot measures for November election, August 10, 2010

3) Participedia: Oregon Citizens’ Initiative Review Panel

4) Oregon Catalyst: from Oregon Anti-Crime Alliance: Citizen Initiative Review Fatally Flawed

5) Oregonlive: Citizen review panel releases findings; most oppose measure to increase mandatory minimum prison sentences, Kimberly Melton, The Oregonian, August 13, 2010

6) Blue Oregon, August 9, 2010: More About Citizens' Initiative Review

“Urban Copyright Legends”: A Copyright Fact Check

I saw this link at Library Law: Urban Copyright Legends, to the article“Urban Copyright Legends,” by Brandon Butler, Director of Public Policy Initiatives, ARL.

You can make the direct link to the full issue of “Research Library Issues” or to a PDF of the article itself. (And a big thank you to the publisher and author for making the article available easily and for no cost!)

[To cite this article: Brandon Butler. “Urban Copyright Legends.” Research Library Issues: A Bimonthly Report from ARL, CNI, and SPARC, no. 270 (June 2010): 16-20. http://www.arl.org/resources/pubs/rli/archive/rli270.shtml. RLI 270 Urban Copyright Legends 20, JUNE 2010]

Oregon LUBA Opinion: Barnes v. Hillsboro & Port of Portland

If you’ve been following the news stories about this case, you might want to read the full LUBA opinion:

MICHELLE BARNES, Petitioner, vs. CITY OF HILLSBORO, Respondent, and THE PORT OF PORTLAND, Intervenors-Respondent:

2010-011 Barnes v. City of Hillsboro (or link to Order from the LUBA homepage)

Excerpt: "NATURE OF THE DECISION: Petitioner appeals a city ordinance that amends the city zoning map to apply the city’s Airport Use (AU) zone to the Hillsboro Airport and the city’s Airport Safety and Compatibility Overlay (ASCO) zone to surrounding properties...." (Link to full opinion: LUBA No. 2010-011. FINAL OPINION AND ORDER)

Before jumping to conclusions, read the opinion and:

1) Read about hyperacusis: Wikipedia and more.
2) Read the U.S. Constitution.
3) Read the Oregon Constitution.
4) Read the Oregon Revised Statutes (ORS).
5) Read the Oregon Administrative Rules (OAR).

Affordable Lawyers: What Did Your County Law Library Do For You Today?

Question: Who uses the Oregon county law libraries and for what purposes?

Answer: Thousands of people use the Oregon county law libraries, because no other place has the specialized legal research resources, including databases, books, and law librarians trained and experienced in legal research techniques and resources.

Question: WHO Uses the Public Law Libraries?

Answer: Anyone and everyone who doesn’t work in a large law firm with a law library and a law librarian (and even they use the public law libraries for research materials not in their libraries):

Answer: City and county attorneys and other government employees, solo and small law firm attorneys who assist families with limited income, pro se (self-represented) litigants, especially those with family law and small claims and traffic court questions, middle and high school students, college, law school, and paralegal students, tax professionals, and more all use the public (county) law library.

Fact: Some of our most appreciative groups of county law library patrons include new attorneys who have not been able to find work and part-time attorneys who have family obligations or health limitations that don’t allow for full-time employment outside the home.

Fact: On any given day, county law libraries provide a wide variety of services not available elsewhere, due to the specialized nature of the business.

Here are some of the law library services used on any given day. This list is just for my law library and does not include any of the other Oregon county law libraries that may have additional databases and services, though it is probably representative of many of those other law libraries:

1) Conference Room: arbitration and depositions (including conference calls with local attorneys connecting with out of town, out of state attorneys)
2) Conference Room: client meetings
3) Notary services
4) Difficult, complex legal research questions that can take hours or days to research thoroughly
5) Interlibrary loan requests: for books, articles, and other materials not online or not free online
6) Legislative history research (most not online)
7) Westlaw/Shepards/PACER
8) Other online/Internet services: research databases, social networking, & conferencing software
9) Specialized legal treatises (print)
10) Federal research (print) (USCA, CFR, FR) research
11) Research in legal practice materials (OSB, OLI, OCDLA, etc.)
12) Acquire or research in current or superseded CLE course materials
13) Legal newsletters (many not online except to subscribers or bar members): locate current or back issues
14) Research advice, research tips, document tracking, etc.
15) Legal materials purchasing advice (online and print)
16) Legal materials purchase requests (CLEs, monographs, loose-leafs, special topics)
17) Family law questions/packets: divorce, custody, termination of parental rights, etc.
18) Leaving kids home alone questions (lots!)
19) Juvenile law questions: schools, dependency, delinquency, etc.
20) Criminal law, including pre and post-trial, expungement, felony and misdemeanor questions
21) Small claims questions/forms and research guidance
22) Estates/wills questions/forms and research guidance
23) How to collect on judgments research guidance
24) Employment, wages-hour, discrimination, dismissal and research guidance
25) Special needs questions/forms and research guidance
26) Debt (small claims plaintiff or defendant) questions/forms and research guidance
27) Small business: referrals, laws, incorporation and research guidance
28) Need attorney referrals and information on working with attorneys (fees, preparation, etc.)
29) Referrals to government agencies & nonprofits (housing, disabilities, grandparents, elder law, consumer law, etc.)
30) Court procedure and rules research guidance
31) Referrals from public libraries on all of the above questions and more, including participation on L-net

That list leaves out the actual business of running a law library: someone has to make sure that has the materials people need, current and superseded, and keeping the library open to the public 45+ hours a week including staffing, materials selection, database evaluation, vendor relations, budgeting, AR/AP, facilities management, skills development, outreach to public libraries, writing articles for print and online newsletters, blogs, and journals, teaching, training, policy drafting, meetings with and reports to county bar association library boards, etc.

Oregon Ballot Measures, November 2010 Election

Read full, and official, text of measures at Oregon Secretary of State Elections Division (and the Initiative, Referendum and Referral search form).

Measure 70: home ownership loans for Oregon veterans

Measure 71: changes biennial legislature to annual sessions

Measure 72: exceptions to borrowing limit for the state’s real and personal property projects

Measure 73: minimum sentences for certain sex crimes and DUII

Measure 74: medical marijuana supply system and allows selling of marijuana.

Measure 75: Multnomah County casino

Measure 76: lottery funding for parks, beaches, wildlife habitat, and watershed protection

Read full, and official, text of measures at Oregon Secretary of State Elections Division.

News stories about Oregon ballot measures and politics can also be found at Ballotpedia, the Oregonian (which has links to additional political blogs), Statesman-Journal state news, among many others.

(Previous OLR blog posts on Oregon Ballot Measures and Elections.)

Solitary Confinement Report (from LLRX)

Research guide on Solitary Confinement, by Ken Strutin, August 10, 2010:

Excerpt from introduction: “Solitary confinement is the most extreme penalty in the hierarchy of incarcerative punishment. 1 Depending on the institution, length of detention and purpose, this "prison within prison" 2 has been described in many ways: administrative segregation, communications management unit, 3 control unit, disciplinary housing unit, the hole, intensive management unit, lockdown, punitive isolation, segregation, SHU (special housing unit, special handling unit, segregated housing unit, security housing unit), and Supermax (Super-Maximum Security Confinement). 4 And these "inner prisons," 5 have come under constitutional scrutiny by the way of the Eighth Amendment's prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment, 6 and procedural due process challenges to prison conditions and special status, e.g., death row or gang affiliation. 7

The selected materials collected here represent current research and thinking about the physical, psychological and legal implications of isolation as punishment, and the policy issues behind continuing this practice in the light of national and international standards and human rights declarations. Additional bibliographic resources are noted throughout….” (Link to full guide.)

(And thank you to beSpecific for the hot tip! (beSpacific homepage)

Legal Divas and Other Bloggers

If you thought blogs were dead, think again. They are evolving!

Robert Ambrogi, at his Law Sites, posts about some new and noteworthy blogs, including Legal Divas.

You can then flit over to these 15 Excellent Corporate Blogs To Learn From (from iLibrarian).

Enjoy.

Obsolete Skills: Loading a Musket, Floppy Formatting, and Extracting Square Roots

Those of you who, as I do, remember booting up from and formatting a floppy disk and slide rules, might enjoy this website: Obsolete Skills

(The loading a musket entry could use some input.)

Obsolete Skills

(Thanks to Library Link of the Day for the 7/28/10 tip!)

Oregon Equine Law (Horses, horses, horses)

A lot of us don’t think of Oregon as horse-country, but it is! Notwithstanding the fantasies (though, not mine - I'm more a chill out on the deck with a tall drink sort of person) of riding barebacked on the Oregon coast (still the People’s Coast from North to South), there is plenty of legal work for horse lawyers, aka equine lawyers.

If you need a “horse lawyer” you can contact the Oregon State Bar Information and Referral Service and ask for one. While you’re waiting for that first appointment, read a little about equine law: University of Vermont Equine Law website.

You might notice that horse law requires knowledge of civil procedure, contracts, sales, torts, bankruptcy, debtor-creditor law, and more! There can also multi-state disputes so the attorneys need to be knowledgable about other states' laws and procedures.

Also:

1) Equine Law Blog
2) Equine Legal Solutions Blog
3) Equine Law info (law firm with equine law info)
4) Equine Law info (law firm with newsletter and articles archives)

Books: Search your favorite bookstores and libraries for “equine law” books.

Oregon Followers of Christ: a brief research guide

If you have been reading about the arrests and trials of members of the Oregon Followers of Christ, you might be curious about the religion and about faith-healing generally.

There is some, though not a lot, of information available online, in the "mainstream web" (also known as the "I looked it up on the Internet" search method).

I did not include here results from a thorough literature search. Additional information can be gleaned by searching the deep web, and news, magazine, and subject-specific databases at your local public library.

But here are a few articles to get you started:

1) “Faith Healing And Criminal Liability In Oregon, by Kristin Ware,” Oregon Child Advocacy Project Fellow, February 2010

2) Book: Shawn Peters, "When prayer fails: Faith healing, children and the law" Oxford University Press, (2007)

3) Wikipedia, Followers of Christ (related topic: Faith Healing)

3) OPB Think Out Loud program: Of Prayer and Penicillin, Airdate: April 2, 2008: You can download the program from this website and link to additional reading. (The MP3 download works, but I couldn’t listen online. The “Show Archives” tab doesn’t work either, but you can go to the OPB On Demand webpage for links to archives.)

4) Faith-healing a First Amendment dilemma, by Robert M. Bernstein, First Amendment Center religious-liberty fellow, 03.24.10

5 ) All About God (and faith healing)

6) You can also search for more books and news stories using the usual search engine and bookstore suspects.

Note: I did not find any entries for the Followers of Christ in the following online directories, but these are only a small sampling of the religion education websites that exist:

Religion Facts

BBC Religions of the World

MSU Study of Religions website

UVA Religious Movements website

Faith Central

“To Suffer the Death Penalty”: A Journalist Reflects on Witnessing a Hanging

Flynn's Harp: Capital punishment, hanging reflections (7-28-10)

Excerpt: "… Only men have been executed in Washington and of the 14 who have gone to their deaths since 1949, 13 were Caucasian and one was Hispanic. Two of the last four men to suffer the death penalty chose hanging, the last being Charles Campbell in 1995.
…
... Spenser, the young man who contacted me for the interview for his project, told me he and a friend had decided to do a paper on the death penalty and had searched the Internet but found “mostly factual, neutral stuff. It was difficult to find sites that gave us opinions.”

I shared with him the details of the June evening of 1963 when two other young journalists and I were among the group of about 35 people on hand for Self’s hanging, by tradition just past midnight, “the first minute of the new day.”

Self, Warden Bobbie Rhay, a catholic priest who had become Self’s regular death-row visitor, and a couple of guards entered a door to the cement balcony against the back wall of the chamber, with the witnesses looking up from below. They walked to the center of the platform and stopped as Self stood above the steel door through which he would fall to his death when the door was sprung open...." (Link to full post.)

(Thank you to KCLL blog for the tip: Blog Reflects on Joseph Self’s Execution)

Previous OLR blog posts on the death penalty.

Your New Health Care Act

It’s not too early to start reading up on how the new health care law will affect you.

1) Healthcare dot gov is a good place to start.

2) If you want to read the act, visit the Gallaher blog post for some quick links: Read the Big Health Care Act. It includes a full cite to the act itself:

Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, Pub. L. 111-148, 124 Stat. 119 (March 23, 2010)

3) You may also want to look at its codification in the U.S. Code (or from FDsys), but that is a much more exciting exercise in patience and translation.

4) And don’t forget those regulations! You’ll find those (after they are written) in the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) or from FDsys.

But the best place to get to all those laws, rules, and regs is from the Healthcare dot gov website.

CiteGenie, Smart Phone Comparisons, and Wisconsin Law Librarians

I love the Wisconsin State Law Library Newsletter and always learn something new when I read it. This month, August 2010, in addition to other useful legal research tools (e.g. CiteGenie), they had links to two handy-dandy published reviews / comparisons of Smart Phones. We can’t get enough of those, our mini-brains!

1) Lifehacker smart phone comparison

2) CNET smart phone reviews

Report: Death of James Chasse, Jr., Portland (Oregon) Police Investigation

The July 2010 report can be found at the Portland (Oregon) City Auditor’s Office:

Report to the City of Portland Concerning the In-Custody Death of James Chasse, Prepared by Michael Gennaco, Robert Miller & Julie Ruhlin, OIR Group, 323-890-5425, July 2010

If that link doesn’t work (or this one) and if you have trouble finding the report on the website, please contact the Office of the Ombudsman, 1221 SW 4th Ave, Rm. 140, Portland, OR 97204, phone: 503-823-0144

The Mental Health Association of Portland has a James Chasse blog.

"GPO Access" Becomes FDsys: Government Publication Website Gets Makover and New (confusing) Name

The Government Printing Office’s GPO Access is becoming FDsys, and includes access to the Code of Federal Regulations (FR), the Federal Register (FR), the Congressional Record (CR), U.S. Statutes at Large (Stat), and the U.S. Code (USC).

See the full list at the FDsys homepage.

(Brace yourself for another name change in the not so distant future. It would not surprise me if FDsys finds itself with a challenge to select a stickier, more memorable name. And then again, if you say it over and over again, FDsys, FDsys, FDsys - it becomes fidsis, fidsis - oh, never mind.)

Responses to "Oregon Legal Research Blog" Reader Legal Questions

We are not able to answer reader’s specific legal questions, although we do try to respond when the answer has legal research value to other readers.

Suggestions:

1) You can look for updates to specific posts, by clicking on the subject Label at the end of the post.

2) If your question is fairly general, e.g. about Oregon history, how laws are made or how the legislature works, or if you are a K-12 student with a homework assignment, visit your public library, in person or its website to ask for their research assistance or call an Oregon public law library for research assistance.

3) If you have a specific legal research question, please contact your nearest Oregon county law library for research guidance. The OLR blogger strives to respond to questions when the answers will be of value to our many readers, but cannot respond to requests for individual research service or legal information. For more information about what you can find in a public law library, visit the Washington County Law Library “Legal Information” webpage.

4) You can also ask your question at the Oregon Library Network (L-net) service.

5) If you have a legal problem, rather than a question you want to research for yourself, please contact an attorney. The Oregon State Bar Information and Referral Service is one place to begin your search for a lawyer. You can also read the "How to Find an Oregon Lawyer" guide at the Washington County Law Library website.

6) Last, but not least, please remember, that there is a big difference between DIY Lawyering and DIY Legal Research.

Oregon Attorney Wins Metaphor of the Week Prize: Bowels of Law Enforcement

No, there isn't really an Oregon Metaphor of the Week Prize, but maybe there should be!

(Wikipedia describes metaphor. For the record, my latest, favorite uber-metaphorist is Harry Markopolos.)

Willamette Week (homepage), cover story, July 28, 2010: Oregon’s Scariest Cops:

Excerpt: '... Few criminal defense lawyers have spent more time in Clackamas County court than John Henry Hingson, who has been practicing law since 1971.

Hingson says it’s hard to assess CCSO’s problems.

“That’s an extremely difficult question, because the public doesn’t get to crawl into the bowels of law enforcement in search of cancerous polyps,” Hingson says. “Occasionally I get a rare glimpse, and I get a little bit frightened.”...' (Link to full story.)

Oregon Public Libraries: Directories and Links

There are a number of online Oregon public library directories:

1) Public Libraries dot com

2) Oregon State Library Directory

3) Oregon Library Websites (OSL)

4) You can also do an online search for your own local library using these keywords: [your city/county] oregon public library. Make sure you specify the state. City and county names are not always unique.

Justice Bedsworth Stands up to Obfuscation and Hubris

Justice Bedsworth in August 2010 Criminal Waste of Space column in the OC Lawyer Magazine, wondering what it all means, gives a small cry in the wilderness of misused, mispronounced, and made up words. Humpty-Dumpty would have been proud.**

Excerpt: '... When someone asks you to “tell us in your own words what happened,” they don’t mean you should use YOUR OWN WORDS! They mean, “Use OUR words—English words, real words, words we’re all familiar with—in your own combinations, to tell us what happened.”

What in . . . heck . . . does it mean to say, “My level of pissivity was pretty high”? That’s not communication, that’s the Red Queen’s Tea Party.

If the jury has the collective brains of a flock of sparrows, and comes back with a question about what that means, some poor judge is gonna have to give an instruction on it. What’s she gonna say, “It means maybe I shoulda stayed in the DA’s Office”?...' (Link to full August 2010 article in the OC Lawyer Magazine.)

**Humpty Dumpty: ‘…“When I use a word,” Humpty Dumpty said, in a rather a scornful tone, “it means just what I choose it to mean—neither more nor less.”
“The question is,” said Alice, “whether you can make words mean so many different things.”
“The question is,” said Humpty Dumpty, “which is to be master that’s all.”…’ (Link to full Wikipedia entry.)

Washington County (Oregon) Circuit Court: Family Law Self-Help Resources

Note: Website addresses change (such is life):

1) The current Oregon Judicial Department website portal may change.

2) The OJD Family Law website may also change from this to something else. If these links don’t work, use a search engine and search for:

a) Oregon judicial department or
b) Washington county oregon circuit court family law

Onward:

I. Washington County Circuit Court Family Law Department has a Family Law Facilitator:

A.) This is a walk-in only office.

B.) The hours on the website may not be correct. Please telephone for hours: 503-846-2898

C.) If the Family Law Facilitator’s office is closed, please visit the Washington County Law Library for assistance and research materials you can review before returning to the Family Law Facilitator’s office when it reopens.

D.) Budget cuts have reduced the hours the Family Law Facilitator can remain open. Please be patient. It is a busy office.

II. Oregon Family Law Forms:

A.) Oregon self-help family law legal forms are also available from the Oregon Judicial Department Family Law website.

B.) Additional information is available at the Legal Aid Services of Oregon website.

C.) Please do not use forms from other sources (other than your attorney) if there is an OJD-authorized family law form.

D. ) Books about family law may be very helpful, but please don’t use their forms unless you know for sure the court will accept them.

E.) Books and non-OJD online forms may not up to date. OJD keeps their family law forms up to date and the Family Law Facilitators informed on new developments in family law.

Researching Oregon Family Law:

A.) Additional information is available at the Legal Aid Services of Oregon website.

B.) If no OJD form exists for what you need to do, you will need to research the subject at a law library. You cannot do thorough research on an Oregon family law matter without researching statutory and case law.

C.) Please read the Oregon Legal Research blogposts on DIY Lawyering and DIY Legal Research and on Legal Forms: The Pyramid.