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World Refugee Day 2016

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World Refugee Day, June 20th each year, is an international day of observance dedicated to raising awareness of the situation of refugees throughout the world. On December 4, 2000, the United Nations General Assembly in Resolution 55/76 declared that, beginning in 2001, June 20th would be celebrated as World Refugee Day. Each year, United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) and countless civic groups around the world host World Refugee Day events in order to draw the public’s attention to the millions of refugees and internationally-displaced persons worldwide who have been forced to flee their homes due to war, conflict and persecution. The annual commemoration is marked by a variety of events in more than 100 countries, involving government officials, humanitarian aid workers, celebrities, civilians, and the refugees themselves. This year’s theme is the hashtag #WithRefugees.

The Montague Law Library collection includes books such as these which discuss refugees and human rights:

humanrightsHuman rights protection for refugees, asylum-seekers, and internally displaced persons : a guide to international mechanisms and procedures / Joan Fitzpatrick, editor.
Call no. K3230.R45H865 2002

This volume provides a detailed and concrete analysis of how human rights complaints mechanisms can be accessed by refugees, asylum-seekers, and internally displaced persons. The guide offers a thorough explanation of the United Nations human rights treaty bodies, with a focus upon the four committees authorized to receive communications from individuals.

 

rightnottobedisplacedThe right not to be displaced in international law / Michèle Morel.
Call no. KZ6530.M68 2014

This book explores the role of international human rights law in protecting people against involuntary displacement. It does so with reference to the idea of a ‘human right not to be displaced’ and examines its existence, desirability, content, and enforcement.

 

perf6.000x9.000.inddMaking people illegal : what globalization means for migration and law / Catherine Dauvergne.
Call no. K3274.D38 2008

This book examines the relationship between illegal migration and globalization. Under the pressures of globalizing forces, migration law is transformed into the last bastion of sovereignty. This explains the worldwide crackdown on extra-legal migration and informs the shape this crackdown is taking. It also means that migration law reflects key facets of globalization and addresses the central debates of globalization theory.

 
lawofrefugestatusThe law of refugee status / James C. Hathaway and Michelle Foster.
Call no. KZ6530.H38 2014

The authors provide robust responses to the most difficult questions of refugee status in a clear and direct way. The result is a comprehensive and truly global analysis of the central question in asylum law: who is a refugee?

Law Day 2016

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In 1958, President Dwight D. Eisenhower declared Law Day as the time to recognize how the law and the legal processes contribute to the liberties all Americans share. The theme for Law Day 2016 is Miranda: More than just words and highlights the procedural protections granted to U.S. citizens by the U.S. Constitution and courts. Celebrated through the month of May, Law Day programs and activities are conducted in schools and communities across the country. The ABA offers a guide for teachers and communities leaders to use for planning activities for a diverse audience of children, young adults and adults.

The Montague Law Library currently has these books and others on this 2016 Law Day theme:

convicting the innocent

Call number: KF9756.G37 2011

Author Brandon Garrett examines what went wrong in the cases of the first 250 people who were wrongfully convicted and later exonerated by DNA testing. DNA testing is revolutionizing our system of criminal justice and this book shows why.

 

 

Kafka's lawCall number: KF9619.B875 2014

The author, Robert Burns, considers the inequalities of the American criminal justice  system today through Franz Kafka’s The Trial.

 

 

 

privilege of silenceCall number: KF9668.S25 2014

The purpose and scope of the Fifth Amendment right against compulsory self-incrimination is the subject of this book by Paul Haynes, Jr. and Steven Salky. They explore  future of the Fifth Amendment and other issues.

Truth or scam?

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snopes

Did that tweet really come from a controversial Presidential candidate’s phone?  What is a “baniwi”, and can you find it in the produce section of the grocery store? Did President Reagan continue his vacation after the 1988 Beirut attack?  You can verify urban legends, myths, tweets, email scams and other internet information by using the online reference source called Snopes.com.

This interesting online authority covers the latest health trends, celebrity news, current news, and email scams. There is a “hot list” of currently popular topics, or peruse Snopes archives for those urban legends. It is possible to check the tweets from the most recent political debate and conduct topical fact checking on your own. To use this reference source, type the subject of interest in the search box on the website.  The entries are labeled as fact check or news.  When you click on a fact check entry, you see a green arrow for true (or mostly true) or a red x indicating the misinformation is false with the article. Snopes also indicates which parts of a rumor are mostly true or not.

Penn State offers online security tips on the IT Knowledge base website including phishing tips for protection against fraudulent email. Image result for images of rumors

 

Justice Scalia at Dickinson Law

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After United State Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia passed away, unexpectedly, on February 13, 2016, the Dickinson Law Library began setting up a small display of items by and about Justice Scalia. Several students asked why we did this, remarking that he had no connection to Dickinson Law.

Actually, Justice Scalia participated as a lecturer in the Florence Study Abroad program several times, routinely met with Dickinson Law students who visited the Supreme Court, and was a friend of our own distinguished Professor Louis Del Duca.

 

2013 Justice Scalia's Separation of Powers course 600_Page_1

Justice Scalia became famous for his strong, conservative, and vibrant (or argumentative, depending on your perspective) use of language in his opinions and in the courtroom. His legacy on the bench represents only a fraction of his contributions to the legal field. He wrote several books that support his theories of legal argument and legal interpretation including Making Your Case: The Art of Persuading Judges and Reading the Law: The Interpretation of Legal Text, written with renowned legal writer, Bryan G. Garner. He also wrote A Matter of Interpretation: Federal Courts and the Law. In contrast, several books have been written about Justice Scalia including, Scalia: A Court of One by Bruce Allen Murphy, American Original: The Life and Constitution of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, by Joan Biskupic, and Antonin Scalia’s Jurisprudence: Text and Tradition, by Ralph A. Rossum. These are just a few of the many items about Justice Scalia that are available through the law library’s collections and can be requested through the CAT.

When Justice Scalia was interviewed about the publication of his book “about how lawyers should address the court”, the conversation evolved into a comprehensive interview and was aired as a full episode of 60 Mintues. To hear Justice Scalia discuss the constitution in his own words, watch the 2008 interview with Lesley Stahl. Being able to connect the Justice Scalia of the court with his personal side provides fascinating insight into one of the Supreme Court’s most famous justices.

Even after his passing, Justice Scalia is still causing controversy. As the National Law Journal pointed out, in a recent opinion, Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan both cited Justice Scalia and Bryan Garner’s text Making Your Case: The Art of Persuading Judges and Reading the Law: The Interpretation of Legal Text in support of different interpretations of language.

Welcome to our new blog!

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Welcome to Dickinson Law Library’s new blog, Keeping It Brief!

Keeping It Brief! is published by the law librarians and staff at Dickinson Law’s H. Laddie Montague, Jr. Law Library.  Our hope is to keep students, faculty, and staff up to date on the latest news about the library, its collections and services, and how to make the most of their legal research time.  We will be featuring new books, displays and events, and information that is legal in nature: research, education, news, and history.

Please feel free to sign up for notifications to our blog posts by entering your email in the Subscribe box on the side.  Or, if you prefer, you can subscribe by RSS feed to your RSS feed reader.

Here’s to Keeping It Brief!

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