KCLL Klues: Washington State Legal Research

Librarians love lists, and my co-workers asked me what blogs I like to follow. While I follow many blogs, today I am listing a few of the government blogs that I like. Some of these blogs are also posting their updates automatically to Twitter, the micro-blogging service. KCLL Klues is not doing that yet, but who knows, maybe we will in the future. Here is the list of my favorite government blogs, in no particular order.

King County News Blog – This is the local county blog. Its purpose is to create a dialog with county residents about transportation issues. This blog also uses Twitter to get its message out to the people.

King County’s EcoConsumer – This blog comes from the Solid Waste Division for King County. Tom Watson blogs about ways to “reduce, reuse and recycle.” He also updates via Twitter.

All Consuming – This is my hands down favorite state blog. It comes from the Washington State Attorney General’s Office. Its stated purpose is to help consumers ”find information to make you a wiser consumer. Know your legal rights. Receive the heads-up on new scams. Discover emerging marketplace trends.” The primary blogger here is the media relations manager. She does a terrific job! This blog also is on Twitter.

Governor Gregoire’s Latest News Feed – This comes from the Governor’s office. I do not consider this a true blog, but a way to post the news releases of the Governor’s Office. But if you want to find out quickly what the Governor is doing, this RSS feed will help.

GovGab – This is the blog for the USA.gov web site from the Federal government. It is “focused on how to make daily life easier with helpful, perhaps little-known, government information.” This site uses five bloggers who post on issues ranging from Home and Family, Health, Money, Travel and other issues. They even have a category titled Fun.  

USCourts.gov News Library – This comes from the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts. It includes links to video news and to podcasts produced by the courts.

If you like to follow what is happening from local to state to the federal level, these blogs will help you keep up. Just subscribe to their feeds using your favorite blog reader. 
 

The law library in the Maleng Regional Justice Center will close for the day at 11am on Friday, April 17th.  The Seattle library will have regular hours (8am to 6pm).

I teach a class on Public Sleuthing on Social Networks, and show how these sites are being used in the courts. Last fall I included the Australian case of an attorney serving process via Facebook. Social Media Law Student talks about this case in his recent blog posting and links to a further article from DLA Piper. In my class I show examples of how social networking sites are used for evidence gathering, jury evaluation, tracking people and more. I include whether these sites should be discoverable as questioned in the Legal Technology article from November of 2008. Check out our class schedule to be included in my next Public Sleuthing training.

The Supreme Court of Washington Blog writes about the Yousoufian versus Ron Sims case. This case is causing all kinds of questions, first about Ron Sims and his appointment to the Obama administration as deputy at HUD and second, on whether Supreme Court Justice Richard Sanders should have participated in the case ruling. Justice Sanders has his own public records case pending. The Yousoufian case is a public records request that has become very interesting to follow. Listen to the latest Supreme Court Blog podcast, as they discuss the case briefly there, too.

Celebrate National Library Week from April 13 through April 17 at KCLL!  Visit the library during the week for:

- Free cookies!
- Daily prize giveaway at noon
- Sign up for our free Public Sleuthing on Social Networks class on 4/15/09 (only 2 spots left!)

We are also excited to welcome employees from the King County Superior Court Clerk’s Office for a series of orientation sessions throughout the week!

One of my continuing interests is how a citizen can easily make public records requests to Washington state agencies. This includes how well an agency explains the process and also what types of records are exempt from disclosure. The Washington State Attorney General’s Office has a straightforward guide for requesting records but the Washington State Department of Natural Resources has a better guide that also includes information on what records are exempt from disclosure. Both guides are helpful, but the second is more complete.

The Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (WHTI) requires U.S. and Canadian travelers to present a passport or other document that denotes identity and citizenship when entering the U.S. This initiative will go into effect on June 1, 2009. It has already been in effect for air travelers since January of 2007. Find a Border Crossing research guide on our Library web page for more information.

Laura Orr, over at the Oregon Legal Research blog posted about this the other day. She asked, “Are You a Licensed Oregon Attorney?” Great posting. Good question. Always check whether that attorney you are hiring is qualified to practice. Search at the Washington State Bar Association Lawyer Directory. Be sure to check for disciplinary actions. If you want to know more about finding an attorney listen to the podcast KCLL recorded, Locating Lawyers.

The Washington State Department of Community, Trade, and Economic Development recently published the 2009 edition of its “Guide for Small Business in Washington State.”  The guide provides information on organizations, services, and programs throughout the state that assist small business owners and entrepreneurs.  Topics covered include: Selling to the Government, Resources for Entrepreneurs, and Choosing the Right Business Structure.  The guide is available online at http://www.choosewashington.com/pdf/2009guideforsmallbusiness.pdf.

As the new government gets up and running, a focus remains to open up the government to the public in a more concrete way than in the past.  On his second day in office, President Obama issued a memo stipulating that the leaders of the Office of Management and Budget and the General Services Administration, craft an open government directive to support his efforts for a more open and accountable government.   This promise is being tested in Washington with the ever watchful eyes of groups like OMB Watch and the Sunlight Foundation.   A recent article explores the challenges faced in the coming months to changing the way business is done in Washington and allowing for more information out to the public with greater frequency.