If you have ever had questions about how to cite something a legal pleading you have no doubt turned to the Bluebook for help. You can get access to the physical copy in the law library or you can subscribe to the electronic copy online. However, the Bluebook website is now offering some helpful tips for citations that cost nothing. Check it out and happy writing!
The King County Council voted unanimously (9-0) today to restore funding to the King County Law Library for operation of the sole branch of the library located at the Maleng Regional Justice Center in Kent. The Law Library received a 50% cut in funding for 2009 and now this funding is restored in the 2010 Budget year.
The commitment of the Council to this issue is clear through the language in the Budget Ordinance:
“Superior court and Judicial Administration: This budget allocates funding from the MIDD sales tax to sustain vital services in the superior court. This budget allows for the continued operation of the second King County Law Library at the Norm Maleng Regional Justice Center in Kent, as law libraries are vital services for citizens without attorneys, known as pro se defendants, and their families.”
Thanks go out to everyone who spoke up on our behalf at public hearings or wrote e-mails and letters to their Councilmembers. We could not have done it without your support! As our KCLL Board of Trustees President, Judge Yu stated: “We firmly believe that as long as there are court hearings being held in this courthouse, there needs to be a law library.”
We received critical support from the Washington State Bar Association, K ing County Bar Association, Minority Bar Associations and many members of the public and legal community.
One of our Pro Se patrons testified at the Public Hearing in Kent and I believe she said it best: “The Library is not a luxury but a necessity of life. It is a place to obtain information and as Thomas Jefferson said ‘Information is the currency of democracy.’”
Pretexting is a common word people use when scam artists try to pry identifying information out of identity theft victims over the phone. A new area in which pretexting can occur is in the online and social networking areas. Legal and investigative researchers often look at this information. Should it be governed or regulated. Ken Strutin explores this issue in the lates article from LLRX.com.
There is a new document assembly site which allows anyone to put together their documents in a coherent and orderly manner with little to no cost. Whichdraft.com describes itself as a “self-directed legal resource that allows individuals to build a variety of high quality contracts.”
The site also describes several of the types of contracts from which it provides sample clauses. This can be helpful for the novice or expert alike.
The law library branch in Kent is supported by King County General Fund dollars and therefore is involved in the effort to secure funding for 2010. This impact of this effort is shared today in a SeattlePI article and gives more information on the budget deliberation process over the next several weeks.
Today, the Government Printing Office and the National Archives and Record Association are publishing the Federal Register in XML format. This allows other individuals to develop the daily publication in new and more accessible ways. This is the first federal government publication to be delivered in this format and may show the willingness for greater transparency and access to information. To get to the raw data you can go to the data.gov website.
The King County Law Library may have to close the branch in Kent due to lack of funding in 2010. Recently, the King County Executive released his proposed 2010 budget which eliminates the current funding of the law library at the Maleng Regional Justice Center. In 2009, the County Council added back in half of our year’s funding to help run the operations and they will need to do that and more for 2010. Nearly 70% of our patrons in Kent are Pro Se and cannot afford an attorney. If funding is not received from the Council, the branch may close on January 1, 2010.
Other county law libraries around the country are facing similar challenges such as in Indiana. The Marion County Law Library (IN) is in danger of closing in 2010. This article describes what services are available and what would be lost if this service goes away. Service to Pro Se or Self-Represented litigants would be non-existent without the knowledgeable staff at the library in Indiana.
The King County Executive, Kurt Triplett, presented his proposed 2010 Budget to the King County Council this afternoon. The King County Law Library operation in Kent is funded completely from the County General Fund. The Executive’s proposed budget includes no funding for Kent in 2010. The possible closure of the library at the RJC would be a dramatic change in the way people gain access to the justice system. The Budget process will continue as four Hearings are held in the coming weeks. Information about these hearings can be found on the Council’s Budget Calendar.
Marcus Hochstetler, Director, King County Law Library
The Seattle and MRJC libraries will both be closed all day on Monday, October 5 for staff in-service. During this time, the staff will be attending training and performing other duties that require our operations to be closed to the public. A book drop will be available outside the Seattle library doors. Books normally due on Monday, October 5 will be due on Tuesday, October 6. Chat, email, and telephone reference will not be available. Other county departments will not be affected.
King County faced a general fund shortfall of over $90 million last year. Budget decisions for 2009 resulted in program cuts and “lifeboat” (six month) funding for many human service organizations, including legal aid programs. The King County Law Library is part of the legal aid community. This year the budget situation is similarly grim. The County currently faces a deficit of over $56 million for 2010. Again, human service and legal aid programs in King County are at great resk of reduced or eliminated funding. This is from the Alliance for Equal Justice website. For more information you can read about the affected programs.