To access Heafey Law Library Research guides,  click on the heading Heafey Law Library at the ClaraNet home page,  then Library 1201 – Library Research Guides. Ask at the reference desk if you need the ClaraNet password.

To request materials from Loyola Hall, fill out a Loyola Hall Retrieval Request Form, available at the reference and circulation desks.

The United States Supreme Court released its decision in Parents Involved in Community Schools v. Seattle School District and Meredith v. Jefferson County Board of Education, reversing the appellate court decisions and holding that the school districts had improperly relied on racial classifications in assigning students to particular schools.

The opinion of the court, a concurring opinion by Justice Thomas, an opinion by Justice Kennedy concurring in part and concurring in the judgment, and dissenting opinions by Justices Stevens and Breyer are available at the Supreme Court website.

Some additional websites with cases and commentary from recent Supreme Court terms are SCOTUSblog, from the Supreme Court Practice at Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hower, and Feld, LLP; Justia.com’s Supreme Court Center; the Oyez Project, which includes recordings of oral arguments; Appellate.net from the Supreme Court and Appellate Practice of the law firm of Mayer, Brown, Rowe & Maw, LLP, and On the Docket from Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism.

The webpage of the House of Representative’s Committee on the Judiciary links to information about today’s hearing concerning the compensation of retired NFL players. The hearing has received much media attention. Former players are testifying about their difficulties obtaining disability benefits from the NFL.

Other Judiciary subcommittees have held recent hearings on the firing of U.S. attorneys,  domestic surveillance, immigration reform, and oil prices. Video webcasts of several hearings are available at the committee’s website. 

This morning’s Law Librarian Blog features Eric Goldman’s article, The Best and Worst Internet Laws, one of several contributions that he has made to informit.com. Goldman links to the full text of the laws that he examines: from the Internet Tax Freedom Act – one of the best – to the 1996 Communications Decency Act – the worst.

The Special Court for Sierra Leone, an independent tribunal established by the United Nations and the Government of Sierra Leone, has rendered its first verdicts today. Three leaders of the former Armed Forces Revolutionary Council – Alex Tamba Brima, Brima Bazzy Kamara and Santigie Borbor Kanu – have been found guilty on 11 of 14 counts involving war crimes and crimes against humanity. A sentencing hearing is scheduled for July 16th.

A recent Cornell InSITE web review: The National Child Support Enforcement Association Research Clearinghouse, a searchable database of information related to child support. Some articles and reports are available in full text; citations to lengthier sources are provided. The database is a joint project of the Indiana University Institute for Family and Social Responsibility and the NCSEA. The website also links to professional organizations, federal and state agencies, and academic research organizations with an interest in the topic.

The Old Bailey was London’s felony court. Available first in paper, then in microfilm, the Proceedings include descriptions of more than 100,000 trials held there from 1674 - 1834. Typed from photographs of microfilm, the online text is accompanied by links to pdf copies of the original pages. The digitized Proceedings can be searched by keyword, name, crime, verdict, etc.

The Proceedings website also includes historical background about 17th - 19th Century London, a glossary and bibliography, the publishing history of the Proceedings themselves, and notes for history teachers. A second digitization project drawing on criminal records and other sources – Plebian Lives and the Making of Modern London, 1690 - 1800 – is underway, scheduled for completion in 2010.

Smithsonian magazine is available on LEXIS (NEWS;SMTHSN) and Westlaw (SMITHSNN). Recent issues are also available at the magazine’s website.