• West’s Sum and Substance CD series
• West’s Outstanding Professor CD series
• Lexis Understanding series
• Wolters Kluwer Examples and Explanations
• Lexis Q&A series
• West’s Nutshell series

We have some more general guides on preparing for exams available as well. The most recent editions are on Reserve available at the Circulation Desk. They can be checked out for two hour in-Library use.

Our Guide for 1Ls has a more extensive list of study aids and hornbooks for first-year courses and general guides to exam preparation. Links to podcasts from CALI are included as well.

Speaking of CALI, don’t forget that CALI has a wide range of exercises you can use for exam review. You’ll need to use our CALI code to set up your account.

If you are struggling putting your outlines together, Lexis has some area of law outlines available for free that may help you get organized.

Old exams are useful for practicing issue spotting. Some Pace Law professors release old exams to the Library, and these are available on the Law Library on TWEN site. If you can’t access this site just add it to your list of TWEN courses.

The Library is open for extended hours for exam study beginning April 17. Hours are available here.

Good luck on your exams!

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To read more about Lincoln, the exhibit, or the grant, see our previous post: Lincoln and Grant (Writing, that is).

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For Westlaw summer access click here. There are separate links for current and graduating students. Current students are restricted to the following uses:

• Summer law school classes
• Law review or law journal work
• Project for a professor
• Moot court
• Unpaid, nonprofit public interest internship/externship pro bono work required for graduation.

Passwords may NOT be used for research for law firms, government agencies, corporations or other purposes unrelated to law school coursework.

Graduating students’ passwords expire on May 31, 2012 but can be extended for bar preparation. If you extend your password you will receive 10 hours of Westlaw access during the summer – 5 hours in June and another 5 hours in July. Note that password extension in no way alters the WestlawRewards membership agreement. WestlawRewards points expire 30 days after graduation.

If you have already registered your Lexis Advance password, you don’t need to do anything to have access over the summer. For Lexis.com summer access, click here. Current and graduating students are restricted to the following uses:

• Summer course preparation and assignments
• Research associated with Moot Court, Law Review, or Law Journal
• Research associated with pursuing a grant or scholarship
• Service as a paid or unpaid research assistant to a professor
• An internship, externship or clinic position for school credit or graduation requirement
• Study for the bar exam
• Research skill improvement

Additionally, Lexis has the ASPIRE program again this year. The ASPIRE program enables students and graduates pursuing public interest work to benefit from free access to LexisNexis tools and services. Eligibility includes all students and graduates (including December 2011 graduates) engaged in verifiable 501(c)(3) public interest work, including:

• Deferred fall associates engaged in verifiable public interest work
• 2012 graduates engaged in verifiable public interest work while searching for employment
• 2012 graduates engaged in verifiable public interest work as a continuing profession
• Current students engaged in verifiable public interest work

Students/graduates must work directly for a non-profit or charitable organization, and access continues throughout public interest employment until September 1, 2012. The registration form is available here, and more information is available here.

One last thing–the Law Library website has a number of research guides that you might find helpful, especially the guide to Free and Low Cost Resources for Legal Research. Remember that the reference librarians are here all summer long and that you can always call the reference desk at 914-422-4208, or use our Ask Us service to email questions.

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The following are the most recent additions to our Law In Film Collection

New Fiction and Legal Dramas:

• The Descendants (Fox Searchlight Pictures; an Ad Hominem Enterprises production; directed by Alexander Payne; screenplay by Alexander Payne and Nat Faxon & Jim Rash; produced by Jim Burke, Alexander Payne, Jim Taylor; made in association with Dune Entertainment and produced in association with Little Blair Productions and Ingeneous Film Partners) [PN1997.2 .D47 2012 DVD] – Starring George Clooney as Matt King, who is an indifferent husband and father of two girls that is forced to re-examine his past and embrace his future when his wife suffers a boating accident off of Waikiki. The event leads to a rapprochement with his young daughters while Matt wrestles with a decision to sell the family’s land handed down from Hawaiian royalty and missionaries.
• J. Edgar (Warner Bros. Pictures; an Imagine Entertainment production, a Malpaso production; directed and produced by Clint Eastwood; written by Dustin Lance Black; produced by Brian Grazer, Robert Lorenz) [PN1997.2.J43 2012 DVD] -  Starring Leonardo DiCaprio as J. Edgar Hoover “who [was] head of the FBI for nearly 50 years. Hoover was feared, admired, reviled and revered, a man who could distort the truth as easily as he upheld it. His methods were at once ruthless and heroic, with the admiration of the world his most coveted prize. But behind closed doors, he held secrets that would have destroyed his image, his career and his life.” Container.
• The Whistleblower (Séville Pictures; director, Larysa Kondracki; writers, Larysa Kondracki, Eilis Kirwan; producers, Christina Piovesan, Celine Rattray) [PN1997.2 .W45 2012 DVD] - When Nebraska cop Kathryn Bolkovac accepts a U.N. peacekeeper position in post-war Bosnia, she discovers a deadly sex trafficking ring. She uncovers an international conspiracy that is determined to stop her, no matter the cost.

New Docudramas and Documentaries:

• Granito (Skylight Pictures; a film by Peter Kinoy, Pamela Yates, Paco de Onís; producer, Paco de Onís; director, Pamela Yates; writers, Peter Kinoy, Pamela Yates, Paco de Onís) [F1466.5 .G74 2011 DVD] -  Gen. Efraín Ríos Montt was a military leader in Guatemala during the early 1980s. He was responsible for over 200,000 deaths of Mayans. The documentary by Yates titled “When the mountains tremble” at the time, and her film was later entered as evidence by lead counsel Almudena Bernabeu during the genocide trials of seven Guatemalan military officials.
• Immigrant Nation! (Clandestino Films; written by Esaú Meléndez; directed & produced by Esaú Meléndez) [JV6456 .I46 2010 DVD] - ”[This] is a documentary combining the story of activist Elvira Arellano with the larger story of the pro-immigrant movement that primarily began in Chicago.” Container.
• Sun Comes Up (Big Red Barn Films; produced in association with Chicken & Egg Pictures; a film produced by Jennifer Redfearn & Tim Metzger; directed by Jennifer Redfearn) [QC993.P26 S86 2010 DVD] -  Documentary film following the relocation of some of the Carteret Islanders, a peaceful community living on a remote island chain in the South Pacific Ocean, and now, some of the world’s first environmental refugees. When rising seas threaten their survival, the islanders face a painful decision: they must leave their beloved land in search of a new place to call home. The film follows a group of young Carteret Islanders as they search for land in Bougainville, an autonomous region of Papua New Guinea 50 miles across the open ocean.
• Carlos (Daniel Leconte presents; in association with the Sundance Channel; in co-production with Egoli Tossell Film; a movie produced by Film En Stock & Daniel Leconte; written by Olivier Assayas and Dan Franck; directed by Olivier Assayas) [PN1997.2 .C375 2011 DVD] -  An epic, intensely detailed account of the life of the infamous international terrorist Ilich Ramírez Sánchez – also known as Carlos the Jackal. One of the twentieth century’s most wanted fugitives, Carlos was committed to violent left-wing activism throughout the seventies and eighties, orchestrating bombings, kidnappings, and hijackings in Europe and the Middle East.
• Battle for Brooklyn (MPI; a RUMUR film directed & produced by Michael Galinsky & Suki Hawley; produced by David Beilinson) [HT177.N5 B38 2011 DVD] – A look at the battle waged by residents and business owners of Brooklyn’s historic Prospect Heights neighborhood facing condemnation of their property to make way for the Atlantic Yards project, a massive plan to build 16 skyscrapers and a basketball arena for the New Jersey Nets.
• Our Daily Poison (INA; ARTE France with the collaboration of Le RTBF-Télévision Belge in association wth YLE TV1; un film de Marie-Monique Robin) [KF1900 .O97 2011 DVD] - According to the WHO, the incidence of cancer has doubled over the last thirty years. Over this period, the increase in leukemia and brain tumors in children has been around 2% per year. The WHO has observed a similar trend for neurological diseases (Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s) and autoimmune disorders. This documentary launches an in-depth investigation into everyday products and the systems charged with regulating them, examining the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) archives.

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However, despite the abundance of publishing opportunities out there, students repeatedly return to the idea that getting published is something that only “expert” or “established” attorneys can do. This is not the case. Although getting an article published is never “easy” it is also not as daunting as it may seem. In an effort to demystify this process, this blog post, and the series of posts that follow will provide guidance and tips on how successful law students (particularly in the New York area) can break into the publishing field.

To begin this series, below please find a list of Tips to assist in this process:

Tip #1-Be Fearless

Law school (and especially the Socratic method) reinforces the idea that student opinions do not matter. However, in reality students often go as the unacknowledged experts in very discrete areas of the law due to a variety of different real-world experiences (i.e. acting as a research assistant for a professor, a clinic assignment, internship project, etc.). As a student in law school the key to getting published lies in the following steps: 1) recognizing your level of expertise; 2) developing it; and then 3)exploiting it. The lesson to be learned here is that your thoughts do have value even as a student, so long as you put in the time, thought, and effort into developing a quality product.

Tip # 2- Reduce, Reuse, RECYCLE!

In law school students are required to write constantly. Most schools have a significant upper-level writing requirement, while many individual courses require students to write on a wide variety of topics. Instead of letting all of your research go to waste, try to retool or revamp that material into a publishable format. Upper-level writing requirements can be submitted to law reviews and journals (those that accept student submissions). Memos can be updated to newsletter submissions, and even that minor research note you wrote for your internship supervisor can be redone as a blog post. This is a fantastic habit to get into as most legal jobs expect their employees/associates to contribute to the scholarship in their particular field. This sentiment is mirrored in the Preamble of the ABA’s Model Rules of Professional Conduct. Moreover, written submissions may even have the added benefit of counting toward CLE credits as your enter practice.

Tip #3-Enter a Writing Contest

Did you know there are thousands of small to large writing competitions held every year? Hundreds of these competitions are in the legal field catering to law students, but many are general competitions open to any type of student. With a little research and creativity, you can either author a new article or adapt something that you have already written. The benefit of entering a competition is that winning entries (even 2nd and 3rd places) are often offered publication in highly reputable journals that would otherwise be unavailable to students. Competitions also have the added benefit of offering prizes. The only caveat to entering a writing competition is that all rules have to be followed and deadlines met. Keep in mind that even if you do not win you may have an opportunity to get your work published elsewhere!

Tip #4- When in Doubt Collaborate

Law students in some ways are tremendously fortunate as every day they are presented with the opportunity to work with some of the top minds in their respective fields. However, that being said, it is a rare student indeed who takes advantage of these prominent professors and attorneys. The benefits of collaborating with a professor or supervising attorney are many as students may: 1) have the opportunity to be published in a high ranking journal that is otherwise unavailable; 2) develop a mentor relationship to last a lifetime; and 3) improve upon their writing style and research techniques.  The biggest challenge in collaborating with a professor or supervisor lies in creating or identifying the opportunity as opposed to just working with them in the capacity as a research assistant.

Tip #5- Think Outside the Box

As law students it is natural to feel that in order for your publication to count it has to be included in a legal journal, newsletter, or blog.  However, in this day and age of interdisciplinary studies, this limitation is no longer in effect.  As a result law students should expand their horizons to include searching for publishing opportunities in unexpected places. Some of the best places to look are in graduate and undergraduate level academic journals, newsletters and blogs.  In the alternative, business, scientific and political magazines and journals are also frequently receptive to law studen pieces.  This is especially true if the law student has some prior work and/or educational experience in these fields.

Resources

Below please find a list of some additional articles and resources encouraging law student publication:

Ian Scott, How to Publish While You Are in Law School (Feb. 18, 2012), http://lawyerist.com/publish-in-law-school/.

Mary Whisner & Ann Hemmens, Writing For and Publishing in Law Reviews (Jan. 3, 2012), http://lib.law.washington.edu/ref/lawrev.html.

Publishing, Columbia Law School, http://www.law.columbia.edu/careers/law_teaching/Publishing(last visited Mar. 31, 2012).

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Click here to read more about the Exhibit.

Hope to see you there!

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The exhibit is made up of several large, impressive panels with reproductions of documents that illustrate the conflict between the Constitution and the need to protect the republic.  The major sections are:

"Do you ever have one of those days when everything seems unconsitutional?

“Divided,” which describes the secession of the southern states; “Bound,” which examines  how Lincoln had to overcome constitutional hurdles in order to abolish slavery; and “Dissent,” which deals with civil liberties in times of war and relates Lincoln’s responses to the post-9/11 challenges faced by the United States. As author and producer Philip B. Kunhardt III noted in “Lincoln’s Contested Legacy,” his February 2009 article in Smithsonian:

[e]ach generation evokes a different Lincoln.

The exhibit should help you make up your own mind about Lincoln’s legacy. It is set up on the third floor of the Law Library - but, be quick, it’s  only there until April 11th.

On March 6, 2012, at the opening of the Lincoln Exhibit, Dean Mark Shulman discussed “What Abraham Lincoln Can Teach Us about Confronting National Security Threats in the 21^st Century.”  He analyzed Lincoln’s measured approach, made palatable by transparency, to dealing with secession, emancipation of slaves, and the suspension of habeas corpus.  If you missed this thought-provoking talk, it is available online on the Law School’s website. It is no wonder that Lincoln’s efforts spawned such controversy and that scholars continue to examine the long term effects of Lincoln’s actions.  See, for example: contemporaneous articles from Harper’s Weekly; Law Professor Daniel A. Farber’s Completing the Work of the Framers: Lincoln’s Constitutional Legacy, 27 Journal of the Abraham Lincoln Association (2006); videos from the New York Historical Society’s Lincoln Series, featuring Professor Richard J. M. Blackett from Vanderbilt University, David W. Blight, Director of Yale’s Center for the Study of Slavery, Resistance and Abolition, Professor Paul Finkelman from Albany Law School,  Professor Emeritus James M. McPherson from Princeton University; and Abraham Lincoln Institute’s annual symposiums.

 On Wednesday, March 21 at 5 p.m. in the Problem Room, there will be a second talk, this time by Professor Jeff Miller, entitled “Lincoln’s Constitution and the Unitary Executive Theory.”  This remains a hot topic as the scope of presidential authority has been no less an issue in recent times than it was during Lincoln’s tenure. See The Unitary Executive: Presidential Power from Washington to Bush, KF5050 .C35 2008, and Absolute Power: How the Unitary Executive Theory is Undermining the Constitution, KF5050 .M33 2008. 

The Law Library is also hosting “Thursday Night at the Movies” in conjunction with the Lincoln exhibit.

On March 15^th, the Law Library screened Young Mr. Lincoln (1939), starring a young Henry Fonda as Abraham Lincoln in a fictionalized version of his early career as a lawyer. If you missed it, it is available in the Law Library’s Law in Film Collection and, if you don’t know how Lincoln tripped up the eye witness to a murder on a moon bright night, you should check it out!

Upcoming in the Problem Room – 6 p.m. (and there’s free popcorn!):

March 22

The Andersonville Trial (1970), directed by George C. Scott and starring Cameron  Mitchell, William Shatner, Jack Cassidy, and Martin Sheen in an Emmy-winning dramatization of  the 1865 trial of Henry Wirz, commandant of the Confederate prison at Andersonville, Georgia.  Further discussion of the trial can be found on the Famous Trials website.

March 29                 

Glory (1989), starring Matthew Broderick, Denzel Washington, Cary Ewles, and Morgan  Freeman in a  compelling depiction of the 54th Volunteer Infantry Regiment of Massachusetts, the Civil War’s first all-black volunteer company, and its commander, Robert Gould Shaw.

April 12

The Conspirator (2010), directed by Robert Redford and staring  Kevin Kline and Robin Wright in the story of Mary Surratt, the only woman charged as a co-conspirator in the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, and the lawyer who represented her.

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Opinions that discuss the cited case in detail are presented before ones that mention the case briefly. We indicate the extent of discussion visually and indicate opinions that discuss the cited case at length, that discuss it moderately and those that discuss it briefly. Opinions that don’t discuss the cited case are left unmarked.

For example see Dique v. New Jersey State Police, 603 F.3d 181 (3d Cir. 2010). By clicking on How Cited, Google displays on how this document was cited. On the right hand side of the display, a list of cases that cited this document is now organized by the depth of discussion, which is visually indicated by either one, two, or three horizontal bars to the left of the case name. By clicking on all citing documents (in this case 84), a new page opens displaying documents citing Dique that are organized by the depth of the discussion. Nice going Google!

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In 2011, annual average unemployment rates declined in 48 states and rose in 2 states and the District of Columbia, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Employment-population ratios decreased in 24 states and the District of Columbia, increased in 19 states, and were unchanged in 7 states. The U.S. jobless rate in 2011 was 8.9 percent, down 0.7 percentage point from the prior year. The national employment-population ratio continued to trend down to 58.4 percent in 2011.

This 12-page report is available in PDF.

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This report examines the financial performance of the five major oil companies for the period 2007-2011. Both the sources and uses of revenue and profit are analyzed. The recent behavior of oil prices and company profits have led to changes in the structure of the market for oil in the United States which could have implications for gasoline prices and availability, and energy security. These issues are also analyzed in this report.

Written by Robert Pirog, Specialist in Energy Economics, and published on Feb 17, 2012, this 9-page report is available in PDF format.

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According to the report accompanying the proposed Consumer Privacy Bill of Rights, it provides for:

• Individual Control:  Consumers have a right to exercise control over what personal data companies collect from them and how they use it.
• Transparency:  Consumers have a right to easily understandable and accessible information about privacy and security practices.
• Respect for Context:  Consumers have a right to expect that companies will collect, use, and disclose personal data in ways that are consistent with the context in which consumers provide the data.
• Security:  Consumers have a right to secure and responsible handling of personal data.
• Access and Accuracy:  Consumers have a right to access and correct personal data in usable formats, in a manner that is appropriate to the sensitivity of the data and the risk of adverse consequences to consumers if the data is inaccurate.
• Focused Collection:  Consumers have a right to reasonable limits on the personal data that companies collect and retain.
• Accountability:  Consumers have a right to have personal data handled by companies with appropriate measures in place to assure they adhere to the Consumer Privacy Bill of Rights.

An article about the Consumer Privacy Bill of Rights can be found at the website of Beyond the Beltway: State and Local Government IT Market Watch.

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… provides a listing of Federal tax provisions (other than those providing time-limited transition relief after the repeal of an underlying rule) that are currently scheduled to expire in 2011-2022 (with references to the applicable section of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 or other applicable law). Expiring Federal tax provisions providing temporary disaster relief are separately listed in Part II of the document.

You may download the report in full from the Joint Committee on Taxation website. The 32-page document is available in PDF format.

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Environmental Law Collection of Legal Research Guides:

Clean Air Act Legal Research
A legal resource guide for information relating to the Clean Air Act (CAA) including primary and secondary source materials, quick links, and database resources.

Clean Water Act Legal Research
A legal resource guide for information relating to the Clean Water Act (CWA) including primary and secondary source materials, quick links, and database resources.

Environmental Crimes
This guide is designed to assist judges with deciphering the scientific and technical data involved with most environmental criminal offenses. It will also assist legal practitioners in locating resources related to federal environmental criminal law.

Environmental Legal Research Guide
Guide to federal environmental legal research, including the Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, and the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). Other federal environmental statutes are forthcoming: CERCLA, EPCRA, ESA, FIFRA, OSHA, RCRA, SWDA and TSCA.

Hydraulic Fracturing (Hydrofracking)
A legal resource guide for information relating to hydrofracking including primary and secondary source materials, quick links, and database resources.

Land Use Law Research
The search for local land use laws.

National Environmental Policy Act Legal Research
A legal resource guide for information relating to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) including primary and secondary source materials, quick links, and database resources.

New York Environmental Legal Research Guide
A legal resource guide for information relating to New York State and New York City environmental law including primary and secondary source materials, quick links, and database resources.

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Indicators of School Crime and Safety, 2011
Presents data on crime and safety at school from the perspectives of students, teachers, and principals. This annual report examines crime occurring in school as well as on the way to and from school.

Prosecutors in State Courts, 2007 – Statistical Tables
This report presents findings on felony caseloads and convictions in the 2,330 chief prosecutors’ offices in the United States that handled felony cases in state courts of general jurisdiction.

Federal Justice Statistics, 2009
Describes the annual activity, workloads, and outcomes associated with the federal criminal justice system from arrest to imprisonment, using data from Drug Enforcement Administration, U.S. Marshals Service, Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys, Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, U.S. Sentencing Commission, and the Federal Bureau of Prisons.

Capital Punishment, 2010 – Statistical Tables
Presents characteristics of persons under sentence of death on December 31, 2010, and persons executed in 2010. Preliminary data on executions by states during 2011 are included.

Census of Jail Facilities, 2006
Presents findings from the ninth in a series of complete enumerations of local jails since 1970.

Correctional Populations in the United States, 2010
Presents statistics on the number of offenders under the supervision of adult correctional authorities in the United States at yearend 2010.

Prisons in 2010
Presents data on prisoners under the jurisdiction of federal and state correctional authorities on December 31, 2010, collected from the National Prisoner Statistics series.

Prison and Jail Deaths in Custody, 2000-2009, Statistical Tables
Provides data on the number and causes of deaths that occurred in state prison or local jail custody. Data tables show national and state-level counts of persons who have died in prisons or jails from 2000 through 2009, including deaths attributed to homicide, suicide, illness, intoxication, and accidental injury.

Jails in Indian Country, 2010
Presents findings from the 2010 Survey of Jails in Indian Country, an enumeration of all jails, confinement facilities, detention centers, and other correctional facilities operated by tribal authorities or the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) on June 30, 2010.

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The following are the most recent additions to our growing Law in Film Collection

Civil War Themed:

• Shenandoah (War Film by Universal Pictures; written by James Lee Barrrett, directed by Andrew W. McLaglen, and produced by Robert Arthur) [PN1997.2 .S535 2003 DVD] - A Virginia farmer during the Civil War refuses to support either the Confederacy or the Union until his son is taken prisoner and, seeing the horrors of war first-hand, he is forced at last to take his stand.
• The General (Joseph M. Schenck presents; written and directed by Buster Keaton and Clyde Bruckman; adapted by Al Boasberg and Charles Smith) [PN1995.75 G46 2011 DVD] - Comedy based on the Civil War hijacking of the Confederate supply train The General by union spy, Captain Anderson and his men.
• The Red Badge of Courage (screenplay by John Huston; adapted by Albert Band, directed by John Huston, and produced by Gottfried Reinhardt) [PN1997.2 .R43 2003 DVD] - Classic story from the American Civil War, about a raw farm boy who, in 1862, as a recruit in the Union Army, loses his courage in the heat of battle, then regains it in a bitter conflict the following day.
• Gettysburg (produced by Robert Katz, Moctesuma Esparza; directed and screenplay by Ronald F. Maxwell) [PN1997 G477 2000 DVD] -  Depicts the famous Civil War battle which was the turning point of the war.
• The Last Days of the Civil War (2 disc compilation; A & E Television Networks; the History Channel) [PN1997.2 .L37 2003 DVD] – Explores the dynamics, people and events that characterized the end of the Civil War era.
• The Great Locomotive Chase (written and produced by Lawrence Edward Watkin; directed by Francis Lyon) [PN1997.2 .G6883 2004 DVD] - It is the story of the Andrews’ Raid, an incredible plot to cripple the railroad system of the Confederacy and break the back of the Civil War. 

Abraham Lincoln Inspired:

• Abraham Lincoln (produced by Greystone Communications, Inc. for A & E Network; produced by Martin Gillam) [PN1992.77 .A27 2008 DVD] - Describes the life of the sixteenth president of the United States, from the rough and rustic childhood that forged his beliefs to the tough political campaign that won him the presidency.
• The Conspirator (produced by Robert Redford et al.; written by James Solomon; directed by Robert Redford) [PN1997.2 .C6676 2011 DVD] -  In the wake of Abraham Lincoln’s assassination, seven men and one woman are arrested and charged with conspiring to kill the President and others. Against the ominous backdrop of post-Civil War Washington, war hero Frederick Aiken (James McAvoy) reluctantly agrees to defend the lone woman charged, Mary Surratt (Robin Wright), before a military tribunal.
• The Killing of Mary Surratt (directed, edited, produced and story by Chris King) [PN1997.2 .K552 2009 DVD] - Boardinghouse owner Mary Surratt was one of four Southern sympathizers who was tried, convicted and executed for conspiring to assassinate President Lincoln. Believed by many to have been innocent, she was nevertheless doomed to be the first woman executed by the federal government.
• The Day Lincoln was Shot (teleplay by Tim Metcalfe and John Gray; produced by Thomas Kane; directed by John Gray) [PN1992.77 .D39 2011] - April 14, 1865. Minute by minute, killer and victim edge closer to the event at Ford’s Theatre that stopped Lincoln’s heart, and shattered the country’s soul.

New Documentaries and Docudramas:

• Out of Ashes (2 discs; written, produced and directed by Marilyn Berger; co-director, Sarah Holt) [HV6432.7 .B47 2011 DVD] – A documentary featuring the inspiring story of seven 9/11 families and how they struggled to put back together the shattered American Dream.
• Pursuit of Equality (a film by Geoff Callan & Mike Shaw; directed by Geoff Callan & Mike Shaw; produced by Geoff Callan) [HQ1034.U6 P87 2007 DVD] - A documentary about San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom’s issuance of same-sex marriage licenses in 2001 and the social and legal ramifications that unfolded.
• The Times of Harvey Milk (2 discs; a film by Robert Epstein and Richard Schmiechen; produced by Richard Schmiechen; directed by Robert Epstein) [F869.S353 M549 2011 DVD] - This documentary examines the political life of the self-proclaimed “Mayor Of Castro Street,” N.Y. stockbroker turned San Francisco activist Harvey Milk, the first openly gay politician elected to public office in California.
• The Last Mountain (directed by Bill Haney; written by Bill Haney & Peter Rhodes; produced by Clara Bingham, Eric Grunebaum & Bill Haney) [TD195.C58 L37 2011 DVD] - The fight for the last great mountain in America’s Appalachian heartland pits the mining giant that wants to explode it to extract the coal within, against the community fighting to preserve the mountain and build a wind farm on its ridges instead.
• Page One (produced & written by Kate Novack & Andrew Rossi; directed by Andrew Rossi) [PN4899.N42 N3765 2011 DVD] - Gain unprecedented access to The New York Times newsroom and the inner workings of the Media Desk. With the Internet surpassing print as the main news source and newspapers all over the country going bankrupt, see the media industry transform at its time of greatest turmoil.
• Hot Coffee (HBO documentary; produced by Carly Hugo, Alan Oxman, Susan Saladoff; directed by Susan Saladoff) [KF1250 .H68 2011 DVD] - Analyzes and discuses so called “frivolous law suits” and the impact of tort reform on the United States judicial system. Discusses several cases and relates each to tort reform in the U.S.
• Prohibition (written by Geoffrey C. Ward; produced by Sarah Botstein, Lynn Novick and Ken Burns; directed by Ken Burns and Lynn Novick) [HV5089 .P964 2011 DVD] – This videodisc explores the extraordinary story of what happens when a freedom-loving nation outlaws the sale of intoxicating liquor, and the disastrous unintended consequences that follow.
• Salesman (a film by the Maysles Brothers and Charlotte Zwerin) [PN1997.2 .S25 2001 DVD] - A documentary that captures in detail the bygone era of the door-to-door salesman.

Fiction and Legal Dramas:

• Crime after Crime (a film by Yoav Potash) [HV9475.C2 .P68 2011] - In 1983, Deborah Peagler, a woman brutally abused by her boyfriend, was sentenced to 25 years-to-life for her connection to his murder. Twenty years later, California passed a law allowing incarcerated domestic violence survivors to reopen their cases. This documentary follows two attorneys who take Debbie’s case.
• People Against O’Hara (screenplay by John Monks, Jr.; directed by John Sturges; produced by William H. Wright) [PN1997.2 .P467 2011 DVD] – James Curtayne was once a brilliant defense attorney, saving scores from prison-time and death row. He now practices civil law. But when John O’Hara, a kid from the neighborhood, gets hauled up on Murder One, he allows himself to get cajoled into returning to his former vocation. It’s a mistake. The DA runs circles around the alcohol addled attorney and O’Hara now faces execution.
• The Good Wife (the first and second seasons) [PN1997.2 .G66 2010 DVD] - Follows a politician’s wife who pursues her own career as a defense attorney after her politician husband is sent to jail on charges of corruption.
• A Passage to India (a David Lean film; producers, John Brabourne, Richard Goodwin; screenplay and directed by David Lean) [PN1997 .P365 2000 DVD] - While on a trip in 1928 to visit her son, Mrs. Moore, accompanied by her son’s fiancee, is appalled at the treatment of the Indians by the ruling British government. Later, they befriend a native Indian who, over-stepping the accepted norms of his culture, invites the two ladies on an excursion.
• The Talk of the Town (produced and directed by George Stevens) [PN1997.2 .T35 2003 DVD] - A fugitive, falsely accused of murder, is aided by a schoolteacher and a Supreme Court nominee.
• The Paradine Case (David O. Selznick; adaptation by Alma Reville; treatment in consultation with James Bridie; photographed by Lee Garmes; screenplay by the producer David O. Selznick; directed by Alfred Hitchcock) [PN1997.2 .P375 2008 DVD] - Beautiful Anna Paradine is accused of poisoning her older wealthy husband. Her barrister, the happily married Anthony Keane takes the case but also lets his heart rule his head when he falls hard for his client.
• Witchfinder General (screenplay by Tom Baker and Michael Reeves; produced by Louis M. Heyward, Philip Waddilove, Arnold Miller; directed by Michael Reeves) [PN1997.2 W565 2007 DVD] - As the English Civil War rages, witch hunter Matthew Hopkins and his sadistic assistant John Stearne travel from town to town identifying, torturing and killing alleged witches and being paid well for their services.
• Margin Call (produced by Robert Ogden Barnum and Corey Moosa; produced by Michael Benaroya, Neal Dodson and Zachary Quinto; written and directed by J.C. Chandor) [PN1997.2 M365 2011 DVD] - Set in the high-stakes world of Wall Street, Margin Call is an entangling thriller involving the key players at an investment firm during one perilous 24-hour period in the early stages of the 2008 financial crisis.

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