Access to Legal Information Week: July 14-20, 2019

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Today, Harris County Commissioners Court passed a Resolution recognizing July 14-20, 2019, as Access to Legal Information Week in Harris County in honor of the exemplary service to the public offered at the Harris County Law Library and the many awards recognizing the Law Library from the American Association of Law Libraries.

We would like to thank Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo for placing the item on the Court’s agenda, the County Judge and Commissioners for supporting the resolution, and Harris County Attorney Vince Ryan and Judge Daryl Moore of the 333rd Civil District Court for their kind words shared on behalf of the Law Library at today’s Court session.

Learn more about the Resolution and Access to Legal Information Week with this press release from the Office of Vince Ryan, Harris County Attorney.

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Precinct 3 Commissioner Steve Radack, Precinct 4 Commissioner R. Jack Cagle, County Attorney Vince Ryan, County Law Library Deputy Director Joe Lawson, County Law Library Director Mariann Sears, 333rd Civil District Court Judge Daryl Moore, Precinct 2 Commissioner Adrian Garcia, County Judge Lina Hidalgo, and Precinct 1 Commissioner Rodney Ellis recognized July 14-20, 2019 as "Access to Legal Information Week" during Commissioners Court, July 9.

How Children's Books Promote Access to Justice

How does a children’s reading collection assist with access to justice? Very well, actually, when you consider the statistics related to individuals in need of access to justice services. In 2018, 24,050 family law cases in Harris County, Texas, were initiated by a self-represented litigant, which accounted for 82.4% of all civil cases with self-represented petitioners and 41.5% of new family cases filed.* Such large numbers of individuals who go to court without representation is the result of a well-documented, nationwide lack of resources for legal aid for the poorest Americans and a second justice gap highlighted in the 2016 Texas Commission to Expand Civil Legal Services Releases Report that affects individuals who earn too much to qualify for legal aid, but are still unable to afford traditional legal services.

Yes, but what does that have to do with children’s books?

Well, the combination of family law issues and a lack of funds often means self-represented litigants have to venture to the courthouse and are unable to afford childcare in addition to legal services. That means the kids come, too. Frequently - more than 55,000 times in 2018 - self-represented litigants visit the Law Library to access legal information and knowledge as part of the process. Under stress and needing to concentrate, the caregivers benefit from the brief break the children’s section affords, but the benefits run much deeper than that.

“A general diffusion of knowledge being essential to the preservation of the liberties and rights of the people”

As Books Between Kids, a local non-profit organization that collects books to distribute to marginalized children throughout Houston, points out, books are often scarce and considered “luxury” items in modest-means households, which can hinder a child’s ability to participate in and complete basic education. The Legal Services Corporation Justice Gap Report indicates strong correlations between limited education, poverty, and a need for access to justice services. By providing access to age-appropriate reading material for free in partnership with the Harris County Public Library, we can give kids access to learning opportunities they might not otherwise experience. In the aggregate, that transforms thousands of visits to the courthouse and law library into opportunities to promote education, which has the potential to help thousands of kids in modest-means households avoid falling through justice gaps later in life.

A step further

The Law Library also distributes kids activity books from the State Bar of Texas. Two titles - Let’s Learn a Little About the Law and Luis Goes to Court - carry all the benefits of the children’s reading materials with the added benefit of educating kids on laws and court procedures in Texas. Available in both English and Spanish, the activity books help kids learn about the legal system. In the case of Luis Goes to Court, the activity book can even be used to help kids understand how to participate in a court proceeding as a witness. With so many family law cases in Harris County, it is a needed resource and we are pleased to collaborate with the State Bar to make it available at the point of need.

Why the Rainbow?

Law library books tend fall into “professional-looking” color palates that many might call… boring. Thanks to Helen Hartman, our summer intern who joins us from the Harris County Commissioner Precinct One LEE Internship Program, the children’s reading collection stands out in the sea of brown, navy, and burgundy! We realize this organization scheme is controversial with our public library colleagues, so we’ll apologize for any anxiety it causes and we’ll promise never to organize a larger collection this way.

*Statistics retrieved from Texas Office of Court Administration Court Activity Reporting and Directory System on February 28, 2018.

Introducing the Digital Education Nook!

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Harris County Law Library’s newest learning opportunity brings on-demand video content to all within steps of the Harris County courthouses in downtown Houston.

A Digital Content Access Point for Everyone

The Digital Access Nook is an access point for digital collections from the Law Library’s Legal Tech Institute, the Harris County Attorney’s Office, and the Texas Office of Court Administration. Content covers a variety of topics, from self-help videos to help you work with your attorney or represent yourself in court, to legal technology videos on cloud computing and artificial intelligence. Bring your headphone or use ours and immerse yourself in one of more than 40 videos focused on legal topics. With a variety of content in a fully accessible space, there is something for everyone in the Digital Education Nook!

Visit the Digital Education Nook webpage for details.

UELMA? Why, Yes, We Do!

On May 25, 2019, Governor Greg Abbott signed HB 402 into law, making Texas the 22nd state to adopt the Uniform Electronic Legal Material Act or UELMA. The record of this hard-won achievement is forever documented in the House Journal as seen here.

The Uniform Electronic Legal Material Act or UELMA has been adopted in Texas! On Friday, May 25, 2019, Governor Greg Abbott signed HB 402 into law, adding Texas to the list of 21 other states that have officially committed to the preservation and authentication of public legal information. Further, by adopting UELMA, Texas has made clear its intention to provide trustworthy, reliable access to online legal content that is permanently available in unaltered form and offered to the public free of charge whenever possible.

Navigating the legislative process over several Congressional sessions to finally secure the necessary votes and the signature of Gov. Abbott was long and difficult, and Texans, especially those who championed UELMA throughout this process, deserve a chance to celebrate. Passage of UELMA in Texas would not have been possible without the determination and perseverance of government relations advocates, especially the indefatigable Barbara Bintliff, Director of the Tarlton Law Library at the University of Texas at Austin School of Law, who began her UELMA journey nearly 10 years ago when the Authentication and Preservation of State Electronic Legal Materials Act, as it was originally called, was drafted at the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws.

There are many next steps to work out in the implementation of UELMA in Texas — the law does not take effect until September 1, 2019 — but once fully realized, this legislation will introduce changes to the ways we all access legal information, the ease with which we find that information, and the confidence we have in knowing that the information is official, reliable, and authentic. This is definitely a win for the people of Texas and for those who champion open and equal access to justice for all.

2019 UNT Open Access Symposium: Is Open Access an Answer for Access to Justice?

This year’s topic for the University of North Texas Open Access Symposium was Is Open Access an Answer for Access to Justice?  Held this past weekend at the UNT Dallas College of Law, the symposium drew speakers and attendees from a variety of backgrounds including academia, legal aid, law librarianship, and the judiciary. Joe Lawson, Deputy Director, and Heather Holmes, Assistant Law Librarian at the Harris County Law Library, were fortunate to be in attendance and also to appear as speakers on a panel called Engaging the Public.

For their contribution, Joe and Heather presented a program called Minding the Gaps, an exploration of the barriers to access that self represented litigants, especially those of low and modest means, encounter when interacting with the justice system. Joe and Heather also discussed the important role that trusted intermediaries, such as legal aid attorneys and public librarians, play in mitigating the impact of barriers to justice. Citing the work of others in the field who have written on the limitations of techno-optimism and over-reliance on digital resources, Joe and Heather presented a model for providing access — supplemented by support and guidance from trusted information professionals — to reliable, authoritative sources of legal information that pro se litigants can use to effectively engage with the courts and achieve just outcomes for their civil legal needs.

Concluding the two-day symposium was an interactive workshop called A2J By Design: Prototyping Innovative Legal Solutions with Open Legal Information. The workshop was conducted by Kelli Raker and Casandra Laskowski, librarians at Duke University School of Law. For the activity, two teams used design thinking principles to devise creative solutions for providing access to justice. Pictured here, Joe Lawson and his teammate, Jason Sowards, Law Librarian at the Nevada Supreme Court Law Library, explain their team’s project idea, an interactive kiosk for legal aid services at senior centers.