Harris County Law Library
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April is known for many things including rain showers and reveries of Paris. It also signals the start of spring, a season of birth, growth, and renewal. Clouding the fresh bloom of its arrival, however, is a dreaded annual visitor -- the taxman. Fortunately, April is National Poetry Month as well, the perfect celebration to inspire the spirit and banish thoughts of the tax collector's exacting toll.
We at the Harris County Law Library can think of no better way to send the taxman back to his ledger book than to share a poem. As we celebrate National Poetry Month (as well as Tax Law Resource Month), a bit of written verse may be just what we all need. Recognizing both of April's themes, we've selected a poem by the famous Russian writer, Vladimir Mayakovsky, entitled "Talking with the Taxman About Poetry" which you can read here in full on the Poetry Foundation's website. (Mayakovsky would celebrate his 125th birthday this year. He took his own life on April 14th, 1930, but in the years since his death, his popularity has continued to grow.)
For more poetry and judicial verse, visit the Law Library's National Poetry Month exhibit. Currently on display in the lobby, this exhibit features legal opinions written in rhyme. Inspired by various sources including Edgar Allan Poe, Dr. Seuss, and Leann Rimes, these opinions reflect the wit and wisdom of their authors as well as the occasional levity of the court. For more examples of parody and verse in legal decisions, visit the Gallagher Law Library Judicial Humor page.
April is National Poetry Month, and the Harris County Law Library is celebrating. We're shining a spotlight on the Poetry of the Bench and Bar with an exhibit featuring poetic judicial opinions and poems written by and about attorneys. Visit the Law Library all month long to view the exhibit.
March Madness has struck, and the Harris County Law Library has a cure. If you are a Houston Bar Association member who is participating in the Bracket Challenge, or just a college basketball fan in need of some guidance in completing your bracket, the Harris County Law Library can help! We have assembled a March Madness Research Guide with information and links to insider data from sports experts at ESPN, SB Nation, Sports Illustrated, FoxSports, the Bleacher Report, and more. Get the inside scoop from experienced basketball pros, such as statisticians, researchers, and correspondents, as well as former players who know the game from the inside out. On the line-up are:
Chris Dobbertean: College basketball contributor and resident bracketologist at SBNation and editor of Blogging the Bracket
Reid Gettys: Part-time NCAA basketball analyst for ESPN, lead attorney for ExxonMobil, and part of the "Phi Slama Jama" era of the early 1980s, who participated in three Final Fours and had two national championship appearances. Follow him on Twitter @reidgettys.
Joe Lunardi: College basketball analyst for ESPN who is best known for creating Bracketology. He correctly predicted all 65 teams to appear in the 2008 NCAA Tournament and all 68 teams for the 2013 tournament. Wow!
Jerry Palm: Resident Sports Geek at CBS Sports and a pioneer in predicting the March Madness bracket and in understanding the tournament selection process. Follow him online at CBS Sports, NCAA Basketball.
John Rothstein: College Basketball Insider for CBS Sports and host of the College Hoops Today podcast, as well as a driving force behind Bleacher Report. Get the app here for Apple and Android.
Check out what these and other NCAA basketball experts have to offer in helping you build your bracket. Click on the image above to view the Harris County Law Library Research Guide for even more tips from the pros. Good luck, bracket hopefuls. May the best bracket win!
In 1925, the historian, Carter G. Woodson, called for a week-long celebration to recognize the contributions of African Americans in the development of our country. Negro History Week was celebrated for the first time in 1926 and expanded to a full month in 1976, the year of our nation's sesquicentennial. President Gerald R. Ford urged Americans to "seize the opportunity to honor the too-often neglected accomplishments of black Americans in every area of endeavor throughout our history."
This year, the tradition continues. In the presidential proclamation issued by the White House on January 31, 2018, a special theme was designated commemorating the contributions of African Americans in Times of War. To educate and inform the public about the significant contributions of African Americans in combat, the National Archives has assembled an extensive list of resources called Blacks in the Military.
We at the Harris County Law Library hope to do our part in honoring National African American History Month. We'd like to call greater attention to the many notable African Americans who have played such crucial roles in shaping the law and achieving civil rights. With a special exhibit, we honor the first African American to rise to the bench of the U.S. Supreme Court and perhaps the most influential African American lawyer in U.S. history -- Justice Thurgood Marshall.
An exhibit commemorating the extraordinary life of Justice Marshall will be on display in the Law Library lobby throughout the month, and a digital exhibit is available on the Law Library's website.
For additional digital resources celebrating African American history and the remarkable life of Justice Thurgood Marshall, please visit the following sites:
Biography.com -- Thurgood Marshall: A Justice for All (VIDEO)
Thurgood Marshall Center for Service and Heritage
Smithsonian National Museum of African American History & Culture
What’s behind the name? “Ex Libris Juris” is Latin for “from the books of law” and much of the information here will relate to the legal information collected and curated by the Law Library. Additionally, “Ex Libris” has long appeared on bookplates – labels appearing inside the front cover of books – and has acquired the connoted meaning “from the library of” to show ownership of the book. Using this connotation, the phrase becomes “from the library of law” and better describes the posts about digital resources, event announcements, and research tips that will regularly appear here.
