MONTHLY FEATURES: MAGNA CARTA & CONSTITUTIONAL LAW RESOURCES

During the month of June, the Harris County Law Library is commemorating Magna Carta. Don’t miss our digital exhibit and the exhibit currently on display in the Law Library's lobby, where you can explore the origins of this historically significant document and its impact on both the United States Constitution and the Bill of Rights, as well as its influence on the rule of law in Texas.

To complement our Magna Carta exhibits, the Law Library has adopted a theme, Constitutional Law Resource Month, which will feature items from our collection, including treatises, reference works, CLE course materials, form books, and other practitioner tools that may be useful in conducting constitutional law research.

The Law Library will also feature a small display of commentaries and related examples of case law that demonstrate the connections between Magna Carta and American law. All of these resources and exhibits will be featured until the end of June. Don’t miss your chance to see them, and please feel free to ask the Law Library staff any questions about the materials you discover.

Latest & Greatest – The Rights of the Accused under the Sixth Amendment: Trials, Presentation of Evidence, and Confrontation

By Paul Marcus, Joelle Anne Moreno, Tommy E. Miller, and David K. Duncan

Published by the American Bar Association Criminal Justice Section (2016)

KF 4558 .M37 2016

Recognizing that the Sixth Amendment encompasses more than just an accused’s right to counsel, the authors, hailing from diverse professional backgrounds, analyze the other protections offered by the Constitution to a criminal accused in their new book, The Rights of the Accused under the Sixth Amendment: Trials, Presentation of Evidence, and Confrontation. Divided into seven chapters, the book focuses upon the following rights: the right to a speedy trial, the right to a public trial, the right to a jury trial, the place of prosecution, the right to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusations, the Confrontation Clause, and the Compulsory Process Clause. After discussing the historical foundations of these rights, the authors delve into the essence of each entitlement and address the scope and application of the right, the waiver of such right, and recent developments surrounding that right.

Comprehensive and well-researched, The Rights of the Accused under the Sixth Amendment: Trials, Presentation of Evidence, and Confrontation provides the reader with a clear understanding of the intricacies of the rights guaranteed by the Constitution. Whether you are a seasoned criminal defense attorney or just someone who is interested in learning more about the Sixth Amendment, The Rights of the Accused under the Sixth Amendment: Trials, Presentation of Evidence, and Confrontation is a great resource. Look for it in the Criminal Section of the Harris County Law Library.

Latest & Greatest – The Records of the Federal Convention of 1787 & The Founders’ Constitution

The Records of the Federal Convention of 1787

Edited by Max Farrand

Published by Yale University Press (1937)

KF 4510 .U574 1937

To close out Constitutional Law Resource Month here at the Harris County Law Library, we would like to highlight two titles in our collection that provide some historical insight into the drafting of the United States Constitution: The Records of the Federal Convention of 1787 and The Founders’ Constitution. Read together, these two multi-volume titles set the stage for the creation and drafting of perhaps the most important document for our nation. The Records of the Federal Convention of 1787 is a chronological documentation of what occurred during the Federal Convention of 1787. It is a day-by-day journal of the proceedings gathered from the notes and manuscripts of those present at the Convention and offers a glimpse into what occurred behind the closed doors of the Convention including the votes tallied, the motions made, the speeches given, and the resolutions proffered.

The Founders’ Constitution

Edited by Philip B. Kurland and Ralph Lerner

Published by The University of Chicago Press (1987)

KF 4502 .F68 1987

The Founders’ Constitution, on the other hand, is a topical treatment of the provisions of the Constitution, including the Bill of Rights. From the fundamental documents that provide the basis for the American constitutional model to the various acts that provided the foundation for the Bill of Rights, The Founders’ Constitution traces the arguments, opinions, and philosophical beliefs that underlie the United States Constitution and gave us the document that we have today. The Founders’ Constitution, published by the University of Chicago Press, is a five-volume collection that introduces the principles upon which the Founding Fathers relied when drafting the Constitution. The first volume focuses upon the major themes of the Constitution, such as separation of powers, representation, and rights, equality, and property while the remaining volumes concentrate on the actual articles of the Constitution and the first Twelve Amendments. Each of the volumes contains essays, letters, and articles drafted by respected historical statesmen, orators, and philosophers as George Washington, James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, Thomas Jefferson, Patrick Henry, and John Locke.

So whether you are a legal or historical scholar or simply someone who is interested in learning more about the writings that comprise the foundation of the United States Constitution, come to the Harris County Law Library and have a look at these two titles.