Seasons Greetings!

“In the depth of winter, I finally learned that within me there lay an invincible summer.” - Albert Camus

‘Tis the season to tell all we meet (though those numbers are of course relatively low this year due to Covid) Happy Holidays and Seasons Greetings! But which holidays do we mean? What is the season, exactly? A law librarian by day, your humble blog author is dusting off her Religion degree to present this brief and fun overview.

The Winter Solstice and its general timeframe has been seen across cultures, space, and time as an excellent moment to mark the birth or rebirth of God or the gods. In our American society, Christmas is the most obvious and omnipresent modern example. However, particularly here in Houston, the United States’ 7th most diverse city, a wide variety of celebrations take place.

Our readers may be most familiar with Hanukkah, the Jewish festival of lights. The holiday spans eight days and nights, and commemorates the rededication of the Second Temple when Jerusalem was retaken during the Maccabean Revolt against the Seleucid Empire circa 160 BCE. Prior to that time, Judaism had been made illegal, and the Temple had been defiled. It appeared there was not enough purified oil to burn in order to properly cleanse the space, but miraculously the small amount found lasted for 8 days of continuous burning. This year, it lasts from December 10th through 18th.

Hindus celebrate Pancha Ganapati, a family festival of giving that spans five days and centers on Lord Ganesha, the god of new beginnings and deva of wisdom. Each day is marked by its own color and discipline, as adherents spend the five days exchanging gifts; presenting offerings for Ganesha’s five-faced form Lord Panchamukha; and nurturing five realms of their lives: family, friends, associates, culture and religion. The festival runs from December 21 through 25.

In Iran and adjacent territories, the very old holiday of Yaldā Night is still observed, albeit in a much more casual and contemporary manner than in ancient times. Extended family units gather to share specific foods, engage in general revelry, and stay up past midnight as a nod to an old Zoroastrian belief that one must stay awake and vigilant against evil spirits on the longest night of the year. Iran does not follow the Gregorian Calendar, but the holiday generally correlates to December 20 or 21st.

Many Buddhists celebrate Bodhi Day, which marks the day Siddhartha came to enlightenment after several days of meditation beneath a bodhi tree. Reflecting the many differences among Buddhist sects around the world, this holiday goes by multiple names, and is celebrated or acknowledged in quite a wide variety of ways on different winter days, though frequently in December.

Whatever you celebrate or observe this winter holiday season, we hope it brings you happiness, and a sense of connectedness in these unusual times. Stay warm!

National Repeal (of Prohibition) Day, Dec. 5

Image by ArtTower from Pixabay

Tomorrow is National Repeal Day, which recognizes the end of Prohibition in the United States. Prohibition was the “legal prevention of the manufacture, sale, and transportation of alcoholic beverages in the United States from 1920 to 1933.”

Background of Prohibition

Prohibition became effective on January 17, 1920, with the Volstead Act, which implemented the 18th Amendment. The temperance movement is generally considered the impetus for Prohibition.

At first, Prohibition “worked” as “liquor consumption dropped, arrests for drunkenness fell, and the price for illegal alcohol rose higher than the average worker could afford.” However, there was a deep underground market for illegal alcohol, as evidenced by bootlegging and speakeasies. In addition, Prohibition contributed greatly to the rise of organized crime (mobs).

Enforcement of Prohibition

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) was responsible for enforcing Prohibition under the Volstead Act. “Violations could mean fines of up to $1,000 and months behind bars.” Enforcement was encumbered by “corruption, lack of training, and underfunding.” In 1929, enforcement shifted from the IRS to the Department of Justice, which focused on organized crime in Chicago. This led to the capture and conviction of bootlegger Al Capone for tax evasion. The U.S. Coast Guard was also involved in enforcement, charged with monitoring the coastline for smuggling operations.

Repeal of Prohibition

Polls of the public suggested a significant number of people were dissatisfied with Prohibition in 1922, and this number increased dramatically by 1926. Shortly after taking office in 1929, President Hoover appointed a commission to investigate enforcement issues and a possible repeal of Prohibition. The commission recommended modifications to the 18th Amendment, but not a repeal. At the time the recommendations came out, America was in the midst of the Great Depression. Some believe that this contributed to the repeal efforts, as they thought it would “mean new jobs, business expansion and tax revenues.”

The 1932 presidential election saw Roosevelt win over Hoover in a record landslide victory, based in part on a pro-repeal platform. Congress passed a draft of the 21st Amendment to repeal prohibition in February 1933, and nine months later, enough states had ratified it for it to become law. However, states and local governments were allowed to maintain prohibition if they chose to do so. And even today, federal law prohibits production of hard liquor at home.

Further Reading - Focus on Texas

• Texas State Historical Association: Handbook of Texas - Prohibition

• Texas Almanac - Prohibition Elections in Texas

StopTXEviction.org LiveChat Now Available

A few weeks ago, we featured on this blog a new service designed to help Texas renters stay in their homes during the pandemic. The service is a website called StopTXEviction.org.

Just yesterday, the Texas Legal Services Center informed the legal aid community that a LiveChat feature is now available on the website four days a week, Monday through Thursday, from 10:00 am to 2:00 pm. Law students, volunteer lawyers, and paralegals are ready to answer your questions about renters’ rights in Texas, while providing options to those in need of legal assistance. To receive legal advice from an attorney, users must be at or below 250% of the federal poverty level.

When LiveChat is open, you will find the 'Chat now' icon displayed on the bottom right corner of the website. Here, before proceeding, you will be asked a few basic questions about household size, family income, and child support obligations, if any.

For additional information about services offered through this website, please read our blog post on the topic (in English and Spanish) or consult the StopTXEviction.org website directly.

Ticket Help Texas

Image by succo from Pixabay

Texas Appleseed, a nonprofit organization that seeks to change unjust laws and promote social and economic justice, has collaborated with Texas Fair Defense Project to create a toolkit, Ticket Help Texas, that is designed to assist people who owe fines and fees in criminal cases but who are unable to pay. The failure to pay these fines and costs can lead to some damaging results, such as an arrest warrant, time in jail, or the inability to renew a driver’s license. Ticket Help Texas provides resources and information for people who have a Class C misdemeanor or a fine-only misdemeanor. Some of the topics for which users will find information are plea options and their consequences, deferred adjudication eligibility, renewal of a vehicle registration, and resolution of OmniBase holds. The website also offers some practical information about what you can do if you received a ticket that you are unable to pay or ordered to pay an amount that you cannot afford, if you are unsure about your ability to complete community service, if you are receiving notices from a collection agency, if the court is requiring you to obtain car insurance, and if a warrant has been issued for your arrest. There is even a section addressing occupational driver’s licenses (ODLs). (Additional information about ODLs can be found on TexasLawHelp.org.) Users will also find sample documents and forms, general advice for appearing in court, a webinar about restoring a driver’s license and resolving tickets, a glossary, and a listing of Texas legal organizations that may be able to help.

Being thankful for access to legal information

Even though we can’t be together to celebrate this season of thanksgiving, we share a great appreciation for all that we have, especially our good health and each other. Not everyone has been so fortunate during this unprecedented time, when people across the globe are losing their jobs, their homes, and, in some cases, their loved ones. While we’re keeping all of those less fortunate in mind this holiday season, we are also wishing everyone — our colleagues, friends, library patrons and all their families — abundant happiness for a safe, healthy, socially-distanced holiday. From our family at the Harris County Law Library to yours, Happy Thanksgiving.

As we reflect on the last year and all the unexpected change that 2020 has visited upon us, we’re taking a moment to reflect on the many things for which we are grateful. As law librarians, we see the positive impact access to legal information can have on individuals' lives each day, so we are always grateful for the partnerships that allow us to make information available to our patrons. We are thankful for the partnership between the Harris County Attorney's Office and the Houston Bar Association, whose ongoing support we value tremendously. We are grateful for the Houston Volunteer Lawyers and Lone Star Legal Aid to whom we refer many self-represented litigants seeking to connect with a licensed Texas attorney for free and accurate legal information and services. We are also grateful to work with TexasLawHelp.org to be a point of access for Houstonians who are in need of the legal information posted there. And we are thankful for the great many community resources, from Houston Lawyer Referral Service to TexasLegalAnswers.org to AVDA, who play such a vital role in the community. When the best information we can provide our patrons is a specialized service that connects them with a licensed attorney, these organizations are indispensable.

Finally, we are grateful for the publishers, including Westlaw, Lexis, O'Connor's, the State Bar of Texas, HeinOnline, and many more, who work with us to make their wealth of legal information open and available to all within steps of the courthouse and, this year, by remote access. We are thankful, as well, to the State Law Library of Texas, whose partnership in providing access to even more terrific databases is invaluable.

Overall, we are fortunate to work with so many dedicated, accommodating partners who share our mission of ensuring that open and equal access to legal information isn’t just a privilege but a right.