50-State Law Surveys Cheryl Nyberg March 17, 2007 Dallas Association of Law Librarians

Preview What types of 50-state law surveys are available? Where and how are they published? How can I find a 50-state law survey on a specific topic? How does she do that?

Why Me? Compiler & editor since 1980 Identified 16,000+ surveys in 20 volumes Subject Compilations of State Laws

Subject Compilations 21 volumes 1970s-date Annual 17,000+ state law surveys Hundreds of subjects

Survey Says... List Identify Describe Summarize Reprint

Charts Sometimes include citations Examples − An Overview of Abortion Laws [link]link − Third-Party Visitation [link]link

Tables Usually include citations Examples − Gift Cards & Gift Certificates [link]link − State Laws & Published Ordinances—Firearms [link]link

Summaries Usually include citations Examples − Congress Passes Prohibition of Qualified Civil Claims Against Gun Manufacturers and Distributors [link]link − State Pet Shop Laws [link]link

Full Text Examples − Clergy as Mandatory Reporters of Child Abuse & Neglect [link]link − Open Government Guide [link]link

Sources Law review articles Books & looseleaf services Websites & commercial databases Federal & state documents Court briefs & opinions

Sources

How Does She Do That? Law Reviews

They Call Me “Flipper”

Law Reviews 700+ US law school, association & commercially published periodicals Most indexed in the Current Index to Legal Periodicals [link]link

Last Week 63 issues 404 articles 15,177 pages

Using Law Reviews LexisNexis & Westlaw versions link to statutes [link]link Except: tables & charts may be omitted or not linked [link]link

Using Law Reviews Hein Online PDFs don’t allow text selection Use “View Text” option OR Use Adobe online conversion tools [link]link

On the Internet 80+ from the last 3 years Findlaw [link]link Law Reviews Online [link]link USC Legal Journals [link]link

Brainstorm! 6.Abortion (159) 7.Attorneys (155) 8.Limited liability companies (152) 9.Sodomy (142) 10.Health insurance (141)

Top Five Subjects?

Top Five Subjects 5.Sex offenders (162) 4.Sexual abuse of children (174) 3.Labor law (193) 2.Living wills (284) 1.Capital punishment (328)

Super Subjects Business & commerce Criminal Family Health & medicine Labor

Books & Looseleafs

Law for the Layperson

How Does She Do That? Books & Looseleaf Services

They Call Me “Flipper”

Sources: Print Current Publications in Legal & Related Fields (Rothman) Law Books & Serials in Print (Bowker) Legal Looseleafs in Print Book reviews, footnotes, etc.

Sources: Online Amazon [link]link LX [link] & WL [link]link OCLC WorldCat [link]link Publisher catalogs & websites IndexMaster [link]link

How Does She Do That? Websites

Citation Searching Ann.44 states Stat.25 states Code23 states Rev.14 states Google

Subject with “states have laws” “state laws on” “state statutes on” “state regulation of”

To Be Fruitful, Multiply! Multiple searches Multiple search engines

Search Engines Search Engine Watch [link]link Meta search engines − Clusty [link]link − Dogpile [link]link − Kartoo [link]link

The Usual Suspects Associations Government agencies Public interest organizations

Brainstorm! Abortion Animals Criminal justice Education Firearms Freedom of information Seniors Traffic

Abortion Guttmacher Institute [link]link NARAL Pro- Choice America [link]link

Animals Animal Legal & Historical Center [link]link Animal Protection Institute [link]link Humane Society of the US [link]link

Criminal Justice Am. Prosecutors Research Institute [link]link Legal Momentum [link]link National Center for Victims of Crime [link]link

Education Education Commission of the States [link]link Home School Legal Defense Association [link]link

Firearms National Rifle Association [link]link US Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco & Firearms [link]link

Freedom of Information Freedom of Information Center [link]link Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press [link]link

Seniors AARP Public Policy Institute [link]link National Center on Elder Abuse [link]link

Traffic Insurance Institute for Highway Safety [link]link US National Highway Traffic Safety Admin. [link]link

Un-Subs Encyclopedia of Associations (WL: EOA) Associations on the Net [link]link Gateway to Associations [link]link InfoPlease, US Societies & Associations Directory [link]link

National Conference of State Legislatures 200+ surveys Surveys & legislation tracking databases [link]link

More Treasures Congressional Research Service reports [link]link Findlaw [link]link

SURVEYS =

SURVEYS Sources Leiter, National Survey of State Laws, 5 th ed. West-created Legal Research Center, Inc.

WL Sources Not in SURVEYS Causes of Action 2d (COA) Lobbying, PACS & Campaign Finance (LOBBYPCF) Religious Organizations & the Law (RELORGS)

Child labor Disability discrimination Drug testing Family & medical leave Military leave New hire reporting Plant closing Polygraph testing Protected classes Smoking Unemployment insurance Voting leave Whistleblowers

More Subscription Services ADR World [link]link Am. Insurance Ass’n [link]link Am. Resort Development Ass’n [link]link ComplianceAid [link]link 50 State HIPAA Privacy Study [link]link LienLawOnline [link]link National Ass’n of Boards of Pharmacy [link]link

Government Documents Targeted Internet searches Catalog of US Government Publications [link]link National Technical Information Service [link]link The Usual Suspects StateList [link]link

Evaluate Best available? Current enough? Acceptable format?

Update & Enhance Shepard’s Brief Suite [link]link WestCiteLink [link]link

Praline Ponders the Possibilities Subject Compilations LexisNexis & Westlaw Targeted web searches Usual suspects & Un-subs LawLib & Phone-a-friend

Cheryl Nyberg (206) Slideshow at _cheryl/07dall.ppt