Remote Access to HeinOnline

HeinOnline is consistently recognized as one of the best, most indispensable legal websites, especially for accessing legal scholarship. As the world's largest image-based academic and legal research platform, HeinOnline -- and the Law Journal Library in particular -- provides a wealth of fully searchable content including an extensive archive of legal publications in full-text PDF. 

Not only is the website an incredible respository of information, but so is the HeinOnline app. Within the app, users can access content by citation, browse by volume or collection, navigate using the electronic table of contents or by using the same advanced search tool that makes Hein's website functionality so robust. Users of the HeinOnline app can download articles in PDF format, save them to their devices, or share them with colleagues. And, to make the user experience even better, they can do so remotely, making the full functionality of HeinOnline available to any interested patrons during the library’s closure.

To gain remote access to HeinOnline via the HeinOnline app, first download the program to your device. Click here for Android or here for the iPhone. Then, authenticate your device by accessing the database while connected to the Harris County Guest Wi-Fi network that is available in all Harris County courthouses. Once IP authenticated, your device will be database-enabled from any location for 30 days. At the end of that period, visit the Harris County courthouse complex once again to re-authenticate and never be without access to HeinOnline!

This link to the HeinOnline App User's Guide is a bit dated, but its explanation of how the authentication process works is still valid. If you have any questions, please ask the library staff for assistance. We're happy to help you gain the full benefits of using our resources and to support you in your legal research needs.

The Hatch Act and Social Media

After the Republican National Convention concluded last week, watchdog groups and others (see links below) began questioning President Trump’s decision to deliver his nomination acceptance speech from the South Lawn of The White House. Some were appalled by the decision, calling it a major ethical breach and a flagrant violation of the Hatch Act. Others say that the incumbent candidate’s use of official government property as a venue for campaign activities was perfectly permissible. A third undecided group questioned not the legality, but the propriety of the act. For this group, delivering a campaign speech at The White House was “problematic” and a break from tradition, but not prohibited. President Trump failed only at optics, they say, not ethics.

Regardless of your perspective or your interpretation of the law, events at the RNC have shined a spotlight on an important, but somewhat controversial law called the Hatch Act of 1939, An Act to Prevent Pernicious Political Activities. Here’s what you need to know:

• The Hatch Act of 1939, named for Senator Carl Hatch of New Mexico, is a federal statute that prohibits certain federal employees (defined in 5 U.S. Code § 7322) from carrying out­­­ partisan political activities while on duty, in a government building, while wearing an official uniform or insignia, or while using an official vehicle.

• The Merit Systems Protection Board and the Office of Special Counsel are responsible for enforcement of the Hatch Act.

• The president and vice president are exempt from the Hatch Act, but federal civilian executive branch employees involved in the logistics or planning of a politically partisan activity are not. Advocates for enforcing Hatch Act provisions in the wake of the RNC argue this very point. They are calling for an investigation by the OSC into the role that executive branch civil servants may have played in assisting with arrangements for RNC events on government property.

 Hatch Act in the News

• Op-Ed: President Trump is blatantly violating the Hatch Act. Where’s the outrage? – Erwin Chemerinsky, Los Angeles Times, August 25, 2020

• What Is the Hatch Act? Is Trump Violating It at the R.N.C.? – New York Times, August 26, 2020

• Focus on Trump’s official White House actions as part of Republican convention programming raises Hatch Act concerns – The Washington Post, August 26, 2020

• Trump Shatters Ethics Norms By Making Official Acts Part Of GOP Convention – NPR, August 26, 2020

• There was nothing unlawful or improper about Trump's acceptance speech – David B. Rivkin Jr. and Lee A. Casey, The Hill, August 29, 2020

Hatch Act and Social Media

In response to questions from executive branch civil servants about the appropriate use of social media under the Hatch Act, the OSC prepared the Hatch Act Guidance on Social Media and the Hatch Act Social Media Quick Guide, which is reproduced here:

Service of Process Through Social Media Approved by Texas Supreme Court

Image credit: https://pixabay.com/

In 2013, a bill was introduced in the Texas legislature to allow substituted service through social media websites. We wrote about if for this blog in August 2018. The 2013 bill was never referred to committee, and the subject was not addressed again until last year when the Texas Legislature enacted Senate Bill 891. This bill directed the Texas Supreme Court to adopt rules under Section 17.033, Civil Practice and Remedies Code that would “provide for the substituted service of citation by an electronic communication sent to a defendant through a social media presence.”

According to the high court’s Order, “the court may authorize service…in any other manner, including electronically by social media, email, or other technology, that…will be reasonably effective to give the defendant notice of the suit.” In deciding to authorize substituted service in this manner, the court may consider such factors as: the defendant maintains a social media page on the specified website; the profile on the social media page is indeed the profile of the defendant; the defendant regularly accesses the social media account; and the defendant can reasonably be expected to receive actual notice if the electronic communication is sent to the defendant’s social media account.

The amendments will take effect on December 31, but public comments submitted to the court until December 1, will be considered if any changes to the amendments are deemed necessary.

Get Free Public Access to the LexisNexis Digital Library eBook Collection Today!

The Harris County Law Library is excited to announce the launch of a new public service. Beginning this week, the Law Library will offer public access to the LexisNexis Digital Library. This collection of more than 100 titles contains full-text, searchable, digital versions of many popular practice guides such as Dorsaneo’s Texas Litigation Guide, Texas Transaction Guide, Texas Criminal Practice Guide, Texas Family Law Practice & Procedure, and Moore’s Federal Practice. Also included are several popular treatises including Appleman on Insurance, Collier on Bankruptcy, and Corbin on Contracts. A full list of available titles in our Digital Collection is available here.

Sign up to access our Digital Collection on our Lexis eBook Account Request page. Once you submit the form, Law Library staff will create your personal account and email you a username and password. You will then be ready to check out any volume in the collection.

LexisNexis ebooks can be read on any internet-connected device. Use your favorite browser (Google Chrome is recommended for the best navigation experience), or read on the go by downloading the Digital Library app from the Apple App Store or Google Play. After installing the app, you will be prompted to enter a library code: harriscountylaw. Then sign in with your username and password.

If you have access to LexisAdvance (sign up here for a free public access account), you can link directly to the cases and statutes cited in the ebooks. You can also markup the text, and keep notes and highlights even after you have returned a volume to use the next time you check it out!

If you have any questions about the LexisNexis Digital Library eBook Collection, please contact our Virtual Reference Desk. For training materials and user guides, visit the LexisNexis Digital Library training page.

After the Moratorium: National Eviction Resources and Data

Image by https://pixabay.com/users/Clker-Free-Vector-Images-3736/

A provision of the CARES Act which has, so far, protected millions of people from losing their housing, is set to expire on July 25, 2020. Potentially, many residents of Harris County (and the rest of the nation) could be facing eviction. In response to the need for reliable information about housing instability, we’ve posted a number of helpful resources in this blog. In May, we wrote about the eviction moratoria issued at the federal and state levels, and in June, we provided links to information and self-help tools from Texas Law Help and Lone Star Legal Aid for those at risk of losing their homes. Now we are offering a bird’s eye view of eviction across our country, providing links to resources that present both national and state-by-state data.

• As Protections Expire, Millions Of Americans Face Threats Of Eviction – NPR Morning Edition, July 21, 2020 (Audio)

  • 6-minute nutshell interview with Matt Desmond, author of Evicted and founder of the Princeton Eviction Lab

• STOUT interactive eviction tool -- Developed by Stout Risius Ross, LLC (STOUT) with input from National Coalition for a Civil Right to Counsel (NCCRC)

  • Provides access to data on estimated number of tenants experiencing rental shortfalls along with data showing tenant confidence levels in their ability to pay next month’s rent.       

• COVID-19 Housing Policy Scorecard – Princeton Eviction Lab

  • See the list of additional COVID-19 housing resources and tools built by other organizations

• COVID-19 Protections for Homeless Populations -- National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty

  • See compiled list of COVID-19 Resources on Housing Alternatives

• Eviction Moratorium Maps – Regional Housing Legal Services (RHLS)

  • Presents a graphic visualization of moratoria in effect in each state, at each phase of eviction

• Federal Eviction Moratoriums — National Low Income Housing Coalition

  • Searchable database and map allow some renters to identify if their home is covered by the CARES Act eviction moratoriums

• Just Shelter

  • Identifies organizations that preserve affordable housing, prevent eviction, and reduce family homelessness; Presents personal eviction stories

• The Scarlet E: Unmasking America’s Eviction Crisis – On the Media (Audio)

  • A four-part series on the “eviction epidemic” in this country; Hosted by Brooke Gladstone