The Sun Also Stands Still

Today is the first day of summer, the longest day of the year with more than 14 hours of sunlight in the Houston area. On this day, the sun will reach its northernmost point, seeming to stand still. People around the world will mark the occasion with feasts, festivals, and other festivities, including rituals that honor the sun. We’re celebrating the day in the way we know best -- by sharing information. We’ve compiled a short list of interesting cases that involve the hallmarks of summer -- sunburn, mosquitoes, ice cream, barbeque, and theme parks. We're also sharing a bit of etymology.

Interestingly, the summer solstice has somewhat of a connection to the law. The word solstice is derived from the Latin solstitium, meaning the point at which the sun stands. It combines sol (sun) with the past participle stem of sistere (to stand, stay, set, or place). The stare in stare decisis derives from the same root. Its literal meaning, let the decision stand, is the basis for establishing legal precedent. In Houston, we feel the blaze of the sun all summer long as it seemingly stands still for three (or more) uninterrupted months. There is definitely precedent for the kind of heat we experience annually, and it is sure to get even hotter. Happy Solstice!

Five Years of Progress at the Harris County Law Library

We here at the Harris County Law Library are proud to present our latest five year report, "Five Years of Progress: 2013-2017." On January 1, 2013, we opened our doors to our new space on the first floor of Congress Plaza here in downtown Houston, and the transformation has been tremendous. Since that day, our foot traffic has doubled, and our digital resource usage has increased more than 400%, while our cost per patron has plummeted. As our robust public education programs continue to grow, we could not be more excited for the next five years - and beyond! 

Check out the report to learn all about our services, programs, and accomplishments. 

Tech Tuesday: Converting Documents to PDF/A for E-filing

The Judicial Committee on Information Technology (JCIT) has established technology standards to ensure the "systematic implementation and integration of technology in Texas' trial and appellate courts." The current JCIT Standard, which is available in its entirety on the website of the Texas Judicial Branch, includes guidelines for proper e-filing in Texas courts and specifically states that documents be submitted as PDF files for long-term preservation. It further states that PDF documents be created with a PDF distiller, thus saving the converted document for preservation and retaining its printed appearance. With this requirement, the JCIT addresses the practice that some attorneys still routinely engage in -- printing a document created in Microsoft Word, for example, and scanning it to create a necessary PDF file. Using a PDF distiller not only allows users to avoid wasting paper, but, by converting the file digitally, the resulting document is JCIT Standards compliant.

To save your MS Word document as a PDF, simply click File > Save As > Save as file type. By default, your document will be saved as a plain Word document with the file extension .doc. Simply click on the Save as type drop-down menu to view your options, and scroll down to select PDF. Just that easily, your document will be saved as a .pdf. Mission accomplished! However, to make your document truly standards compliant, you must take one additional action.

Once you select PDF as your file type, you will see an Options button in the dialog box. Clicking on this button opens yet another small window, which is pictured here. At the bottom of the Options menu is a list of three items related to the saving of PDF documents, including an option to select the ISO 19005-1 compliant (PDF/A) version. Once you've checked the box for this selection, your document will be entirely compliant with the JCIT Standards, which require all documents e-filed in Texas to conform to the specifications of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), which has established standards for writing, reading, displaying, and interacting with PDF documents.

To learn more about what makes the PDF/A file type so special, visit the Library of Congress online to read about their use of PDF/A documents for preservation. Two additional sources about the PDF/A format are PDF/A in a Nutshell and PDF/A - the standard for long-term archiving, a white paper published by the PDF Association. Finally, the Harris County Law Library has a new handbook called The Ultimate Guide to Adobe Acrobat DC which is shelved at the Reference Desk in our Legal Tech Collection.

If you ever need assistance with this or any other tech topic, join us on Thursday afternoons at 2:00 in the Law Library's Legal Tech Lab for hands-on legal tech training, brought to you the Legal Tech Institute at Harris County Law Library.

Latest & Greatest – Conflicts in Space and the Rule of Law

Edited by Maria Manoli and Sandy Belle Habchi

Published by McGill University Centre for Research in Air and Space Law

KZD 1145 .M366 2017

The newest edition to the space law collection at Harris County Law Library is Conflicts in Space and the Rule of Law, a selection of papers that had been presented at the 4th Manfred Lachs Conference on Conflicts in Space and the Rule of Law held in Montreal, Canada.  An interdisciplinary look at issues facing the exploration and commercial exploitation of outer space, Conflicts in Space and the Rule of Law examines technological developments that provide greater accessibility to the far reaches of the universe and the new threats that emerge with the advent of these advances. In this regard, the papers cover such topics as anti-satellite technologies, security concerns in and regulatory control of the Proto-zone, and conflicts relating to radio frequency interference. The participants also considered areas of potential conflict, such as those involving space weapons, active debris removal, and the selling of lunar resources. From a legal standpoint, some of the issues tackled included the intersecting challenges of space security and cybersecurity, the legal challenges arising from the action of non-state actors in outer space, and the rules of engagement for military space operations. Lastly, Conflicts in Space and the Rule of Law looks to the future by analyzing the prospects for space arms control and global space governance.

If the future of outer space is of interest to you, have a look at Conflicts in Space and the Rule of Law. Another book in the Monograph Series that might pique your curiosity is NewSpace Commercialisation and the Law, which was featured in a previous Latest & Greatest blog post.

By the way, in case you were wondering, the conference is named for Manfred Lachs, a Polish diplomat and jurist who was a great influence on the development of international law following World War II.

LGBT Legal Resources

The Harris County Law Library is highlighting LGBT legal resources throughout the month of June. Visit the Law Library to view our exhibit, currently on display, where you can learn more about the following

• Lawrence v. Texas; 539 U.S. 558 (2003);123 S. Ct. 2472; 156 L. Ed. 2d508; 71 U.S.L.W. 4574
• Obergefell v. Hodges; 576 U.S. ___  (2015); 135 S. Ct. 2584; 192 L. Ed. 2d 609; 83 U.S.L.W. 4592
• Don't Ask, Don't Tell Repeal Act of 2010; Pub. L. 111–321, Dec. 22, 2010, 124 Stat. 3515

along with selected resources from the Law Library's print collection including:

• Transgender Persons and the Law 
• Sexual Orientation and the Law
• Estate Planning for Same-Sex Couples
• The Impact of Marriage equality on Texas Law (State Bar of Texas CLE)

Additional LGBT legal resources are available via our electronic databases. In particular, the HeinOnline Law Journal Library contains a number of scholarly legal publications, including the Dukeminier Awards Journal, which recognizes the best sexual orientation and gender Identity law review articles of each year, dating back to 2001. A full archive of back issues is available on HeinOnline and on the journal's website at the University of California Los Angeles Law School.

More resources will be highlighted here on Ex Libris Juris throughout the month. Check back often to learn more about other LGBT legal resources and landmark documents in the civil rights battle for LGBT equality.