State Law Library and Harris County Law Library Launch Partnership to Expand Digital Services

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

April 29, 2020

Today, the Texas State Law Library and Harris County Law Library announced a new partnership to expand digital services for all Texans. Beginning on Law Day, May 1, 2020, law librarians from both institutions will work together to offer expanded chat services in English and Spanish Monday through Friday. Anyone who needs assistance with legal research can contact a law librarian through either libraries’ website to access expansive collections of digital resources.

“We are excited to expand access to legal information with our partners at the State Law Library,” Harris County Law Library Director Mariann Sears said. “Each library has unique resources to support self-represented litigants, attorneys, and the judiciary. Through this partnership, we can make more of those resources available to help ensure continued access to justice as we stay home and work safe.”

Following guidance from the Supreme Court of Texas and public health officials, both law libraries suspended in-person services in March and expanded virtual services to support remote work by attorneys, judges, and self-represented litigants. Expansion of real-time chat services will further assist the legal community to work remotely following the Supreme Court’s extension of its emergency order through June 1, 2020, allowing Texas courts to postpone hearings and encourage remote participation in proceedings.

“This partnership is a great opportunity for the State Law Library to serve more Texans, especially in Harris County,” Texas State Law Library Assistant Director Amy Small said. “With a third of the Texas legal community and the state’s busiest courts, the Houston metro area has the most potential users of the State Law Library’s expansive digital collections. Working with law librarians at the Harris County Law Library and drawing on their expertise will help us connect more Texans with needed legal resources.”

The new partnership will serve as a pilot program with the goal of expanding opportunities for collaboration between Texas’s network of public law libraries. Law libraries that are interested in participating are encouraged to contact the State Law Library.

About Chat References Services

Law librarians at the Texas State Law Library and Harris County Law Library will offer real-time reference services in English, Spanish, and Farsi, Monday through Friday, from 1:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m., beginning on Friday, May 1, 2020. Visit either library website to access the chat interface and to learn more about digital services.

About the Texas State Law Library

The Texas State Law Library is a public law library that serves the legal research needs of the Texas Supreme Court, the Court of Criminal Appeals, the Office of the Attorney General, other state agencies and commissions, and the citizens of the state. Located in Austin, Texas, the State Law Library offers services and digital collections to all Texans through its website at https://www.sll.texas.gov.

About the Harris County Law Library

The Harris County Law Library opened in 1915 and has continued to serve Harris County’s legal information needs for more than a century. After joining the Office of Vince Ryan, Harris County Attorney, in 2011, the Law Library greatly expanded its technology offerings and services to the public. Today, the Law Library receives more than 60,000 visitors each year, 90% of whom are not lawyers. To learn more about services and digital collections, visit the Harris County Law Library Virtual Reference Desk at https://www.harriscountylawlibrary.org.

Criminal Justice and Criminology

Harris County Law Library is excited to tell you about a new and improved database offered by HeinOnline. Criminal Justice and Criminology features 2,159 titles, 5,866 volumes, and an astounding 2,299,540 pages of content. Formerly called Criminal Justice in America: U.S. Attorney General Opinions, Reports, and Publications, the newly updated Criminal Justice and Criminology database affords users with an historical overview of both the system under which justice is administered and the study of criminal behavior and how that study has changed the criminal justice system.

The database is divided into 16 sections: Attorney General; Crimes and Criminals; Criminal Statistics; Criminology; Drug Enforcement; Government Law; Investigation and Forensics; Juvenile Justice; Law and Procedure; Law Enforcement; Penology; Reform and Recidivism; Reminiscences; Sex Crimes; and Victimology. The collection consists of periodicals, books, attorney general reports and opinions, congressional hearings, CRS reports, GAO reports, and external links. The periodicals include student-edited journals and law reviews from law schools in the United States and peer-edited journals from top publishers plus publications covering international legal and social issues affecting people around globe. Useful for scholars, practitioners, and those in law enforcement alike, these periodicals encompass a broad range of topics from current issues in criminal law and criminal justice policy to social science research and forensic psychiatry and psychology and so much more in between. Also available are CRS Reports, research reports that provide non-partisan advice to legislators on current issues that may arise on Capitol Hill. These reports address such topics as DNA testing, immigrations-related criminal offenses, juvenile delinquency, and sex offender registration, to name a few.

There is also a LibGuide associated with the database that explains how to navigate the collection and provides search tips for using the main search bar and the Venn Diagram search (which is way cool, by the way). There are also links to other training materials, such as Searching 101 and HeinOnline’s Comprehensive User’s Guide.

Like the other databases featured on HeinOnline, Criminal Justice and Criminology is chock-full of information and interesting reading. Not included in this database is another resource for those interested in criminal law but also available on HeinOnline is Trial Manual 6 for the Defense of Criminal Cases. Read about it here

Putting an End to COVID Abuse

Amid the outbreak of the coronavirus and the numerous stay-at-home orders issued by state, county, and city officials, there has been a dangerous and unfortunate rise in the number of domestic and family violence cases. According to a recent article in the Houston Chronicle, Harris County saw a 158 percent increase in the number of aggravated family assault reports. Deputies from the Harris County Sheriff’s Office responded to a staggering 1,588 reports during the month of March, while the City of Houston reported an 8.72 percent increase in the number of domestic violence calls. In a press release issued on April 22, 2020, the City of Houston announced a partnership with the Houston Area Women’s Center (HAWC) and the Harris County Domestic Violence Coordinating Council (HCDVCC) in an effort to stem the tide of domestic violence and get the word out that there is help for these victims even during this global health crisis. As part of this initiative, ride-hailing company Uber has also announced a $50,000 grant, which will help provide rides to victims of human trafficking and family violence.

Part of this initiative rolled out by the City includes the creation of a social media campaign, #noCOVIDabuse, by HAWC and HCDVCC with safety tips, hotline numbers, and videos featuring players from MLS’s Houston Dash; a new website, nocovidabuse.org; a partnership with the Houston Food Bank and H-E-B for the printing and distribution of flyers about domestic violence; and the consideration of short-term hotel lodging for victims because of the need for social distancing.

The website, nocovidabuse.org, has information about crisis hotlines; tips for planning safety at home; a list of resources and referrals including crisis centers and shelters, counseling centers, legal aid groups, and important law enforecment numbers; and links to the websites of all community partners.

For victims living in southeast Harris County, help is also available through the Victim Assistance - Domestic Violence Unit of Harris County Constable Precinct 7. In cooperation with the Family Criminal Law Division of the Harris County District Attorney’s Office, Precinct 7 has instituted a protective order pilot program in which a case worker from the district attorney’s office assists with completing applications for protective orders each Tuesday. Harris County Constable Precinct 4 in northwest Harris County also has a Domestic Violence Unit, which investigates cases of domestic violence.

The following additional resources may also be of help to victims of domestic violence.

• AVDA: Aid to Victims of Domestic Abuse, based in Houston, providing free legal aid in Austin, Fort Bend, Grimes, Harris, Waller, and Washington counties.

• TexasLawHelp.org: Protection from Violence or Abuse / Protective Orders

  • Protective Order Fact Sheet

  • I Need a Protective Order

  • Emergency Protective Orders

  • Sexual Assault Protective Orders

• COVID-19 Family Violence FAQs from Legal Aid of Northwest Texas

The most important thing for thing for victims of domestic violence to realize is that they are not alone and that help is available, especially now.

Amended Petitions

A common question that we at the Harris County Law Library would get at the reference desk involved amending an original petition. In most cases, the patron had to submit an amended petition because they failed to check a required box on the form or they needed to change a response given in the petition. Whatever the case may be, the patron is still coming to us and looking for answers.

In our experience, TexasLawHelp.org is the source for free and reliable legal information for our self-represented litigants. This time is no different. TexasLawHelp.org has a webpage devoted to Amended Petitions in Family Law Cases. There, users can find answers to some of their most pressing issues. Topics include:

• reasons for filing an amended petition;

• deadlines for filing an amended petition;

• requirements of an amended petitions;

• service of the amended petition; and,

• the effect that the amended petition has on any waiting periods.

If you’ve been asked to submit an amended petition, don’t fret. Just visit TexasLawHelp.org for guidance. Of course, you’re always welcome to visit HCLL’s Virtual Reference Desk, too.

A Call for Justice: SCOTUS to Hear Oral Arguments via Telephone

Access to accurate information from trustworthy, authoritative sources is the key to an effective public health campaign. Maintaining reliable channels for sharing that information is just as critical. In the age of the Internet, we are bombarded with health data and facts (not to mention conjecture and outright lies), but during the flu pandemic of 1918, communicating with the public about how to best mitigate the spread of disease was definitely more of a challenge. The telephone, invented more than 40 years before the outbreak of the Spanish flu, held great promise. Although home phones were still quite uncommon, social interaction via the nascent telecommunications infrastructure of the day was a viable option for some.  

While people sheltered in place and avoided public gatherings, the telephone became an increasingly indispensable tool for maintaining life as usual. However, unlike the Internet, which consistently serves up information via a network of anonymous computers, early telephones required human intervention. Operators manually connected each caller, via a switchboard, to an intended recipient. Like computers stacked in server farms around the world, these telephone operators executed calls, connecting one node to another. Also like computers in a server farm, these telephone operators worked in very close quarters at banks of switchboards, the perfect environment for sharing not just information but germs. With so many operators falling victim to the flu and unable to work due to their illness, communication by phone became difficult. Phone companies asked callers to limit telephone use and to reserve open phone lines for doctors and drug stores. Despite the promise it held as a powerful communications tool, the early telephone had a weak link – the vulnerable human.

Strangely, as a sure sign that history does in fact rhyme, the telephone is again having a moment. Those of us fortunate to be performing our jobs from home can communicate, collaborate, and remain productive thanks to an array of sophisticated tech tools and the infrastructure that supports them. We’ve gotten comfortable with Zoom and Trello and Slack, but the telephone -- at least for spoken conversation -- has become almost vestigial. Not so for the highest court in the land. For six days in May, the United States Supreme Court will hear oral arguments by telephone. In a press release issued on April 13, 2020, the Court said:

“In keeping with public health guidance in response to COVID-19, the Justices and counsel will all participate remotely. The Court anticipates providing a live audio feed of these arguments to news media. Details will be shared as they become available.”

With so many media resources at our disposal and no shortage of real-time citizen journalists (as well as snarky would-be comedians) providing synchronous commentary on Twitter, those who listen in to the live audio will be able to monitor their various feeds as the arguments are being made. The channels for communicating have no doubt expanded, but the humble telephone is still playing a significant – indeed, historic -- role in the pursuit of justice in the time of COVID-19.