Researching Native American Law

Native American law covers the body of law concerning American Indian tribes and their interactions with federal and state authorities, as well as among themselves. Historically, Native American law has been chiefly influenced and shaped by federal Indian policy. Tribes are generally considered self-governing, independent entities. However, this independence is subject to the power of Congress to regulate the status of tribes.

A distinction worth noting is the fact that tribal law deals specifically with the internal law which governs the affairs of each tribe and its members. Sources of tribal law include oral tradition, tribal constitutions and codes, as well as codes borrowed from other sources.

We do have a Legal Research Subject Guide available on the topic of Tribal Law. I will admit that it does need some updating so you might want to search through our catalog as well. The following search terms are useful when using the library catalog, databases and other online sources: American Indian law, federal Indian law, Indian law, Native American law, tribal law.

For research out of the law library, I have found the Native American Rights Fund’s National Indian Law Library to be a wonderful resource. From their website:

The National Indian Law Library (NILL) is a public law library devoted to federal Indian and tribal law. Our mission is to develop and make accessible a unique and valuable collection of Indian law resources and other information relating to Native Americans. NILL places special emphasis on fulfilling the information needs of Indian law advocates and others working on behalf of Native Americans.

They have a listing of resources by topic which I have found to be very useful.

Just browsing this database gives you an incredible perspective on the issues that face Native Americans.

I encourage you to take a look at this site and if you have any questions with regards to researching Native American Law, feel free to contact me!

W. Blake Wilson
Instructional Librarian

KU Public Interest Law Society off to a busy start

The year is off to a good start for the KU Public Interest Law Society (KUPILS). Our hallmark event, Casino Night, is shaping up to be a hit, in no small part, because of the generous donation by Alvamar Country Club of the use of its banquet hall. The money raised supports the Public Interest stipends, which help students afford to work in volunteer public interest jobs in the summer.

In addition to Casino Night, PILSians are once again active in the Guardianship Assistance Program (GAP). This program assists low-income families in Sedgwick County in obtaining guardianship papers for dependent family members. One particularly encouraging sign is the amount of interest shown by this year’s 1Ls — the GAP training session recently had nearly ten 1L members participate. The student volunteer work saves these families about $2,000 each in legal bills every year.

KUPILS is also proud to again be participating in the Human Rights Symposium in the spring semester. We are cooperating with the International Law Society and the Islamic Law Students Association. KUPILS has invited Angela Ferguson, a noted immigration attorney from Kansas City, to speak on immigration issues and human rights.

It’s an exciting year to participate in PILS and we’re looking forward to all of the public interest supporting events throughout the year.

Jon Ruhlen, 2L

Lawrence abounds with activities even for the budget-conscious

My name is Juliette Nguyen and I am a 1L at KU Law. I have had many recent conversations with my classmates who did not attend KU for their undergraduate degree. It appears that there are students not familiar with the Lawrence area that would like to know more about what this town has to offer outside of the law school.

Many KU students will tell you a major reason they enjoy going to KU is because of Lawrence itself. The American Institute for Economic Research ranks Lawrence ninth on its list of the 75 best college towns. Simply knowing that Lawrence is a great college town is not enough for you to be able to find things to do, especially if you are trying to stick to a budget. To solve this problem, I will give you a few tips on what things Lawrence has to offer for people on a budget.

Student Union Activities (SUA)

SUA is a student organization that is known for planning events for the entire KU community. On certain weekends, students can attend free cosmic bowling courtesy of SUA. People can watch movies at the Union for $2 with a KU ID. It is only $3 for the general public. Their website has a list of movie times and dates. A few upcoming movies for this semester are: Sex and the City 2, Toy Story 3, Predators, Dinner for Schmucks, Inception, and Eat Pray Love.

SUA also hosts celebrities to come and perform at affordable prices. Recently many students attended a sold out show of the comedian Aziz Ansari at the Lied Center. Another celebrity that will be coming to KU is the famous Hip Hop Artist B.o.B. on October 7. If you like slam poetry, SUA is bringing the “Dynamic Duo” to campus on October 4 for free.
www.suaevents.com

Movies

I have had students ask me if there is a movie theatre in Lawrence. The answer is yes. Southwind 12, located on south Iowa Street, offers many movie choices. Since it is not a very big movie theater, people often drive about 30 minutes to Olathe for dinner and movie. Liberty Hall on Mass. Street also offers movies, but they tend to offer more Independent Films.

Massachusetts Street

You will come to know it as Mass for short. I assume by now that many of you have already experienced what great things Mass has to offer. If you have not, then I highly recommend you do so as soon as you get a chance. Among the numerous local bars, Mass also has great local restaurants and shops. These stores often have specials on certain days or discounts, so just do a little research before hand. Mass is also a great place to get coffee or ice cream on a nice day and just walk down the street. You will always see interesting people sitting around Mass.

KU Recreation Services

It is popularly know as the Rec. If you have not had a chance to go to the Rec, then you may not know it has a lot to offer outside of workout machines. There are basketball courts and racquetball courts. Don’t have a basketball or racquet? You can rent basketballs and other equipment at the Rec for free. When you enter, you will immediately notice the rock climbing wall which is open from 4:30 p.m.-10:30 p.m. You simply sign up; the Rec has shoes and harnesses for you to rent for free. If you would like to take a break from your homework, then you should attend a KU Fit class. Individual classes cost $3 or you can purchase semester long pass for $50. The Rec also has a variety of intramural sports available. These activities can help you relax for a bit from the stress or give you something to do during any free time.
www.recreation.ku.edu

Juliette Nguyen, 1L

Wheat Law Library celebrates Banned Books Week

Banned Books Week
September 25−October 2, 2010

This is Banned Books Week (BBW), an annual event celebrating the freedom to read and the importance of the First Amendment. Held during the last week of September, from Saturday to Saturday, Banned Books Week highlights the benefits of free and open access to information while drawing attention to the harms of censorship by spotlighting actual or attempted bannings of books across the United States.

The following bibliography represents the top ten books challenged, restricted, removed, or banned in 2009, out of 460 challenges, as reported in the Newsletter on Intellectual Freedom.

  1. ttyl; ttfn; l8r, g8r (series), by Lauren Myracle

Reasons: drugs, nudity, offensive language, sexually explicit, unsuited to age group

The series focuses on friendship throughout High School. Its main characters are Maddie (Madigan) Kinnick (screen name madmaddie), Zoe Barrett (zoegirl), and Angela Silver (SnowAngel).

  • And Tango Makes Three, by Peter Parnell and Justin RichardsonReasons: homosexuality

    The book is based on the true story of Roy and Silo, two male Chinstrap Penguins in New York’s Central Park Zoo. The book follows part of this time in the penguins’ lives. The pair were observed trying to hatch a rock that resembled an egg. When zookeepers realized that Roy and Silo were both male, it occurred to them to give them an egg to hatch. A second egg was obtained from a male-female penguin couple which had previously been unable to successfully hatch two eggs at once. Roy and Silo hatched and raised the healthy young chick, a female named “Tango” by keepers, together as a family.

  • The Perks of Being a Wallflower, by Stephen ChboskyReasons: anti-family, drugs, homosexuality, offensive language, religious viewpoint, sexually explicit, suicide, unsuited to age group

    The story explores topics such as introversion, teenage sexuality, abuse, and the awkward times of adolescence through the eyes of an autistic boy who calls himself “Charlie,” a self-proclaimed “wallflower.” The book also touches strongly on drug use and Charlie’s experiences with it. As the story progresses, various works of literature and film are referenced and their meanings discussed.

  • To Kill A Mockingbird, by Harper LeeReasons: offensive language, racism, unsuited to age group

    Taking place during the Great Depression and narrated by six-year-old Scout Finch who lives with her brother Jem and their father, Atticus, the story revolves around the trial of a black man, Tom Robinson. Atticus agrees to represent Tom, who is charged with the rape of a white woman, against the wishes of the community.

  • Twilight (series) by Stephenie MeyerReasons: religious viewpoint, sexually explicit, unsuited to age group

    Twilight is a series of four vampire-themed fantasy romance novels. It charts a period in the life of Isabella “Bella” Swan, a teenage girl who moves to Forks, Washington, and falls in love with a 104-year-old vampire named Edward Cullen.

  • Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. SalingerReasons: offensive language, sexually explicit, unsuited to age group

    The story is about a school boy, Holden, and the three days he spends in the city, characterized largely by drunkenness, loneliness and getting beat up by a pimp.

  • My Sister’s Keeper, by Jodi PicoultReasons: homosexuality, offensive language, religious viewpoint, sexism, sexually explicit, unsuited to age group, violence

    Anna was conceived in order to harvest blood from her umbilical cord to use in treatments to help save her sister, who is suffering from acute leukemia. Throughout her life, Anna was used as a donor for any other bodily substance needed to treat Kate, who continues to swing between remission and relapse. When Anna is told that she needs to give up one of her kidneys, she sues her parents.

  • The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big, Round Things, by Carolyn MacklerReasons: offensive language, sexually explicit, unsuited to age group

    Virginia Shreves is a self-conscious sophomore who believes she is fat thanks to the constant prodding of her parents. She eventually sees the value in herself as a person. She realizes that who she is on the inside is much more important than external appearances. The book’s main idea is you need to be happy with yourself as a person and don’t need to change for anybody but only for yourself. The book also touches upon issues of trust, friendship, love and rebellion.

  • The Color Purple, by Alice WalkerReasons: offensive language, sexually explicit, unsuited to age group

    The story is told in the form of diary entries and letters. Celie is a poor uneducated young black woman in 1909 Georgia who, at fourteen, is raped and impregnated twice by a man she calls Pa. The story is about Celie’s struggles with relationships, racism and sexism in a pursuit to be reunited with her two children.

  • The Chocolate War, by Robert CormierReasons: nudity, offensive language, sexually explicit, unsuited to age group

    Set at the fictional Trinity High School, the story follows protagonist Jerry Renault as he challenges the school’s cruel, brutal, and ugly mob rule.

W. Blake Wilson, Instructional & Research Services Librarian

The power of positive psychology: part one

The recession is lingering like an unwelcome house guest. The legal job market is improving, but slower than anyone wants. The honeymoon stage of the fall semester is over. Law school reading assignments are likely piling up. Days are getting shorter.

What’s a stressed out law student to do? How can you cope with pressures of law school while maintaining some semblance of a balanced life?

Psychologists in the field of Positive Psychology study exactly these questions and lucky for us, some have even turned their attention to the well being of lawyers and law students.

In a three-part blog series, we’ll hone in on some on the tenants of Positive Psychology, which is simply the study of conditions that lead to optimal functioning. Put another way, it’s a shift in focus from a traditional psychology model of bringing individuals from -5 to zero to getting them from zero to +5.

Last year, a law professor at George Washington and a psychology researcher from the University of Pennsylvania collaborated on an article called Stemming the Tide of Law Student Depression: What Law Schools Need to Learn from the Science of Positive Psychology (www.abajournal.com/uploads/2010/06/PetersonArticle.pdf).

What they discovered, and what other researchers in the field have confirmed, is that lawyers are almost four times more likely to suffer depression than employed persons in general. Law students are more anxious and depressed than the general population, and even when compared to medical students.

These levels of depression and anxiety appear to increase during law school, contrary to popular belief. And law students show a higher regular use of alcohol and drugs than high school and college graduates of the same age.

What’s going on? Is the Socratic method to blame? The famously strenuous workload? The competition?

The authors of Stemming the Tide theorize that none of these easy targets are actually to blame. They cite research that identifies the problem, at least in part, as a shift in the motivation and values of law students away from community service and values and toward a focus on appearance and things. Research suggests that many law students begin to pursue goals less for their own enjoyment (intrinsic motivation) and more to meet the expectations of others (extrinsic motivation).

Other Positive Psychology researchers have pointed to the prevalence of a pessimistic explanatory style in law students as the underlying factor in student depression. Such an explanatory style attributes the causes of negative events to stable, persistent, global factors rather than those that are temporary and changeable. In other words, a reaction of “It’s going to last forever and undermine everything” rather than “It’s not that bad, and it will get better.”

The question then becomes harder to answer—if law students are at risk of depression, what can they do to better set the table for happiness? What makes people happy?

In our next Career Services blog posting, I’ll suggest some specific, practical ways of coping with the rigors of law school that have nothing to do with taking good notes or preparing more diligently for class. And in our final posting in the series, we’ll tackle a trio of more theoretical but equally effective ways of moving from zero to plus five. Throughout these two postings, the focus will be on openly acknowledging and combating the two problems identified by the relevant research—(1) a shift in motivation from intrinsic to extrinsic and (2) a pessimistic explanatory style.

Todd Rogers, Assistant Dean for Career Services

Back to the grind: a 3L’s perspective on the beginning of a new school year

Once again, it’s the beginning of another school year and I’m sitting around wondering where my summer went. I spent a good portion of my summer studying for the MPRE and working in the Rockhurst University Athletics Department doing some compliance work. I did manage to sneak off to San Diego for a couple weeks and catch the first weekend of the College World Series up in Omaha. As my Mom said, “You better enjoy it now, because starting next summer, you’ll be working full time.”

What Mom didn’t warn me about was that “3L-itis” sets in about 2 days into the semester and that searching for a job that will allow me to pay off my student loans is turning in to a full-time job in itself! Add job hunting to my 15 hours of class, my part-time job, and what you get is a very busy semester! I am in no way complaining – in fact I’d rather be busy and have things to get my mind off of class. I’m enjoying being a part of the real world, even if it is only for 10 hours a week. Searching for a job, while not the most exciting thing I’ve ever done, is really rewarding when I get a phone call or email saying that I’ve landed an interview.

Hopefully I can report back in a few weeks (or months) and tell everyone that I’ve landed a fantastic job in a really fun city, but until that happens I’ll continue sending out resumes, cover letters, and transcripts while trying to stay on top of my reading and outlines. I’m not completely consumed with school and job applications; I’ve managed to find time to catch some KU football games and play some golf, and once basketball season starts (October 15 is Late Night in the Phog) I will be camping in the Fieldhouse and attending the games like any other KU student.

I’m definitely looking forward to my last year as a full-time student, but getting more excited every day to walking down the hill at graduation in May!

Courtney Johnston, 3L