photo by flickr user nengard

The 2014 American Inns of Court Warren E. Burger Prize writing competition is now open. Submit an essay of 10,000-20,000 words addressing issues of excellence in legal skills, civility, ethics and professionalism. The competition is open to members of the bench and bar as well as students. The winner will receive $5,000, publication of their essay in the South Carolina Law Review, and an award presented at the Supreme Court of the United States. For more information go to www.innsofcourt.org/burgerprize.

For information on other student writing competitions check out the Law Library’s Research Guide. If you need help getting started on your research come by the reference desk or use our Personal Librarian Program.

This past Sunday was the NFL Super Bowl XLVIII. The game pitted the AFC Champion Denver Broncos against the NFC Champion Seattle Seahawks. The Seahawks prevailed in the game, winning 43-8. While the action during the game captivated many sports fans, it was the action between the snaps that keeps the attention of the casual/non sports fan.

The Super Bowl is one of the most watched events of the year in the United States, so it would make sense then that companies also roll out new commercials just for the event. Beer, Car, Food, and Internet, the list of companies goes on and on. For the most part, people will see the same commercials across the nation. However, there are some slots set aside for regional/local ads. One local attorney commercial in Georgia has sent the web buzzing over the past two days. The commercial is for Jamie Casino, an attorney in Savannah, GA.

This is not Jamie’s first commercial. He are two more short commercials for Jamie Casino.

For your viewing pleasure, here are a couple of other creative lawyer commercials.

By Nirvi Shah

On January 29, 1802 John Beckley was appointed as the first Librarian of Congress.  The Librarian’s first power was that he would be solely responsible to make the institution’s rules and regulations and appoint its staff.  One of the more recent developments in the Librarian’s role is that he is granted the authority to issue exemptions for piracy statutes – one of the newest controversial areas for artists’ creations. As Archibald MacLeish declared, “[e]very American librarian worthy of the name is today the champion of a cause.  It is, to my mind, the noblest of all causes for it is the cause of man, or more precisely, the cause of the inquiring mind by which man has come to be.”

Here are a few links to provide more information about the Library of Congress:

• Library of Congress’s website: http://www.loc.gov/index.html
• How the Cataloging system organizes every book in the Library system: http://www.loc.gov/aba/cataloging/classification/lcco/
• Librarian Pam Brannon’s Blog on the origins of the Library of Congress: https://theblackacretimes.com/2011/09/28/jefferson/
• Librarian Austin William’s Blog about the current Law Librarian of Congress: https://theblackacretimes.com/2012/01/06/new-law-librarian-of-congress/?relatedposts_exclude=894
• NPR Article about the Librarian’s authority over your personal phone: http://www.npr.org/blogs/alltechconsidered/2013/03/06/173614675/why-the-library-of-congress-has-a-lock-on-your-phone

by Flickr user jphilipg

Good news, everyone! The construction work on the upper level bathrooms has been completed. The bathrooms on the lower level remain closed for now, but we expect them to also be open again soon.

Just as a heads up, you’ll notice some big changes to the lower level bathrooms. First of all, the men’s and women’s bathrooms are swapping locations (so pay attention to those door signs!). The other major change is that each bathroom will now be just one stall, rather than several. So if you find one  of those restrooms occupied, you can always try the ones of the upper level or those in the lobby.

Flicker photo by Wyoming_Jackrabbit.

As a law student and an attorney, the last thing you might want to hear is legal issues intersecting with sports. For many of you, sports is a way to escape the word of contracts law or an upcoming case for a couple of hours. While watching or playing sports can be a great way to take your mind of things, legal issues do come up quite often. The past two weeks alone is a great example of how sports and the law intersect. Here are a few breaking stories:

Vince Young Files for Bankruptcy

Former NFL and University of Texas National Champion winning quarterback Vince Young filed for bankruptcy last week. Young is filing under Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, also referred to as bankruptcy reorganization.

Full Story: ESPN

Raiders Cheerleaders Sue Team

Current and former Raiderettes filed a suit this week claiming that team withheld wages, did not compensate them for all hours worked, and made them pay business expenses. Their lawyer claims based on the amount they are paid and the hours they put in, they are making less than $5 an hour.

Full Story: San Jose Mercury News

Read the full complaint

Feds Investigating Dennis Rodman

Josh Rogin from The Daily Beast reported today that the U.S. Treasury Department is investigating whether Rodman violated United States sanctions by bringing gifts into Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (“North Korea”) for Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un. While in North Korea for a basketball game, Rodman brought Kim several gifts which are reported to be in value of more than $10,000.  Not only may this violate the International Emergency Economics Power Act (IEEPA) signed by President Obama in 2010, but it may also violate United Nations Security Council Resolutions 1718 and 2094.

Full Story: The Daily Beast

by Mark Stuckey

image by flickr user greencolander

Friday, January 17th marked the anniversary of the implementation of perhaps one of the most sobering amendments to our nation’s constitution. I am talking, of course, about the Eighteenth amendment which prescribed, “the manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors within, the importation thereof into, or the exportation thereof (United States) … Is hereby prohibited.” The merit of the Eighteenth Amendment’s goal is debatable, but the truth is that the prohibition of intoxicating liquors created a vacuum through which organized crime gained power, and perhaps more importantly, money. In general, prohibition has been regarded as a failure, and in fact the Eighteenth Amendment is the only Amendment of the Constitution to be repealed.(see Twenty-First Amendment) Learn more about prohibition the old fashioned way… on Wikipedia here.

Reflection on the constitutional provisions that govern(ed) alcohol made me wonder what kind of laws restrict alcohol in the State of Georgia. More specifically, because I am a home brewer and love craft beer: what state laws govern my production of delicious alcoholic beverages in my own home? From my limited research on the best database in the world, Westlaw, I have found that, in general, there are Georgia statutes (in Title 3 of the OCGA) that regulate the amount brewed, consumption, and transportation of home brewed beer.

Amount:
When I first saw that there was a volume limit to the amount of beer one domiciled in mother Georgia could brew my heart sank a little bit. But in reality, for the average home brewer, the limitations are quite reasonable. First, if you live alone, or there is only one person of drinking age in the house, brewing is capped at 100 gallons of malt beverages per calendar year. If you stop and think 100 gallons is approximately 1000, 12 ounce beers, and that is huge amount of liquid for a human to consume in a year. Additionally, the limit is 200 gallons if there are two or more people of drinking age in a household. The volume limits seem to have legitimate public policy backings, but I’m sure there’s an argument to the contrary.

Consumption:
Maybe the biggest blow to home brewers, is the consumption regulations on the craft. According to the Georgia statute, home brewed malt beverages may only be consumed on the premises it was made, and may not be offered to the public for consumption. While I understand that there reasons Georgia would want to keep unregulated swill out of the hands of innocent people, there is something a little unnerving about not being able to share one’s hobby freely and openly.

Transportation:
The Georgia statute governing the brewing of malt beverages in one’s home provides that such malt beverages shall not be transported in batches larger than 25 gallons, they must be properly labeled, and must have the proper permits. I am not sure what the penalty would be for violation, but this seems a large burden on people who want to give their friends or co-workers a taste of their concoction, or those competing in home brewing events.

All in all these regulations on home brewing are relatively easy for people like myself who brew less than 25 or 30 gallons a year, to comport with, and are not a huge burden. But folks who are producing larger amounts and looking to transport their beer should have a gander at the law first. Learn a little bit more about home brewing here… it’s pretty fun.

Image by Flickr user jesper_hauge

Atlanta may not be a skiing destination, but there are still a lot of things you can do to celebrate the winter break.

• For those who love lights, there are a wide array of options this year, from the well-known Magical Night of Lights at Lake Lanier to the Garden Lights at Atlanta Botanical Garden to Fantasy in Lights at Calloway Gardens. If you’ve done all of those, or if you want a bit more than just lights, there’s also the new-to-Atlanta Global Winter Wonderland at Turner Field, which features miniatures of famous buildings and food selections from around the world too.
• For a one-stop-shop holiday experience, go to Stone Mountain Christmas at, well, Stone Mountain. There you’ll find a sing-along train, 4-D shows, a visit from Santa Claus and more.
• If you want your holiday to include lots of laughter, check out Invasion: Christmas Carol from Dad’s Garage. It’s an improv show where the audience chooses who visits Scrooge each night instead of the three ghosts.
• Just wanting to stay inside? You can always read a (non-law!) book one of your professors recommended or borrow some movies from our Leisure Collection. We don’t own it, but you may also want to check out Santa Claus Conquers the Martians on Netflix too. I mean, really, how could you NOT watch that?

Picture by The Reboot

It’s been all over the news today: one of the winning Mega Millions tickets was sold in Buckhead. And now we know the Georgia winner’s name and where she lives, because Georgia is in the majority of states in requiring that the names of lottery winners be public. In a minority of states the winner can remain anonymous; one of those states is South Carolina, where a recent Powerball winner chose anonymity.

Whether a lottery winner should be able to remain anonymous is debated; financial advisers recommend it, but lotteries argue against it. Pennsylvania is currently considering legislation to allow for anonymity, and other legislation was recently proposed in Michigan and New Jersey.

However, even if the winner has to come forward, there may still be a way to protect anonymity by using a trust; this was the option taken by a recent winner in Houston, who created a trust (with the attorney as trustee) to receive the winnings.