The law library is hiring GRAs for the Summer and Fall 2012 semesters.  Research GRAs report to Pam Brannon, Faculty Services Librarian, and assist with faculty research requests. Reference GRAs work at the Reference Desk, primarily answering research requests for library users, and report to Deborah Schander, the Reference/Student Services Librarian. If you are interested in either type of work, we encourage you to apply. You can apply for one or both types of position. Applicants for the summer positions must be taking summer classes.

Summer GRAs receive one-half reduction in tuition as well as a $500 stipend.  Fall GRAs receive one-half reduction in tuition as well as a $1,000 stipend. To apply, please submit a completed application, resume, and your anticipated Summer/Fall class schedule to Deborah Schander by Friday, March 16, 2012.

One of the biggest moments of Sunday night’s Oscars broadcast was Jim Rash’s impromptu “loving tribute” to Angelina Jolie’s leg-baring pose. Rash was on stage with Nat Faxon and Alexander Payne accepting the Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay for The Descendants, which was adapted from a novel by Kaui Hart Hemmings.

The story in The Descendants is propelled by the need to sell property that has been in the family for generations due to the operation of that bane of first-year law students, the Rule Against Perpetuities. The filmmakers consulted with University of Hawai’i professor Randall Roth to get the details of trust law right (which cannot be said of the other movie to use the RAP as a plot device, Body Heat). And it appears that they’ve also gotten the details of day-to-day life as an attorney in Hawai’i correct, as well. An article in Forbes notes that the movie provides a number of lessons in estate planning.

Who said you couldn’t learn something by going to the movies?

by Katie Ginnane

In case any of you law students missed it, with all that studying you are doing, “The Simpsons” premiered its 500th episode last Sunday. Along with all the regular characters we have come to know and love, the episode also included the voice talents of the infamous Wikileaks founder Julian Assange.

Now in its 23rd season, “The Simpsons” has not been the longest running comedy series without any legal issues, one of which involved a potential lawsuit from Brazilian officials for its depiction of Rio de Janeiro in the episode “Blame It On Lisa.”  The  Executive Producer James Brooks later apologized for the show’s depiction of the city.

However, the show’s most recent legal issue, and potentially continuous battle, came out of its contract re-negotiations for its main cast members in late 2011. This was not the first time cast members vied for larger salaries, or to keep their already high ones. The first big contract negotiation began in the late 1990’s, several years after the show’s advent in 1989. In 2011, however, the main character voices would not be the only ones potentially receiving a pay cut. According to Fox, it would be unable to produce “The Simpsons” under the current business model. The network called for a 45% reduction in the voice actor’s current income at the time of about $400,000 per episode.  Despite the negotiations almost costing “The Simpson’s” 24th and 25th season, a deal was reached for an undisclosed reduction in the voice actors’ pay.

Fortunately, the negotiations have assured a continued run of “The Simpsons” for the next two seasons.  Although its ratings from the current season are down 14% from last year, one cannot discount the many pop-culture contributions the show has provided through out its tenure, including the inclusion of Homer’s famous catchphrase “d’oh!” in the Oxford English Dictionary.

We are a day away from the 20th Annual PILA Auction.  PILA, The Public Interest Law Association, is a law student organization that focuses on promoting public interest law.  PILA sponsors an auction every year to raise money to assist students who are working in an area of public interest during their summer internships.

Generally students, faculty, alumni, and other distinguished members of the legal community will attend and bid on items donated by the GSU Law Faculty and Staff.  Items can range from cooking lessons, dinner with a professor, or a weekend getaway.  This year the GSU Law Library has sponsored three auction items.  If you are still  undecided on what to bid on at the event, consider the three items below:

1. Law Library Study Room:  Imagine it, your group’s very own study room for the rest of the Spring semester.  No waking up early to place a request online.  Forget about running from class to the Law Library to place a last minute reservation.  Now your group can mosey on in at any hour of the day (as long as the library is open) and plop down in your home away from home.  You still have to turn in the keys after each visit, but let’s be honest, they are safer with us.
2. Lunch with the Law Librarians:   We are not talking PB&J.  Imagine if you will a nice, sophisticated lunch out on the town with your friends and your favorite Law Librarians.  Just think how productive you will be after sinking your teeth into a delicious, cooked to order to meal.  The sky is the limit, but remember we are state employees.  Spoiler Alert: Wraps and Pizza will not be on the menu.
3. Ping Pong:  Dare to dream.  You and your friends vs. Law Librarians in a game of Ping Pong (or if you prefer, Table Tennis).  Recreate your favorite scenes from Forrest Gump or Balls of Fury.  Headbands are not required, but highly suggested.

by Jill Skinner

The countdown has started. In 5 months the public will vote on whether it wants a penny sales tax increase that will go toward funding transportation projects in its district. In full disclosure, I am an avid proponent of public transit. I hate driving. I don’t know if it is Atlanta’s nightmarish traffic congestion or the fact that every road seems to have ten stop lights within a mile stretch that always seem to be turning red as I approach. I disclose my bias because I know this article will be slightly skewed in favor of the transportation referendum passing on July 31st. I will try to present information on the referendum in a neutral (well, maybe only slightly-biased) way.

2010 Transportation Investment Act

In 2010, the Georgia General Assembly approved the Transportation Investment Act of 2010. The Act can be found by visiting the Georgia General Assembly’s website. The Act allows designated districts within Georgia to impose a penny sales tax increase to fund transportation projects within the district. The Act divided the state into twelve transportation districts that essentially mirrored the State’s twelve regional commission boundaries. Per the Act, each region then had to create a Regional Transportation Roundtable composed of elected officials from the counties and cities within each district. The City of Atlanta and Fulton County are included in the Atlanta Roundtable Region. The Atlanta Roundtable Region includes Cherokee County, Cobb County, Douglas County, Fulton County, Fayette County, Clayton County, Henry County, Rockdale County, DeKalb County, and Gwinnett County.

Making the “List” and Regional Roundtables

Before the Transportation Investment Act passed, many people voiced concerns about the types of projects the additional money would fund. For example, people in Atlanta worried that the additional tax revenue would go to counties in rural parts of the state to build new roads and bridges. Moreover, people outside of Atlanta worried that the all of the money would go to Atlanta and its pet projects. In my opinion, the General Assembly pacified many of these fears by requiring districts to list and publicize the specific projects that would receive transportation tax revenue and the amount that each project would receive. This way, the money is “earmarked” for certain projects instead of going to some blackhole general fund where it could be haphazardly apportioned to projects based on political leanings (not that the projects on the list were immune from politics). Further, the public was able to comment on the list of projects at town hall meetings held in each region.

Counties and cities within each district submitted various transportation projects to the Roundtable for final approval. Each Regional Transportation Roundtable then had cut the list down so that project costs matched the anticipated revenue from the penny sales tax. Negotiations, concessions and compromises resulted in our current constrained list of projects submitted on October 13, 2011. As shown below, the list is almost equally split between road/bridge repair/construction and public transportation projects. Only the money raised within the transportation district goes to transportation projects approved by that district. The list of projects can be found here (note, the entire document is 192 pages!).

The Penny Sales Tax

On July 31, 2012, voters will go to the polls and vote “yes” or “no” to the transportation sales tax. If the referendum passes in a district, every county and municipality within the district must impose the tax-there are no exemptions. The penny sales tax passes if a simple majority of the voters in the district approves the tax increase. If the referendum passes in a district, the tax will be in place for ten years; after ten years, the district must again vote to renew the tax. No extension is permissible unless voters approve the extension.

In the Atlanta Roundtable district, the revenue generated from the penny sales tax is projected to be around $7.2 billion. Of the $7.2 billion, 85% will go toward projects (in the specified amounts) on the list of projects approved by the Atlanta Regional Roundtable on October 13, 2011 and is projected to be approximately $6.14 billion. The other 15% of the funds go to counties and municipalities within the district to fund smaller local transportation projects like new sidewalks and bicycle lanes. Again, it should be noted that ALL revenue from the tax stays within the district that approved it.

Projects on the “List”

Because I am biased, I will mention more of the public transportation projects on the list. Some of the larger projects include:

• The Atlanta Belt Line (approximately $700,000,000)
• MARTA North Heavy Rail Line Extension to SR 140 ($37,000,000)
• I-285 and SR 400 Interchange Improvements ($112,000,000)
• GRTA Xpress Improvements ($95,000,000)
• MARTA Bus Rapid Transit and Road Improvements ($50,000,000)
• Clayton County Local Bus Service ($100,000,000)
  • Clayton County’s previous bus service, C-TRAN, stopped service last year and many individuals in Clayton County are without adequate public transportation
• Enhanced Transit from Kennesaw/Town Center/Acworth to Arts Center ($689,000,000)
• SR 400 to I-285 North-Collector Distributor Lanes ($160,000,000)

Why This Tax Is So Important-GO VOTE!

The Atlanta region is rapidly expanding. Our population growth is unprecedented and continuing to grow. This growth inevitably means more automobiles on the roadways and more traffic congestion. Not only is our current infrastructure incapable of handling the increased growth, but our quality of life will start to (if it has not already) decrease because of worsening air quality, immobility, and disconnected neighborhoods and people. Accessibility in general will deteriorate.

If the whole “environmental/socioeconomic” thing doesn’t float your boat, maybe pure economics will instead. The more traffic we have the more business we lose. It’s that simple. Businesses are concerned with their employees being able to reliably commute to work; if traffic gridlock slows employees down, the employees are less productive which means the business is less profitable. In a sector where productivity is king, businesses are not willing to lose time and productive output to nightmarish daily commutes.

There are a thousand other reasons why this transportation referendum is vital for Georgia’s continuing vitality. With all of this in mind, PLEASE go vote on July 31, 2012 (even if you vote “no”-at least you have voiced your opinion!).

For additional information on the referendum please visit:

• The Atlanta Regional Commission at http://www.atlantaregional.com/
• The Atlanta Belt Line at http://beltline.org/

For information on the success of the penny sales tax increase in other cities, please look at the Charlotte Lynx system below. Charlotte, NC implemented a half-cent sales tax increase to fund its transportation projects.

• http://charmeck.org/city/charlotte/cats/planning/Pages/default.aspx

by Katie Ginnane

Ever wanted to get copies of your favorite study aid but didn’t want to waste the paper?  Well the law library now has a brand new KIC, or Knowledge Imaging Center, Scanner in the copy room.

No, you are not experiencing déjà vu. Once again Eli Manning orchestrated a 4th quarter comeback to beat Tom Brady’s Patriots for the NFL Super Bowl Championship.  Manning also secured the Super Bowl MVP for the second time in his career.

Many people this week will be talking about the game, the legacy of certain players and coaches, and of course, their favorite commercials.  However, all of this may be overshadowed by yet another Super Bowl halftime show controversy.

While different from the infamous “wardrobe malfunction” from Super Bowl XXXVIII, which Patriots also played in, this year’s controversy centered around singer M.I.A. “flipping the bird” during the live broadcast.  While this might seem trivial to some, NBC and the NFL wasted no time issuing apologies for the gestures.  Although it’s unlikely that this incident will be met with the same scrutiny as the “wardrobe malfunction,” one can’t help but wonder what the possible repercussions might be.  It is worth noting that the previous incident was still being litigated until November of 2011, over 7 years after the fact.

Photo by Wikipedia user connor.carey.

The Georgia General Assembly began its 40-day session on the second Monday in January, as specified by the Georgia Constitution. Today representatives from Georgia State University (including the College of Law) made a special trip to the Capitol to highlight our recent activities to legislators. In turn, we figured we’d show you how to follow what the legislators themselves are doing.

While the legislature is in session, both the House and the Senate provide live broadcasts from the floor. You can also view archived footage from House floor and committee meetings. Additionally, both the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and the Daily Report track what’s going on from day-to-day.

But what if you want to know about a piece of legislation that was discussed last session, or back in 2002? There’s help for you, too. All of the resources in the last paragraph are used by the members of the Georgia State University Law Review to help create the Peach Sheets. Law Review members follow the session as its going on, identify important pieces of legislation, and compile the information that they will use to write articles describing the legislative history of those laws. In addition to the Peach Sheets, the Mercer Law Review produces the Annual Survey of Georgia Law. Each article in the Annual Survey summarizes significant cases and legislation from the past year on a specific legal topic.

And, finally, you can always just go and visit – after all, the Capitol is just up the hill!

By Jordan Alford

By Flickr user Talk Radio News Service

The Speech or Debate Clause, found in Article 1, Section 6, Clause 1 of the United States Constitution, states that members of both houses of Congress will “… in all Cases, except Treason, Felony, and Breach of the Peace, be privileged from Arrest during their attendance at the Session of their Respective Houses, and in going to and from the same; and for any Speech or Debate in either House, they shall not be questioned in any other Place.” Apparently TSA representatives in Nashville missed the memo.

On his way back to Washington, Senator Rand Paul was allegedly detained by TSA authorities. According to multiple sources, the full body scanner went off due to an anomaly found in the Senator’s knee. The freshman senator from Kentucky offered to go back through the scanner but refused to be patted down by TSA employees. He was then escorted by local authorities to an office to be questioned. The TSA has disputed these events qualify as detainment, but the Paul camp, not looking for special treatment as a Congressman, has maintained these types of invasive actions by the TSA happen far too often.

It is awfully ironic, some may say even too coincidental, that within the last year it was the director of the TSA who was being scolded and grilled by Senator Paul. He delivered a biting criticism of the TSA after a six year old girl from Kentucky was patted down by TSA employees. It seems unlikely that his feelings towards the TSA will improve much after his own run in with their procedures.

By Meghan Starr

Flickr photo by Affendaddy

On January 27, 2003, the first 50 selections to be preserved in the National Recording Registry in the Library of Congress were announced.  The Registry was established by the National Recording Preservation Act of 2000 for the purpose of preserving America’s sound recording heritage. 

Open nominations for recordings that are “culturally, historically, or aesthetically important” are accepted each year (by July 1^st)  in 25 different categories with winners announced the following spring.  Categories include musical genres, technology, comedy, and documentary among others.  Recordings must be at least 10 years old.

Included in the initial 50 recordings were Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue,  F.D.R.’s Fireside chats, Passamaquoddy Indians field recordings,  Booker T. Washington’s 1895 Atlanta Exposition speech, Bing Crosby’s White Christmas, and Orson Wells’ War of the Worlds.

Later years have included recordings as varied as the World Series – Game 4, Oklahoma! (Rodgers and Hammerstein), Patsy Cline’s Crazy,  The Girl from Ipanema, The Star Wars soundtrack, Martha and the Vandellas’ Dancing in the Street, The Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart,  Michael Jackson’s Thriller,  and the Library of Congress Marine Corps Combat Field Recording Collection, Second Battle of Guam.

The oldest recording dates back to 1853, while the most recent is a 1995 recording by 2Pac.  They can be as short as 3 minutes to as long as an 80 hour recitation of the King James Bible.

Click here for a list of items on the Full National Recording Registry