Weekly Assignments. Annotated Bibliography. Legal Pathfinder
During the course of this seminar you will work on two independent assignments: an
annotated bibliography on a topic of your choice or on one assigned by the instructor, and
a legal pathfinder on a similar topic.
Each week you will incorporate the methods and sources presented in that week's
class and thus develop your projects. For the first four weeks you will work your way
through finalizing the annotated bibliography. The following nine weeks you will work
your way through finalizing your pathfinder. You will email these weekly installments to
your instructor (dana.neacsu@law.columbia.edu ) by midnight, the Thursday following
that week’s class.
Each assignment will be graded on the quality of your weekly research logs. Factors that
will be considered in assigning the grade will include not only the appropriateness of
your research choices but also how clearly you articulate the choices you perceived and
how you made them at each step of the process.
You will need to keep extremely detailed notes as you do the research in order to prepare
the logs. Nevertheless, in the submitted logs themselves, concision counts! It might be
interesting for you to include some notation of time spent on different stages of the
research process.
LIS-626 Online Databases: Law
Individual Topics for the Annotated Bibliography and Pathfinder Assignments.
If you do not have any research topic of your choice, choose one research topic from
those listed below and send me an email informing me of your choice, at
dana.neacsu@law.columbia.edu. You will be working on an annotated bibliography (510 sources) and on a pathfinder of primary sources on this topic.
1. The neurotoxicity of an anti-malarial drug, mefloquine hydrochloride (marketed as
Lariam) has been widely used by the U.S. military, the Peace Corps and civilian travelers
since the mid-1970s but has horrendous side effects. As a result, lawsuits have been filed
against the manufacturer (Hoffman-LaRoche, AKA Roche). I need to figure out how
many and what sorts of suits (mass torts, personal injury, product liability, etc.) have been
filed (here or in any international court) and whether any have been successful and on
what grounds.
2. Hi. I am on a panel "Can Marriage Be Saved?". The focus of the debate should be the
ALI statement(s) vs. the Institute of American Values and Marriage and Public Policy
"Marriage and the Law" Report." In order to prepare for the panel I would like to know if
there are any state statutes that deal with saving marriage as a heterosexual institution, or
case law or even foreign legislation and international resolutions on this topic.
3. I would like to find the section of NY animal law that creates a duty for anyone who
has impounded or confined an animal to provide good air, water, shelter, and food. I
would also like to see any discussions and commentaries about this topic of law and
similar provisions from any foreign or international jurisdictions.
4. I would like to see a concise summary of the FCC's rules and regulations
regarding indecency and the media and a sampling of the relevant academic literature. I
would also like to know whether there are any foreign or international developments in
this area.
5. I read in the papers that a ranch owner whose property is located near the US-Mexican
border dresses in military garb and caps with insignia resembling the US Border Patrol,
that he intercepts what he perceives to be illegal immigrants, and imprisons them on his
ranch only to bring them directly back to the border and force them to cross it back to
Mexico at gun point. I would like to write a piece about the domestic and international
laws he is potentially violating.
6. Could you please find out what percentage of federal tax dollars is consumed by the
administrative costs of collecting the tax -- including amounts paid to cover the expense
of the IRS bureaucracy as well as resources that taxpayers must devote to complying with
the law (hiring advisers, tax preparers, etc.)? (To be clear, I am not including in this
number the cost taxpayers incur to change their behavior in order to avoid paying tax.)
I'd appreciate cites for whatever you give me, as well as printouts of the relevant
articles or charts.
7. It was brought to my attention that an alien convicted of "aiding and abetting" a theft is
subject to removal from the United States under the Immigration and Nationality Act for
conviction of a "theft offense." I need to find out if my information is correct, but first I
need to know what ¿aiding and abetting¿ is. Is there any international treaty that would
cover removal for such offenses? If the alien is from Mexico, for example, do I need to
know whether Mexican law provides for similar treatment of US aliens?
8. Could you please find out what percentage of money that nonprofits raise is allocated
to cover the costs of their fundraising? If there is a "typical" number -- or the number for
a few high profile representative charities -- that would be perfect. I'd appreciate
cites for whatever you give me, as well as printouts of the relevant articles or charts
9. I was working as the chef's helper on this private yacht where I cooked five or
more wild rabbits while we crossed the Atlantic from Portugal. When we entered the Port
of New York, they discovered some dead rabbits in a wooden box and I am told that the
rabbits were some fancy species of European rabbits of the genus Oryctolagus. I don¿t
know anything about the dead rabbits and those I cooked looked like any other rabbit I
had seen. I am not going to jail for cooking rabbits. Could you help me find out what is
this all about? And what shall I read to better understand the issues? This is so unheard of
in Europe, isn¿t it?
10. I am part of the Cardiac Jogging Society. This is a group of 20 heart attack victims
mostly in our early 60's. We spend each Saturday jogging through Central Park as
part of our rehabilitation regime. Last Saturday we collided with a dog walker who was
walking 5 dogs of over 100 pounds each. We were all startled. Pandemonium ensued.
The dogs began tangling their leashes around their dog walker and each other. One dog
lightly nipped my calf, while some other CJS members were taken to the emergency
room with chest pains. Is it legal to walk dogs like that in the city? I would like to sue
someone but I do not really know for what and whom? Can you help me?
11. I heard that the US introduced a resolution on Myanmar in the UN Security Council.
If the document is in public circulation (either as UN doc or a press release from the US
Mission to the UN or otherwise), I'd like to have a copy for my seminar. Also,
I'd be grateful to have your tips on the most efficient way to locate such things
these days using readily available electronic resources, whether through www.un.org or
otherwise, since my antiquated search techniques are undoubtedly not the best. By the
way can you find out whether there is bilateral treaty between us and Myanmar or
anything written about our relations with Myanmar?