The SR-SIS has had a productive year as evidenced by this newsletter. One of the results of the Annual Business Meeting was the decision by the Board to have two newsletter issues per year. One issue will be published in the Fall/Winter following the conference and one in the Spring in anticipation of the annual meeting. This is the first Fall/Winter issue.

I wanted to let you know about the dates and times of the various SR Boston meetings. We have begun cooperating with other SIS's who share similar interests. In planning the meeting schedule with the SIS Council, the Board sought to limit scheduling conflicts with the LISP and RIPS SIS's. We recognize that some of our members might be members of other SIS's and took that situation into consideration as the meeting matrix was developed by the SIS Council Chair. The resulting schedule of SR meetings is as follows:

Sunday, July 11th 4:15-5:15 p.m. SR-SIS Business Meeting

Monday, July 12th 7:00-7:45 a.m. SR-SIS Standing Committee on Library Service to Institution Residents Business Meeting

Monday, July 12th 5:15-6:15 p.m. Joint Roundtable on Serving Pro Se Patrons and Prisoners (LISP, RIPS and SR)

Tuesday, July 13th 5:15-6:15 p.m. SR-SIS Standing Committee on Lesbian and Gay Issues Business Meeting

Tuesday, July 13th 7:00-10:00 p.m. SR-SIS Standing Committee on Lesbian and Gay Issues Reception

We look forward to a successful meeting in Boston in 2004.

The Standing Committee on Lesbian and Gay Issues is currently working on the Alan Holoch Memorial Travel Grant application process. Look for details on the SR discussion list in the coming month. The grant application will also be posted to the SR-SIS website as soon as it is completed.

I hope you enjoy this issue and thank Ann Hemmens, Annette Demers and Elvira Embser-Herbert for their contributions and Jim Murphy for his editorial work. I wish you all a happy and healthy 2004.

Alison Alifano, Chair
Social Responsibilities SIS
alifanoa@sullcrom.com

By Ann Hemmens

The SR-SIS assisted the Legal Information Services to the Public SIS (LISP) in submitting an amicus brief on behalf of prisoners in a Florida prison law library case, Henderson v. Crosby. We donated $1000 to help cover the cost of producing the brief, including copying, binding, and postage (LISP provided $1500; total cost $3000). The case involves Florida prisoners who sued the Florida Department of Corrections for decimating the collections of the prison law libraries, therefore denying the prisoners access to legal materials needed to prepare their legal pleadings.

Amy Hale-Janeke, LISP Chair, coordinated this effort and located someone to write the brief -- Michael Kaye, a librarian at San Diego County Public Law Library and an appellate attorney. A copy of the brief is available on the LISP website, http://aallnet.org/sis/lisp/amicusbrief.pdf. In a Sept. 23, 2003, order from the First District Court of Appeal in Tallahassee, FL, the court denied our application to submit the amicus brief, “in light of the number of amici curiae which have previously been granted leave to appear in this cause.” But all hope is not lost. If the case makes it to the Florida Supreme Court, LISP will again consider petitioning for leave to submit an amicus brief on behalf of the prisoners.

After facing the challenges of trying to get AALL approval of the brief in a very short time period, Amy was inspired to draft a proposal for the AALL Executive Board to adopt a formal policy regarding submission of amicus briefs by Special Interest Sections and Committees.  Look for updates on this proposal in the next newsletter.

The SR-SIS has a long history of assisting in the cause of prisoner access to legal materials, particularly through the Standing Committee on Library Service to Institution Residents. The Standing Committee’s publication Recommended Collections for Prisons and Other Institutions (AALL, 1996) was cited in the Florida brief.

For more information see, “LISP Co-Sponsors an Amicus Brief with the Social Responsibility Section” by Amy Hale-Janeke, LISP Chair  http://aallnet.org/sis/lisp/amicusbrief.html.

By Ann Hemmens

We’ve got a resource for you -- the Law Libraries Serving Prisoners database, http://aallnet.org/sis/srsis/llsp/.  This free online database of law libraries around the country providing services to prisoners/inmates was recently moved to the AALL website. Here you will find over 50 libraries to which you can refer prisoners. It can be searched by state, county, city, or library name. We are constantly improving it (e.g., enabling the program to sort all entries by state/city so anyone can print the entire contents for a print collection). If your library would like to be added, please contact Ann Hemmens (hemmens@u.washington.edu; 206-543-7672).

A special thanks to Rebecca Trammell for hosting the original database on the Barry University Law Library server and to the SR-SIS website manager, Janice Anderson, for negotiating the move of the database from Barry University to AALLNET.

Do you need suggestions on handling prisoner requests? Have you developed an effective procedure/policy for these requests? Come to the Roundtable on Services to Pro Se Patrons and Prisoners at the 2004 AALL Annual Meeting in Boston (tentatively scheduled for Monday July 12^th 5:15-6:15pm). This Roundtable is a joint venture of the SR-SIS, the Legal Information Services to the Public SIS (LISP), and the Research Instruction & Patron Services SIS (RIPS).

By Ann Hemmens

In the words of the librarian at First Place School in Seattle, WA, “Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!” The membership of AALL and the SR-SIS donated over 200 books and $1140 in cash and bookstore gift certificates to the First Place School library during our annual book drive at the 2003 AALL Annual Meeting in Seattle, “Bookless in Seattle.” The librarian was happy to receive several copies of the Harry Potter series (they are very popular!) as well as dictionaries and young adult fiction (we received so many copies of Ann Brashares’ The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants (Thorndike Press, 2002) that I’m inspired to read it!).

First Place is a private non-profit school and social service agency serving children and families in transition, in crisis, or homeless. Most of the families served live below the poverty line and 80% of the families are fleeing domestic violence. The school serves children in grades kindergarten through 7^th grade. Below is a picture of the First Place School library.

Some AALL members were puzzled by the librarian’s request for “graphic novels.” More than once I responded to the question - “you don’t mean what I think you mean, do you?” So in the process of helping children in Seattle we educated ourselves about the popular “graphic novel” format and current award-winning children’s books. Thanks again to everyone who contributed to the 2003 children’s book drive – it was a great success!

According to UNAIDS, the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS, in the year 2002 there were 42 million people living with HIV/AIDS worldwide (including 3.2 million children), 5 million new infections, and 3.1 million deaths. People living with HIV/AIDS suffer discrimination, lack of access to medical treatments, and poverty. How does this affect us as members of the global legal information community and world citizens? Find out at the SR-SIS sponsored program at AALL 2004 in Boston:

HIV/AIDS: A Global Epidemic and an Issue of International Law

Elvira Embser-Herbert, Coordinator

Program E-6

Tuesday July 13, 2004, 9-10am

The program will explore the current state of the AIDS epidemic worldwide and cover topics related to legal research such as intellectual property issues related to drug treatments, immigration laws relating to persons with diseases, and discrimination against people with HIV/AIDS in violation of international human rights standards. The program includes three speakers: Mary Rumsey (Foreign, Comparative, and International Law Librarian at the University of Minnesota Law Library), Jay Krishnan (Professor at William Mitchell College of Law), and Linda Sussman (U.S. Agency for International Development Information Center).

Thanks to Elvira Embser-Herbert for proposing this program and coordinating an interesting group of presenters.

Janis Johnson, AALL President, selected “Boston to Mumbai: The World of Legal Information” as the theme for the 2004 Annual Meeting. The theme recognizes the importance of the global environment in our daily lives as information professionals, including access to and preservation of foreign and international legal materials.

The SR-SIS proposed five programs to the 2004 AALL Annual Meeting Program Committee. Each of these programs touched on the theme of the world of legal information (both locally and globally) and fulfilled our mission of proposing education programs that address social issues that affect us as members of the law librarian profession and as members of the human family.

The programs proposed included:

• HIV/AIDS: A Global Epidemic and an Issue of International Law (Elvira Embser-Herbert, Coordinator)
• Examination of the global AIDS epidemic and the impact of international legal research.
• Asylum: How Far is it to the U.S.? (John Davey, Coordinator)
• Explanation of asylum law with focus on USA Patriot Act, Permanent Partners Immigration Act, and international asylum cases from the Middle East.
• Queer Rights Legislation: Achieving the New Mexico Model (Ron Wheeler, Coordinator)
• Overview of passage of recent New Mexico law outlawing discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity in housing, employment, credit, and public accommodations.
• The Cuban Librarians Controversy and Promoting Global Intellectual Freedom (Anne McDonald, Coordinator)
• An exploration of the plight of Cuba’s independent librarians and the role of library organizations in fighting censorship.
• Hate Crimes: A Further Look at the Issues, Monitoring, and Prevention (Anne McDonald, Coordinator)
• Highlighting Rhode Island’s efforts in combating hate crimes, including litigation and a law enforcement training program and a Boston based national project that teaches tolerance, Facing History.

Although only the HIV/AIDS program was accepted for the 2004 meeting, we put together five good proposals. Thanks to the Coordinators who came through with great ideas and spent time contacting potential speakers and working with me on the submission process. We couldn’t support our goal of providing socially informative educational programs without you!

Keep those ideas coming – we’ll be looking for program proposals from the SR-SIS members next spring.

Make Way!

AALL 2004 Book Drive

The grey chill of November has descended upon us - but there's no need to despair!  Warm yourself with the thought of helping others....

Plans are being made for next year's book drive in Boston.  The theme this year is "Make Way!" based on Boston's beloved children's book "Make Wayfor Ducklings" by Robert McCloskey (The Viking Press, New York, 1941).

This year's efforts will benefit Read Boston - a city initiative whose mission is to ensure that all Boston children are able readers by the time they complete third grade.  The programs include: the Family Literacy Program which provides books for classroom libraries and teacher training; the Reading Trail, a family-focused reading program which allows families to borrow books; and the Storymobile which lends books to kids camps and summer programs.

Think about how you would like to donate next year.  Donating is easier than ever – beginning in March 2004 you will be able to go directly to Amazon.com, view Read Boston's Wish List and your donation will be shipped directly to the Book Drive team!

Other options include bringing your donation with you to the conference OR sending them beforehand to:

Make Way! Book Drive

c/o Annette Demers

Harvard Law School Library

1545 Massachusetts Ave.

Cambridge, MA 02138

1-617-495-4531

ademers@law.harvard.edu

Donations, by check or money order, should be made out to AALL. Thanks for your continuing support of this important project to benefit READ BOSTON!

Thanks again, Annette

How can you use the directory?

• To find libraries that will answer prisoner requests via mail.
• Add the URL to your catalog. This online version updates the print version, Directory: Law Libraries Offering Services to Prisoners, originally published by the AALL Contemporary Social Problems SIS.
• Make a print copy of the Directory from the website (we are working on improving the “sort” function so that the printed version will be organized by state and then alphabetically by library).
• If you respond to prisoner requests, add your library to the Directory (instructions on the website).

Do you have questions about how to respond to prisoner requests?

• Attend the joint roundtable at AALL 2004 in Boston on the topic of serving pro se patrons and answering prisoner requests (sponsored by three SISs - LISP, RIPS, and SR).

If you have questions about the Law Libraries Serving Prisoners database, please contact Ann Hemmens, University of Washington, Gallagher Law Library, hemmens@u.washington.edu, (206)543-7672.

Special Interest Section of the American Association of Law Libraries

Business Meeting: July 13, 2003

Annual Meeting in Seattle

Officers Present: Alison Alifano, Chair; Ann Hemmens, Vice Chair/Chair Elect, Elvira Embser-Herbert, Secretary/Treasurer; Sandy Langston, Chair of the Standing Committee for Lesbian and Gay Issues

Members present:  Scott Fisher, Randy Wilcox, Rebecca Pressman, Karen Westwood, Prano Amjadi, Bill Ketchum, Ron Wheeler, John Davey, Annette Demers, Alana Carson, Arturo Torres, Jan Anderson, Ellen Platt, Sarah Valentine, and Bruce Muck.

I. Alison Alifano called the meeting to order at 5:30 p.m.

II. Minutes were distributed, reviewed, and approved: John Davey moved for approval, Sally Valentine gave the second and they were unanimously approved.

III. Alison delivered the Chair’s Report:

a. Introduced Ann Hemmens, Vice Chair/Chair Elect. Ann replaces Emily Greenburg who, because of her retirement, resigned from the position last year.

b. Discussed the revision of the SIS Handbook and the move to electronic balloting.

IV. Standing Committee for Lesbian and Gay Issues:

a. Camille was not able to attend, but sent a report from the Holoch grant committee, which Alison distributed. The Alan Holoch Memorial Travel Grant was not given. There was one applicant who withdrew.

b. Report by Sally Langston, Chair

i. Business Meeting is Tuesday, July 15 at 5:15 p.m. at the Sheraton, Douglas meeting room.     

ii. Reception scheduled for Tuesday evening,7-10 p.m. at the  Rainier Square Atrium, Third Level

c. West and Lexis each gave $1000. Reception will come in under budget.

V. Standing Committee for Institution Residence:

a. Ann Hemmens spoke for Rebecca Trammel, Chair who was not able to attend.

b. Directory in now online. It is hosted at Barry University, but the committee is attempting to get it on AALLnet. Alison agreed to assist in this process.

c. John Davey asked for clarification about who to contact and what services are provided. There was discussion and it was concluded that the directory does address those concerns.

VI. Newsletter:

a. Jim Murphy, Editor, was not present.

b. Alison reported that there was not a newsletter last year. She suggests that a newsletter go out twice a year. One, in the fall, after programs are accepted and will include any information from the past annual meeting. The second, in the spring, will go out before the annual meeting and will provide any available information on programs, meeting, receptions, etc.

c. Alison will clarify if Jim is still planning to do the newsletter.

VII. Website: Jan Anderson, coordinator.

a. Content is needed.

b. Things are getting better because of newer software that AALL is using.

c. Updates and additions to the website should be sent to Jan Anderson anderjan@law.georgetown.edu.

VIII. Book drive: Ann Hemmens

a. First Place schools which is mostly kids in transition.

b. We paid $100 for a bin at the entrance of the Exhibit Hall

c. Carol Avery Nicholson, AALL president, announced the book drive in one of her e-mails to members

d. The Elliott Bay Book Company was recommended to members wishing to purchase books for the drive. They provide discounts to librarians.

IX. Treasurer’s Report: Elvira Embser-Herbert

a. Report was distributed.

b. There was discussion about an account that the Standing Committee for Lesbian and Gay Issues has been using to pay for the reception. It was clarified that there is only one account for SRSIS and all Standing Committee business should be handled through that account.

c. Ron Wheeler will see to it that the money remaining in the Standing Committee for Lesbian and Gay Issues account is transferred to the SRSIS account.

X. New Business

a. A brochure containing a mission statement will be done emphasizing that the biggest impact we have is through our education programs.

b. Nominations Issues: Will be moving to electronic balloting

c. The list is auto-populated: there may be a problem. Several people are not receiving messages from the list and it appears that new members are not being notified. Alison will look into the problem

d. Education Committee: Ann Hemmens, Chair

i. The theme for next year is Boston to Bombay. The concept of global citizenship is being emphasized.

ii. There will be 30, 60, 75, and 90 minute programs.

iii. There was discussion of teaming with LISP and or RIPS to jointly sponsor a program

iv. There will be six fewer program slots and four more meeting slots.

v. August 15 is the deadline for proposals.

vi. There was brief discussion of proposal ideas.

e. We will give $1000 to the book drive. John Davey introduced the motion. Karen gave the second, and it was unanimously passed.

f. Annette Demers volunteered to coordinate the Boston Book drive

g. Officers for 2003-2004 were introduced:

i. Alison is continuing as chair

ii. Ann Hemmens is the Vice Chair/Chair Elect

iii. Elvira Embser-Herbert will continue as Secretary/Treasurer

The meeting was adjourned at 6:35 p.m.

Respectfully Submitted by

Elvira Embser-Herbert

Secretary /Treasurer

By Mary Whisner, Gallagher Law Library, University of Washington

Informative and inspirational: isn’t that what we hope for when we go to programs? One program that fit the bill this year was “The Innocence Project: The Role of Law Libraries – Today and Tomorrow.” The speaker, Jacqueline McMurtrie, director of Innocence Project Northwest at the University of Washington, conveyed both compassion and legal expertise.

I was moved by Prof. McMurtrie’s use of photos in her PowerPoint presentation. We did not merely hear that there were a number of people caught up in a child sexual abuse scare in Wenatchee, Washington. Instead we saw their faces – some poor, some working class; both young and old; one in a suit and a few who appeared developmentally disabled. The very ordinariness of the images taught a lesson: these people were not necessarily the monsters their prosecutors claimed and could have been overwhelmed by the criminal justice system. Clearly, the students and lawyers who work with Prof. McMurtrie and the Innocence Project also keep in mind that their cases are not just challenging legal problems to solve, but are about real people, clients who desperately need their help.

The legal story is as interesting as the human stories are moving. Prof. McMurtrie gave an overview of the ways that the operation of our criminal justice system can result in wrongful convictions: mistaken identification, police misconduct, prosecutorial misconduct, ineffective assistance of counsel, defective science, and more. Many of these factors were at work in the Wenatchee cases. The Innocence Project Northwest succeeded in overturning some of those convictions, so the news there is good. But some of the defendants remain in prison. And, even more seriously, similar deficiencies have been and are at work in cases around the country, with more real people caught in the nightmares of wrongful conviction.

The presentation ended with a discussion of how librarians can contribute to Innocence Projects and other similar endeavors. Research support is very valuable to faculty, lawyers, and students, both for litigation and for scholarship in the area. Prof. McMurtrie shared a comment from her counterpart at Thomas M. Cooley Law School who was wildly enthusiastic about the research support she had received from Tim Innes (who happened to be in the audience). We should also be aware of these projects for possible referrals. One way to get involved with prisoners’ rights is to work with the SR-SIS Standing Committee on Library Service to Institution Residents.

If you missed this excellent program, you can still profit from the materials prepared by Ann Hemmens (the coordinator and moderator) and Prof. McMurtrie. They are in the Educational Program Handout Materials book (Tues.-Wed. volume), pp. 167-189. There you will find a bibliography and lists of law school clinics serving prisons, law school courses on post-conviction relief or the death penalty, and Innocence Projects nationwide.