Hello and welcome to BU School of Law!

The Pappas Law Library is offering voluntary library tours and a brief introduction to computer services for new students.  The tours start in room 312 at the times noted below.  You don’t need to sign up, just drop by.

These 45 minute orientation sessions are designed to give you some basic library and computer services information that you will need to know. No sign-up is necessary. Meet in the computer training lab, room 312.

Hi and good morning.

Do you love books?  We do.  If you do too, check out this great article in BU Today about the best used book stores in Boston.  Aside from studying, of course, browsing through used book stores may be one of the best ways to spend a beautiful Fall Saturday afternoon.  Enjoy!

Having some trouble with legal research?  You can always ask a law librarian, but if you’re at home or otherwise away from the law school, reach for the library’s selection of online research guides.  We’ve got everything from Asylum, Immigration, and Refugee Law to Verdicts and Settlements.  Take a look!

The Federalist Society has posted a thoughtful debate among four law professors about extending marriage rights to same-sex couples. Among the participants is Dale Carpenter, a contributor at The Volokh Conspiracy, which hosts a further exchange of views about the debate.

Lexis has a new product (still in Beta) called Lexis Web.  Lexis Web uses a Google-like search engine to provide access to the open web while  filtering content to obtain more informational or scholarly results.  Lexis Web will also show hits into LexisNexis itself for those with Lexis passwords.  Check it out!

The New Republic has published a long essay by Judge Richard Posner (CA, 7th Circuit), assessing the Supreme Court’s recent decision in District of Columbia v. Heller.

According to Posner:”The true springs of the Heller decision must be sought elsewhere than in the majority’s declared commitment to originalism. The idea behind the decision–it is not articulated, of course, and perhaps not even consciously held–may simply be that turnabout is fair play. Liberal judges have used loose construction to expand constitutional prohibitions beyond any reasonable construal of original meaning; and now it is the conservatives’ turn. Another plausible example of payback is the conservative justices’ expansive interpretation of the free-speech clause of the First Amendment to limit regulation of campaign financing.”

The full essay is available at the TNR site.