BLS Library Blog

In June, BLS Library commemorates and celebrates Juneteenth, LGBTQ+ Pride Month, and Caribbean American Heritage Month.  

Juneteenth, celebrated on June 19 of each year, commemorates the day in 1865 when enslaved people in Texas were finally freed, over two years after the Emancipation Proclamation had been effected in 1863. While African American communities have celebrated Juneteenth since the late 1800s, June 19 only became a federal holiday in 2021. For more resources on Juneteenth, visit our digital book display at https://guides.brooklaw.edu/digital_book_displays/Juneteenth

LGBTQ+ Pride Month has its roots in the Stonewall Uprising of June 1969, here in New York City. The first Pride marches took place a year later, in June 1970. Since then, there have been annual commemorations and celebrations in June, to recognize and uplift LGBTQ+ voices and advocate for equality. BLS Library has books on marriage equality, Harvey Milk, legal milestones in LGBTQ+ history, and many other print and digital resources relevant to Pride Month: https://guides.brooklaw.edu/digital_book_displays/LGBTQ_Pride_Month

Caribbean American Heritage Month has been officially recognized and celebrated every year since 2006. The first Presidential Proclamation recognizing Caribbean-American Heritage Month, by then President George W. Bush, celebrated “the great contributions of Caribbean Americans to the fabric of our Nation” and paid tribute to “the common culture and bonds of friendship that unite the United States and the Caribbean countries.”  The many distinguished Caribbean Americans affiliated with BLS include U.S. District Judge Hon. Sparkle L. Sooknanan, '10, who clerked for Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor for OT 2013. Check out the many print and ebooks in our collection on topics related to Caribbean Americans, at https://guides.brooklaw.edu/digital_book_displays/Caribbean_American_Heritage_Month

The library has recently added a helpful research resource that BLS alumni can use: Westlaw Patron Access. This is a version of Westlaw that can be accessed on one of the computer terminals located past the circulation desk on the library’s first floor. There are two adjoining terminals, and the one with Westlaw Patron Access is on the right side. 

Westlaw Patron Access includes many resources that could be useful to practitioners, including both federal and state case law (with KeyCite), and federal and state statutes and regulations. In addition to primary law, users can access a wealth of secondary sources such as:

General Secondary Sources

• American Law Reports
• Restatements of the Law
• American Jurisprudence 
• Law Reviews and Journals
• 50 State Surveys 

New York Secondary Sources

• New York Jurisprudence
• NY Practice Series 
• Carmody-Wait 2d NY Practice with Forms
• Siegel’s New York Practice

Secondary Sources by Practice Area

Many areas of law are covered, with the following being just a few examples:

• Employment Law
• Immigration Law
• Securities Law
• Criminal Law

A few tips for users of the Westlaw Patron Access terminal: 

• User Guide & Training Videos: A laminated print copy of the user guide to Westlaw Patron Access can be found next to the terminal. A pdf of the guide is also saved on the computer terminal, next to the icon used for access. In addition, you can find Westlaw’s training videos and materials for Westlaw Patron Access here.

• Navigation to Secondary Sources:  Westlaw Patron Access includes access to many secondary sources. If you are looking for secondary sources in a particular area of law, we suggest navigating first to the link for secondary sources and then to the topic of interest (e.g. immigration law). We have found that this order of navigation may provide more results than clicking on the area of law first and then trying to find secondary sources within that field. 

• “Out of Plan” Resources: Please note that some of the resources listed in the Westlaw Patron Access interface may not be available to our patrons. Typically there will be an “Out of Plan” notation for such resources.  

• Saving Your Results:  You can email documents to yourself, or download them if you bring your own USB drive. At this time, there is no option to print from the terminal. 

• Privacy and Confidentiality:  Be sure to sign off when you have finished your session by navigating to the user icon, and clicking on the “Sign Off” tab (see screenshot below). Doing so will delete your search history and results, and ensure privacy and confidentiality. 

BLS Library may limit the amount of time a patron uses the terminal, at our discretion. Our current policy is that use of the Westlaw Patron Access terminal is limited to 30 minutes if another user is waiting.

The Westlaw Patron Access Terminal is not the only dedicated research platform available to alumni. BLS alumni are also welcome to use the library’s Bloomberg Terminal for their research needs. The Bloomberg Terminal is located in the library’s cellar, immediately to the left of the entrance doors when entering the International Collection.  

The Bloomberg Terminal has a wealth of real-time and historical financial data on companies and markets worldwide. News articles and analytics can also be accessed on the terminal. For new users, the Bloomberg YouTube channel includes many training videos, and there is also a print guide designed to help new users of the terminal in an academic setting. If you wish to access the Bloomberg Terminal at BLS Library, stop by the circulation desk to obtain the username and password for our account.  

If you have any questions about these terminals, please let a librarian know at askthelibrary@brooklaw.edu  BLS alumni, we hope to see you at the library making use of these helpful research resources! 

In recent years, the Law Library Association of New York (LLAGNY) has focused on developing CLE programming tailored to small and medium-sized law firms, attorney networking groups and solo practitioners. The programs typically include presentations by both a practicing attorney and a research librarian who identifies and discusses important research resources on the chosen topic.

On March 19, 2025, Brooklyn Law School librarian Jean Davis presented in the CLE program 60 Days In: Unpacking the Trump Administration’s Rapid Overhaul of U.S. Immigration Policy and Forecasting the Road Ahead, organized by the "Deliberate Solos" attorney group and LLAGNY. Jean discussed immigration law resources that complemented practitioner Michael Carbone's presentation, including resources on tracking recent executive actions affecting immigration, ICE raids and "know your rights" documents, and litigation challenging recent executive actions of the Trump administration.  

In her presentation, Jean highlighted the work of Professors Faiza Sayed, Stacy Caplow and Susan Hazeldean both as scholars and as directors of BLS clinics. She talked about how BLS students gain invaluable skills through the Safe Harbor Clinic as they help clients in gaining immigration status and in asylum proceedings. She also discussed how BLS students in the LGBTQ Advocacy Clinic assist clients in asylum cases who are escaping from anti-gay or anti-trans persecution in their home countries. Jean’s program bibliography spotlighted a variety of resources on immigration law, many of them freely available, including the scholarship of Professor Maryellen Fullerton.

Participants left the event with helpful information on how to keep abreast of, and respond to the recent rapid changes to immigration law and policy.  If you are looking for guidance with your own immigration law research project, be sure to check out Jean’s immigration law research guide.

What began as a local celebration of Women’s History Week in Santa Rosa, California in 1978, has since evolved into a nationally observed Women’s History Month. The theme for 2025, chosen by the National Women’s History Alliance, is “Moving Forward Together! Women Educating & Inspiring Generations.”  

We would like to highlight the following events and resources at BLS Library in celebration of Women’s History Month:

Alcove Academy - Reading and Research with Jean: Wednesday, March 5, 12:45 pm at the 1st Floor Library Alcove. Join Librarian Jean Davis to explore library resources on gender and the law, that can help with your seminar papers or your submissions to writing competitions. More information about this event below: 

Book Display:  We invite you to explore the array of books on women and the law in our collection, that are on display on the library’s first floor.

Digital Display: Please look through our library’s digital display for Women's History Month at https://guides.brooklaw.edu/digital_book_displays/women_history_month. The display include books by and about members of the BLS community; titles about women judges, law professors and practitioners; and books covering key topics on women and the law. 

Finally, if you are attending the IBL Lecture: Women's Property Rights Under CEDAW on Monday, March 3, at 5:30 PM (Subotnick, 10th Floor), BLS Library has multiple digital copies of the book co-authored by speaker Professor José E. Alvarez. You can access the book at https://sara.brooklaw.edu/cgi-bin/koha/opac-detail.pl?biblionumber=492581 or use the QR code below.

During February 2025, BLS Library observes Black History Month, a celebration of the rich history, culture, and achievements of Black and African American communities.  While its origins date back to historian Carter G. Woodson's efforts in the 1920s, the first Black History Month celebration took place in February 1970, at Kent State University. President Gerald Ford was the first President to officially recognize the observance of Black History Month in 1976. Congress took on the mantle in 1986 by passing Public Law 99-244 which designated February 1986 as "National Black (Afro-American) History Month.”  Since 1996, Presidents have issued annual proclamations observing and celebrating National Black History Month. 

Book Display (1st Floor):

To celebrate Black History Month 2025, the library has an array of books in our collection on display on the library’s first floor, near the circulation desk and alcove. On display are titles about BLS alumni including the first Black woman from Queens admitted to the New York bar, Florence Victoria Lucas ‘39 and former New York City Mayor, David Dinkins ‘56. We have books on Martin Luther King, Jr., Thurgood Marshall, the history of the civil rights movement, Barack Obama, and more. 

Digital Display 

In addition to our physical book display, we also have a digital display of BLS Library resources relevant to Black History Month.  Browse the titles in the digital display at https://guides.brooklaw.edu/digital_book_displays/Black_History_Month 

Do come check out both our physical and digital displays! If there are additional resources that you think would be of interest to the BLS community, let us know at askthelibrary@brooklaw.edu

Kudos to you all! After commencement, you may be ready to leave BLS, but BLS will not leave you.  Brooklyn Law School offers many services to its alumni.  2019 graduates can access the BLS network and are able to print until August of the year following graduation.  For May 2019 graduates, you have access until August 2020.   

In addition, graduates can register for Westlaw’s Grad Elite program.  The Grad Elite “Practice-Ready” program provides access to Westlaw Edge and other practice tools for 18 months post-graduation, for up to 60 hours each month. These hours can be used for work-related research.  Through this program, you can research using Westlaw Edge, Practical Law, Drafting Assistant Essential, and Westlaw Doc & Form Builder.

To register for this program, log in to your existing Westlaw account and click on the Practice Ready Solution link in the screen’s upper right-hand corner.  On the Practice Ready page, you will see a link for graduates to extend their access.

Besides access to Westlaw for 18 months post-graduation, Brooklyn Law School Alumni Association members have unlimited access to the library’s print resources and limited access to certain digital resources for research purposes while in the library.  Books, however, cannot be checked out.

While in the library, members have access to LexisNexis Academic, a stripped down version of Lexis.  LexisNexis Academic contains federal and state case law, statutes, and regulations.  It also has a limited run of law reviews, and features Shepards.  To use the database, go to the library home page, select Complete Database List, and then select LexisNexis Academic.

Finally, if you ever run into a research quandary, remember you can call, (718) 780-7567, or email, askthelibrary@brooklaw.edu, the reference desk.  Reference librarians are here to help!

The BLS alumna sat down on one of the brightly-colored, soft and comfortable couches in the newly-christened Nash Reading Room. “We didn’t have anything like this in the library, back when I was in law school!”

Over the years, many alumni have had experiences similar to those described by Bernie Nash (BLS ‘66) in his remarks at the dedication of the Nash Reading Room on June 26, 2018. When he started out at BLS, the library was a “medieval” place with long tables and hard chairs, where students kept their heads down in their devotion to quiet study. Yet he soon learned that these austere physical trappings belied the value of the library and librarians. During Nash’s tenure as a student, BLS Librarian Lucie Jurow (BLS ‘30) became his mentor. She not only taught him how to do legal research, a skill that served him well in law school and in practice, but also helped him out when he ran into some issues with the law school administration. Nash’s appreciation of Jurow’s mentorship, and of the value of the law school library, stuck with him throughout his long and successful career.  Hence it was fitting that the newly-renovated third floor collaboration room, which has quickly become the most popular space in the library, be dedicated as the Phyllis & Bernard Nash ‘66 Reading Room in honor of the Nashs’ generosity in giving back to BLS.

After the official ribbon-cutting ceremony had been conducted by Phyllis Nash, Bernie Nash, Dean Nick Allard, and Library Director Janet Sinder, the guests spilled into the reading room. Some guests chatted with those who were using the space: students taking summer classes as well as recent graduates studying for the July bar exam. Others settled on the inviting couches and fractal lounge chairs. They sipped champagne and didn’t seem like they wanted to leave.

Dean Nick Allard, Phyllis Nash, and Bernard Nash ’66 

Ribbon-Cutting Ceremony: Dean Nick Allard, Phyllis Nash, Bernard Nash ’66, and Library Director Janet Sinder 

Guests mingling in the newly-dedicated Nash Reading Room 

Librarian Lucie Jurow (BLS ’30) 

The US Congress, by Public Law 100-9, designated the month of March 1987, as “Women’s History Month”. This law requested the President to issue a proclamation calling on the American people to observe this month with appropriate activities. President Reagan then issued Presidential Proclamation 5619 proclaiming March 1987 as “Women’s History Month”. Since then, Presidential Proclamations have declared March as Women’s History Month.

Brooklyn Law School celebrates Women’s History Month by recognizing Amelia Dietrich Lewis, Class of 1924, as “one of the most tenacious lawyers the state of Arizona has ever seen.” She was a graduate of St. Lawrence University School of Law (now Brooklyn Law School). She exhibited her moxie early in her career, even before she was sworn in as an attorney. Although Lewis was scheduled to take the bar exam on June 24, 1924, she learned that the New York Bar prohibited candidates under the age of 21. In Lewis’s case, she was to turn 21 the very next day, on June 25. Facing this technicality, she filed suit against the Bar, arguing she would be 21 on the 24th because her birthday was actually the first day of her 22nd year.” She was successful in her suit and took the exam as planned on the 24th and passed. After practicing law in New York for 33 years, in 1957 following the death of her husband, she moved to Arizona. She took the bar examination in that state with just one other woman, Sandra Day O’Conner. There, she worked as a prosecutor for six years and then maintained a thriving solo practice, concentrating in elder law in Sun City. She was well into her eighties when she retired.

Lewis is best known for her involvement in the landmark 1967 Supreme Court case, In re Gault, 387 U.S. 1 (1967), which brought due process to juvenile courts across the nation. Her client, Gerald Gault, had been sentenced without legal counsel to an Arizona reformatory. He allegedly made an obscene phone call to a neighbor, was arrested by local police, and tried in a proceeding that did not require his accuser’s testimony. He was sentenced to six years in a juvenile “boot camp” for an offense that would have cost an adult only two months. Lewis assumed the role of co-counsel after Gault’s appeals at the lower level were exhausted. She was drawn to the case because she had raised three healthy sons and “wanted to give something back.” Ultimately, the defense of the boy prevailed, with the Court holding that he was entitled to the same constitutional safeguards as adults: a trial by jury, the right to legal counsel, the right to cross-examine witnesses, and the right to remain silent. Justice Fortas in his 8-1 majority opinion wrote: “Neither the 14th Amendment nor the Bill of Rights is for adults only. Under the Constitution, the condition of being a boy does not justify a kangaroo court.”

Lewis was recognized by the Arizona Republic as one of the legal greats of that state. In 1988, she received the first Amicus Award of the Association of Trial Lawyers of America, which honored her for pioneering the vital role of women in the legal profession. Upon her death in 1994, the Chief Justice of the Arizona Supreme Court commented: “She made history for the law in many ways. Her life and career epitomized the practice of law as it should be.”

The Brooklyn Law School Library has in its collection The Constitutional Rights of Children: In re Gault and Juvenile Justice by David S. Tanenhaus (Call No. KF228.G377 T36 2017). This new edition includes expanded coverage of the Roberts Court’s juvenile justice decisions including Miller v. Alabama (in which the Court held that mandatory sentences of life without the possibility of parole are unconstitutional for juvenile offenders) and explains how disregard for children’s constitutional rights led to the “Kids for Cash” scandal in Pennsylvania. Widely celebrated as the most important children’s rights case of the twentieth century, Gault affirmed that children have the same rights as adults and formally incorporated the Fourteenth Amendment’s due process protections into the administration of the nation’s juvenile courts.

This is an update of the September 23, 2016 post Episode 098 – Conversation BLS Alumni Greg Zamfotis and John Rudikoff. The update adds a video of the conversation to the audio linked in the earlier post. Additionally, John Mackin, Public Relations Manager at Brooklyn Law School, wrote a summary of the conversation which is available by clicking this link.