BLS Library Blog

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.

BLS students, welcome back from Spring Break! The library would like to know what YOU think about our services, space, and resources. It takes just 5 minutes to complete the survey, and your feedback is anonymous.  

As a thank you for taking the survey, you can enter our raffle and be eligible to win one of several fantastic raffle prizes: a 14" Triple Laptop Screen Extender, gift cards, laptop bags, and more! At the end of the survey you will be asked to provide your email address: this is solely for entry in our raffle drawing, and will not be connected to your responses.  

We look forward to hearing from you, and to using your feedback to help improve your library experience! 

Link to Survey

The First Step Act was enacted and signed into law with bipartisan support in December 2018. The statute includes numerous sentencing reforms, including a provision that allows a prisoner to file a motion for compassionate release if he or she can demonstrate “extraordinary and compelling” reasons for such relief. Data from the United States Sentencing Commission show that from October 2019 through December 2024, judges have granted 5,547 compassionate release motions.

In 1997, in his courtroom in the Eastern District of New York, Judge Frederic Block sentenced Walter Johnson to five life sentences for robbery, cocaine possession, and witness tampering.  According to a NY Times article, Johnson’s criminal misdeeds in the 1980s and 1990s included armed robberies on a bus, on the F Line of the subway, and in a church. Notably, he was a suspect in the 1994 shooting of Tupac Shakur in the lobby of the Quad Recording Studios in Manhattan. 

At the time of the 1997 sentencing, Judge Block had been on the bench for under three years. In the intervening years, the First Step Act was passed and on October 17, 2024, Judge Block granted Johnson’s motion for compassionate release, writing: 

“Just like prisoners who have evolved into better human beings during their lengthy periods of incarceration, judges also evolve with the passage of years on the bench. When I sentenced Johnson in 1997, I had been a judge for only two years. But judges gain insights that with the passage of time only can come with experience on the bench and their judicial maturation. Now, having been on the bench for almost thirty years, the First Step Act has given me a second chance to reconsider the sentences I imposed on Johnson 27 years ago. I will now also give him a second chance.”

Interested in hearing more about Judge Block’s reasons for granting Walter Johnson’s motion, or about the six compassionate release cases he highlights in his latest book “A Second Chance: A Federal Judge Decides Who Deserves It”?  Brooklyn Law School’s Center for Criminal Justice has organized “Sentencing, Second Chances & Justice,” a conversation between Judge Block and BLS Dean David Meyer about the book and the topic of compassionate release. The event is on April 1, 2025 at 6 PM, and further details can be found here (RSVP by March 27.)

If you plan on attending the event or have an interest in learning more about the topic and Judge Block’s views, BLS Library provides the BLS community with digital access to “A Second Chance.” Use the QR code above or click here for access. The library also has print copies of Judge Block’s earlier books Crimes and Punishment: Entering the Mind of a Sentencing Judge and Disrobed: An Inside Look at the Life and Work of a Federal Trial Judge as well as other works on sentencing reform.  For help accessing any of these resources, please reach out to askthelibrary@brooklaw.edu  

[Note: If you are a member of the BLS community and do not have access to the NY Times articles linked to above, information on how to sign up for free access to the Times and other news publications can be found at https://guides.brooklaw.edu/news]

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.