"Depending on the statistics you read, approximately one-third of the inmates in U.S. jails and prisons have some sort of mental disability. It has become cliche to say that our jails and prisons have become de facto mental institutions. How did we reach this point? Representing People with Mental Disabilities: A Practical Guide for Criminal Defense Lawyers takes a look at the challenges and opportunities that are presented in these types of cases. For criminal defense lawyers of all types, clients with mental disabilities are a part of their practice. This ranges from the white-collar criminal defense lawyer who represents an executive charged with tax evasion who functions in spite of a variety of conditions which he keeps hidden, to the public defender assigned as standby or advisory counsel for the defendant who wants to represent himself at trial, to the sole practitioner representing the man with Asperger's charged with possession of child pornography on his computer. Representing People with Mental Disabilities is easy-to-read and easy-to-navigate. It is intended that you can throw the book in your briefcase on the way to the courthouse, or load it on your tablet and turn to the appropriate chapter or chapters when needed. If you want to learn more about a topic, the Suggested Works section at the end of the book contains titles of books and articles as well as websites. Additionally, many chapters contain the statement at the end, "Complete citations are available from the author/authors upon request." The accompanying website has motions and pleadings which you can adapt to your jurisdiction." --

"An intelligent machine built to study methods of social warfare struggles to understand and communicate the lived experience of race In a narrative full of social significance and poetically decorated with monks, vampires, and mythical statistics, Race in the Machine presents a world where the stories we use to explain race all simultaneously exist, within and around us, dictating our interactions and innermost beliefs. The nameless protagonist, an enigmatic social mechanic at Nearbay Institute, living in a population of socially connected intelligent machines, encounters a simple query in the context of an introductory lecture: "What exactly is race? And what is it in the context of the social machine?" This prompt guides the protagonist along a twisting intellectual tale surrounding a series of experiments which explore: How many racists does it take to create systems of inequality? What role do non-racists actors play in upholding them? How is bias learned? How does it spread? The narrator develops a distinct understanding of race through the figurative bending of time, dreams of a "race code" and by confronting a series of mysterious communications that remain just outside comprehension. Over the course of this journey, the answers to important questions about racial inequality quietly emerge for the protagonist. Scholarly encounters with both antagonistic colleagues and unexpected allies, culminate when the hero is forced to reach a devastating conclusion about themselves and the world. Stirring and luminous, Race in the Machine deftly oscillates between the allegorically simplified and the impossibly complex to weave an utterly unique and nuanced portrait of race in the modern world"--

"Throughout my career, I have defended clients in numerous matters where I needed to litigate issues related to every possible variety of prosecutorial misconduct - false statements in search warrant affidavits, improper conduct before the grand jury, improper closing argument, etc. While I continue to believe that the overwhelming majority of prosecutors are professional and ethical, our recent history demonstrates that there are far too many individuals serving prison sentences due to unchecked prosecutorial misconduct. This book aims to arm criminal defense attorneys with the tools needed to fight back against the minority of prosecutors who choose to use their immense power in the wrong way"--

"This book tells the real story of abortion in America, one that captures a disturbing reality of sometimes insurmountable barriers put in front of women trying to exercise their legal rights to medical services. Without the efforts of an unheralded army of doctors, nurses, social workers, activists, and volunteers, what is a legal right would be meaningless for the almost one million people per year who get abortions. There is a better way-treating abortion like any other form of health care-but the United States is a long way from that ideal"--

"Ethical, pondering, and wondrous, adrienne maree brown's Loving Corrections is a collection of love-based adjustments and reframes to grow our movements for liberation while navigating a society deeply fractured by greed, racism, and war. In this landmark book, brown invigorates her influential writing on belonging and accountability into the framework of "loving corrections": a generative space where rehearsals for the revolution become the everyday norm in relating to one another. Filled with practical wisdom on how to be a trustworthy communicator while providing bold visions for a shared future, Loving Corrections can speak to everyone caught in the crossroads of our political challenges and potential. No matter how new to the struggle, or how numerous our failures, brown's indispensable writing is an invitation to us all."--

"If you're woke, you're left. If you're left, you're woke. We blur the terms, assuming that if you're one you must be the other. That, Susan Neiman argues, is a dangerous mistake. The intellectual roots and resources of wokeism conflict with ideas that have guided the left for more than 200 years: a commitment to universalism, a firm distinction between justice and power, and a belief in the possibility of progress. Without these ideas, Neiman argues, they will continue to undermine their own goals and drift, inexorably and unintentionally, towards the right. In the long run, they risk becoming what they despise. One of the world's leading philosophical voices, Neiman makes this case by tracing the malign influence of two titans of twentieth-century thought, Michel Foucault and Carl Schmitt, whose work undermined ideas of justice and progress and portrayed social life as an eternal struggle of us against them. A generation schooled with these voices in their heads, raised in a broader culture shaped by the ruthless ideas of neoliberalism and evolutionary psychology, has set about changing the world. It's time they thought again."--

"How successfully families in the U.S. navigate various institutional contexts frequently relies on a parent's ability to be continuously available for and capable of supporting their children. But what happens when one or both parents are immigrants who have limited English proficiency? This us the case for two-thirds of immigrant families in the U.S., and more often than not the children in these families must support their parents by acting as "language brokers," or translators, often in high-stakes situations. In Language Brokers, Hyeyoung Kwon shines a light on these lived realities for working-class Mexican- and Korean-American youth in Southern California. Focusing especially on healthcare and criminal justice contexts, Kwon shows that the work of translating is about much more than just words. These children learn early about the harsh financial realities their parents face. They are burdened with portraying their parents as "normal" Americans who deserve full citizenship rights, not as inassimilable and undeserving free riders of social welfare. Kwon's stirring account proves that, as long as immigrants' values and behaviors are blamed for what are actually structural problems, children of immigrants will have to perform Americanness to cultivate a sense of belonging"--

"This book is the first thorough study of the Justice Department's pattern or practice program, examining how the program works, how court-imposed consent decrees implement needed reforms, and discussing the various challenges the program has encountered over nearly thirty years"--

"In 1989, Ben Spencer was convicted of murdering businessman Jeffrey Young-a crime he didn't commit. Spencer to spent more than half his life in prison until independent investigators, the foreman of the jury that convicted him, and a new district attorney convinced a judge that Spencer had nothing to do with the killing. He was released from prison in 2022. Journalist Barbara Bradley Hagerty spent years immersed in Spencer's case. She combed police files and court records, interviewed dozens of witnesses, and had extensive conversations with Spencer. In Bringing Ben Home, she weaves together two narratives: how an innocent Black man got caught up in and couldn't escape a legal system that refused to admit its mistakes; and what Texas and other states are doing to address wrongful convictions to make the legal process more equitable for everyone"--

"This radical work by one of the leading young scholars of Black thought delineates a new concept of Black dignity, yet one with a long history in Black writing and action. Previously in the West, dignity has been seen in two ways: as something inherent in one's station in life, whether acquired or conferred by birth; or more recently as an essential condition and right common to all of humanity. In what might be called a work of observational philosophy--an effort to describe the philosophy underlying the Black Lives Matter movement--Vincent W. Lloyd defines dignity as something performative, not an essential quality but an action: struggle against domination. Without struggle, there is no dignity. He defines anti-Blackness as an inescapable condition of American life, and the slave's struggle against the master as the "primal scene" of domination and resistance. Exploring the way Black writers such as Frederick Douglass, Langston Hughes, and Audre Lorde have dealt with themes such as Black rage, Black love, and Black magic, Lloyd posits that Black dignity is the paradigm of all dignity and, more audaciously, that Black philosophy is the starting point of all philosophy."--

The School of Information Sciences at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign is pleased to announce the publication of Library Trends 72 (1). This issue, "Indigenous Librarianship," examines the current state of Indigenous librarianship. Ulia Gosart and Rachel Fu served as guest editors. Library Trends, in partnership with the guest editors and select authors, will host a virtual webinar featuring lightning talks based on articles from the upcoming issue.

In 1992, voters in what was then a much more deeply red state delivered a resounding defeat to a measure that would have banned most abortions in Arizona.

The American Library Association and the Sustainable Libraries Initiative have announced the new National Climate Action Strategy for Libraries and created an implementation guide to help libraries incorporate climate action locally into strategic and facility plans.

When you look at a photograph, you are essentially looking through the eyes of the photographer as they point something out. Their sense of artistry and structure should be clear to see, but also their biases, and their power dynamic with their subjects. In southern California’s Riverside, Report for America corps member and CatchLight fellow

This was the primary takeaway from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)’s 2023 Annual Homeless Assessment Report (AHAR) Part 1, which was released on December 15. The AHAR Part 1 compiles data from Point-in-Time (PIT) Counts conducted […]

Public Citizen is a nonprofit consumer advocacy organization that champions the public interest – your interests – in the halls of power.

Over 1.5 million people are eligible for immigration benefits and don’t know it. Find your options by taking the Immigration Paths quiz.

Expert Contributes to First Update in American Library Association Standards Since 1992

The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, which wants the oil pipeline shut down, says spills near Lake Oahe were environmental violations.

Eight years after Standing Rock, water protectors are using novel anti-SLAPP laws to help expose the secrets oil companies want to hide.

The largest dam removal project in U.S. history has been completed near the California-Oregon border.

Eliminating the terms “race and ethnicity” from the American Bar Association’s law school accreditation rules will hobble longstanding efforts to bring in diverse students and faculty, critics warned in public comments on the proposal.

"The health of the nation’s libraries is a national security issue," writes Elyse Graham.

This is a description of the Federal Indian Boarding school program, the origins of Orange Shirt Day, and the relationship of the U.S. Federal Indian Boarding school program to Canada's residential school program.

Index of Library of Congress Research Guides Research guides to the Library's collections, as well as subject guides prepared by Library of Congress staff, are listed below. More online guides covering other Library of Congress collections are available via the

As a community of engaged scholars and learners, we are committed to freedom of expression, academic freedom, and collaborative inquiry. We support creativity and innovation by valuing all voices and engaging in respectful discourse. While we may not always agree with the ideas and opinions of others, we must honor their right to express them. Please explore and utilize this website as a resource. If you have questions or concerns regarding First Amendment activities, or for rally or protest planning assistance, please contact the Dean of Students Office at 520-621-7057.

Two new reports provide a mixed but compelling outlook on the wave of book removals and challenges as the annual Banned Books Week begins for schools, stores and libraries nationwide.

The final count for the 2023-2024 school year will be released later this fall along with a public Index of School Book Bans.

Our Impact Report captures some of the highlights and significant achievements of our work, providing a glimpse into the comprehensive impact we are making. We are proud of the accomplishments featured, knowing they reflect only a portion of the full scope of our efforts.