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February 2010 Newsletter |
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February Library Closures
All branches of the Law Library will be CLOSED on:
- Friday, February 12th and
- Saturday, February 13th
in observance of Lincoln's Birthday
and
- Monday, February 15th
in observance of President's Day.
Normal hours of operation will resume on Tuesday, February 16, 2010.
Lincoln's Birthday is a legal holiday in California observed on the anniversary of Abraham Lincoln's birth on February 12, 1809. There has never been an annual federal holiday honoring Lincoln.
Washington's Birthday was the first federal holiday to honor an American citizen. This holiday was initially celebrated on Washington's actual birthday, February 22 (1732), but the Uniform Holidays Bill of 1968 changed it to the third Monday in February in 1971. An early draft of this bill included a provision to rename the holiday Presidents' Day to honor both Washington and Lincoln, but it didn't pass and was signed into law as "Washington's Birthday."
The federal government did not establish a uniform holiday title agreement among the individual states, though, so some states, including California, renamed their state holiday "President's Day."
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New Resource & Materials Added to the Collection
by Janet L.
The Library now subscribes to LexisNexis'
Matthew Bender online database.
Beginning today, the Library is providing online access to Matthew Bender - California Materials. Our complete Matthew Bender collection of 67 titles is now available electronically for easy access, in addition to our print collection.
You are able to access such indispensable California resources as: Forms of Pleading & Practice, Annotated; Points & Authorities; Legal Forms Transaction Guide; Family Law Practice & Procedure; Workers' Compensation Law; Deposition & Discovery Practice; Criminal Defense Practice; and more.
This invaluable resource will be accessible at all branches of the Library from any patron computer. All you have to do is log into our on-site LexisNexis database.
New Materials Added to the Collection The Law Library regularly adds new materials to its collection. To see the new books added to our collection in the last month, click here.
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Upcoming Classes for February & March
Pre-registration is required for all classes, as seating is limited. Please sign up by calling the appropriate branch location.
For a complete description of the classes and the most up-to-date information, visit our Class Calendar.
The following classes are free to Law Library members and $5 for non-members.
FEBRUARY
Main Branch (619) 531-3900
MARCH
Main Branch (619) 531-3900
South Bay Branch (619) 691-4929
*MCLE Participatory Credit hour(s) available for these classes.
The San Diego County Public Law Library is a State Bar approved MCLE provider.
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2010 Witkin Dinner: Make Your Reservations Now
The Library will hold its annual Bernard E. Witkin, Esq. Awards Dinner on Thursday, March 4, 2010, at the Sheraton San Diego Hotel & Marina - Bay Tower. The event will start with a cocktail hour at 5 pm, followed by dinner and awards. A silent auction also will be part of the evening's celebration. Prizes include restaurant gift certificates, free passes to some of San Diego's best attractions, theater and concert tickets.
The Witkin Event is the Law Library's premier fundraiser. The goal this year is to raise funds to purchase adaptive equipment for visually-challenged library users. You are invited to be a part of this worthwhile effort to benefit people with disabilities who use the library.
Some of the past corporate, community, and foundation sponsors of the event include: AJL Litigation Media; CEB; Chicago Title Company; Corporate Management Inc.; Girard Foundation; Knox Service Inc.; Konica Minolta; Legal Arts; North County Times; Old Republic Title Company; Qualcomm Inc.; Seacoast Video Productions; The Herbert J. & Elene Solomon Fund; Thomson West Publishing; and VideoTrack.
Don't miss your chance to attend one of the best networking events of the year!
Invitations will be mailed out shortly. In the meantime, you can make reservations and obtain sponsorship information now by contacting Joy Placek.
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Witkin Award Winners, Part II
2010 Witkin Honorees:
 Christine Kehoe is forging the path for a new generation of effective California legislators by setting a high standard for integrity and accomplishment.
Elected to the State Senate in 2004 and re-elected in 2008, Kehoe represents the 39th Senate District which includes much of San Diego, the cities of Del Mar and Lemon Grove, and neighboring communities.
During her time in the Senate, Kehoe has focused on the environment and good government measures. She chairs the Senate Appropriations Committee, and is a member of the Banking, Finance & Insurance Committee; Budget & Fiscal Review Committee; Energy, Utilities and Communications Committee; Local Government Committee; Natural Resources & Water Committee; Transportation & Housing Committee; and the Joint Legislative Committee on Emergency Services and Homeland Security.
Prior to being elected to the Senate, Kehoe served two terms as State Assemblymember representing the 76th District from 2000 through 2004 where she distinguished herself by becoming the second woman ever - and the first woman from San Diego - to be elected Speaker pro Tempore, the second highest-ranking position.
She also wrote legislation forming the San Diego River Conservancy, designating the portion of State Route 163 as a Historic Parkway, outlawing unsolicited fax advertisements, increasing energy supplies, and fighting higher energy prices, and worked on landmark consumer protection legislation after the 2003 wildfires.
Kehoe also served seven years as a City Councilmember representing San Diego's Third District. She served as chair of the Public Safety and Neighborhood Services Committee, and led efforts to improve and beautify San Diego, reduce street crime, and improve recreational opportunities for families.
She helped launch the city's Hate Crimes Registry, concentrate efforts to remove graffiti, improve street lighting, provide better supervision of parolees, and reduce crime in Balboa Park. In response to her efforts to improve San Diego's neighborhoods, the United States Secretary of Housing appointed Kehoe to chair the San Diego Regional Partnership for Home Ownership, work later honored by the American Planning Association.
Kehoe is a relentless fighter for civil rights. She was a pioneer activist in 1978 as a volunteer with the Center for Women's Studies and Services. In 1980 she was San Diego County's chair for the campaign to defeat the Lyndon LaRouche AIDS discrimination initiative. In 1984 she became editor of the award-winning San Diego Gayzette newspaper. She was an early director of the AIDS Assistance Fund, which grew into the San Diego AIDS Foundation.
She called hearings on the City's Equal Opportunity Ordinance to provide stronger protections for women, successfully led efforts to enact domestic partner benefits for city employees, and provided major grant funding to strengthen the San Diego LGBT Community Center. Kehoe lives in San Diego's North Park neighborhood with her partner Julie Warren.
 Sharon B. Majors-Lewis graduated Magna Cum Laude from National University with a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in 1980. She obtained her JD degree in 1985 from the National University School of Law, where she was a member of the Student Honors Advisory Program, and received American Jurisprudence Awards in Torts, Wills and Trusts, Domestic Relations and Administrative Law, and a Corpus Juris Secundum Award in labor relations. She was also an F. Lee Baily Moot Court Finalist.
She was admitted to practice in California on December 13, 1985. As a private attorney, she handled family law and motion matters, provided pro bono services through the San Diego Volunteer Lawyer's program and represented indigent criminal defendants by appointment of the Court of Appeals under the Appellate Defenders assisted-case
system.
She was sworn in as a San Diego County Deputy District Attorney in February 1987, and was admitted before the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California that same year. As a San Diego DDA, she became a trial attorney specializing in violent crimes, including abusive head trauma child homicides. She was promoted to Assistant Chief of the Family Protection Division, a division that handled child abuse, domestic violence, elder abuse, statutory rape, and child abduction cases. Secretary Majors-Lewis was cross designated as a Special Assistant U.S. Attorney, for the Southern District of California in the Violent Crimes Division. She completed over 90 jury trials during her career as a Deputy District Attorney.
Secretary Majors-Lewis was promoted to Division Chief of the Central Pretrial Division, making her the first African American female Division Chief in the San Diego District Attorney's Office. She later became the first African American female to become a Chief Deputy District Attorney in the office.
In addition to managing several divisions, she also handled sensitive special projects for the District Attorney and completed other complex matters, including reviewing homicide cases that were the subject of habeas petitions. Secretary Majors-Lewis served on the Capital Case Review Board, the attorney selection committee, was in charge of the Certified Legal Intern and Graduate Law Clerk programs and handled the office's travel and training budget.
In February 2007, Secretary Majors-Lewis was appointed by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to be his Judicial Appointments Secretary. She is the first woman and first person of color to ever hold the position in California. In 2007, 2008, and 2009, she was selected by the Los Angeles Daily Journal as one of their Top 100 Leading Lawyers in California. In January 2008, San Diego Magazine named her one of the top 50 People to Watch.
She has been a member of the Lawyers Club of San Diego, San Diego County Bar Association, American Bar Association, Earl B. Gilliam Bar Association National College of Prosecutors, and serves on the Board of Directors for the Young Women's Christian Association in San Diego.
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Need Last Minute MCLE?
by Tina J.
If you're in desperate need of that one last MCLE to fulfill your requirements for this year, check out the Legislative Intent Service, Inc.'s website to receive a FREE, self-study credit. LIS is a company of attorneys providing legislative history research for all states' statutes and regulations, as well as Federal legislation and regulations.
They offer an MCLE Self-Study Exam that includes the materials/exam (PDF) and the answer sheet (Word). Once you complete the exam you use the answer sheet to fill in the correct answers, then e-mail it back to LIS. Good luck!
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Courts to Continue Furlough Days
By Debra M.
San Diego County Superior Courts will continue to close on the third Wednesday of each month.
On January 21st the Judicial Council of California approved the continuation of one-day-a-month court closures through June 2010, in response to severe budget reductions in the judicial branch budget for fiscal year 2009-2010.
"Today's action to continue court closures through June 2010 reflects the severity of the state's economic crisis and the unprecedented reductions in the judicial branch budget," stated Chief Justice Ronald M. George, chair of the 28-member council, the administrative policy-making agency for state courts.
In addition to continuing court closures through June 2010, the Council also reaffirmed that keeping courts open and accessible to the public remains a top priority and renewed its commitment to advocate for sufficient resources in the next fiscal year to avoid the need for further court closures.
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Holiday Book Drive A Tremendous Success!
by Debra M.
Patrons of the San Diego County Public Law Library and law library professionals demonstrated their holiday spirit in a generous way by donating over 400 books to benefit the children's charity: Uplift: Kids at Heart.
Donations were received at the San Diego Area Law Libraries Holiday Party, as well as throughout December at all SDCPLL locations. We were overwhelmed and very pleased with the success of this year's drive. We received a total of 438 books for the children.
Special thanks to Melissa Fung for her very substantial contribution. And please give a hearty round of applause to SDCPLL's Benita Ghura for all of her hard work on the book drive this year.
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Correction in Dr. King article
To all subscribers,
Last month I mistakenly mentioned that Dr. King delivered his "infamous" speech in Washington. It should have said, his "famous" speech. My sincere apologies for this unintentional improper word usage. Thank you to all who were kind enough to bring this to my attention.
Tina Jagerson,
Newsletter Editor
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We hope you've enjoyed our newsletter! If you are a guest and would like to subscribe, please CLICK HERE.
We're hard at work on the next edition. In the meantime, please visit us online at www.sdcpll.org or stop by one of our four locations.
For more information or to send comments about this newsletter, contact Tina Jagerson, Media Coordinator and South Bay Branch Manager.
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