News and information useful to Cleveland State College of Law students, faculty and staff.


6/15-16/2021 National Urban League Legislative Policy Conference

National Urban League LogoThe National Urban League is holding its 18th Legislative Policy Conference June 15-16, 2021.  The virtual live Conference will bring together members of Congress, elected state leaders, and community advocates to “discuss the policy issues impacting African-Americans and other historically underrepresented communities.”  See the Conference website for session information and speaker biographies.  Registration is free.

6/13/2021 ACLU of Ohio Legislative Outreach Training

ACLU Ohio logoThe ACLU of Ohio is conducting a Legislative Outreach Training at 2pm on Sunday 6/13/2021.  The training will be on how to advocate with elected officials for repealing the death penalty and reforming the bail system, and “will focus on messaging, connecting with others in your region to devise an outreach plan, and working to land legislative meetings.  Registration closes on Friday 6/4/2021, and one must RSVP to receive a Zoom registration form.

Social Justice & Cost-Effective Legal Research Seminars

Image of C|M|Law Library Digital BadgeSeveral of the eighteen Law Library Legal Research Seminars demonstrate research in a social justice topic and cost-effective research strategies:

  • Starting Research with Secondary Sources
  • Terms & Connectors Searching
  • Cost-Effective Searching on Lexis & Westlaw
  • Cost-Effective Federal Legislative History: Congress.gov and Govinfo.gov

Law Library Legal Research Seminars are for C|M|LAW students, including MLS and LLM students, and are continuously available online via the Westlaw TWEN platform.  To view Seminars, connect to TWEN, “add” the “C|M|Law Library Legal Research Seminars” course, then view any or all of the listed Seminars.   Students interested in receiving a “Law Library Legal Research Letter of Recognition” and a Digital Badge (which you can can share on social networks, blogs, and websites) need to earn 100 Seminar points.  Each Seminar is 12.5 or 25 points, and you earn points by correctly answer 3/4 of the questions on a Seminar’s accompanying quiz.  Seminar points are good for the entire time you are at C|M|LAW, and you can earn multiple Letters and Digital Badges.  For more information on the Law Library Legal Research Seminars, contact Laura Ray, Outreach & Instructional Services Librarian.

Have a Paper to Write? These Databases Can Help

Looking for more resources for your paper? We subscribe to a number of law databases in addition to Westlaw and Lexis, and the main library has even more databases that may prove helpful to your research.

Some of the databases may require use of your CSU Scholar PIN to access off campus. Your Scholar PIN provides access to the My Account feature on Scholar, which enables you to renew your checked-out materials and see the status of your requested materials. Your Scholar PIN also provides remote access to many databases. 

To get a PIN, go to Scholar and click on My Account, enter your name and CSU ID#, and click submit. The system will prompt you to enter a new PIN.

Check here for common connection problems related to off-campus databases.

Contact IT at information.technology@law.csuohio.edu if you have issues with the ID and Pin access.

Meet a Database: US Supreme Court Records and Briefs

U.S. Supreme Court Records and Briefs is a great tool for historical research on Supreme Court decisions. This database is from Gale and covers court records and briefs from 1832-1978. Note: the database doesn’t contain the case opinions, which are available many other places.

Under the “Basic Search” options users can search by date, docket number, or US Reports citation. Keyword searching is also available. When searching keywords, you can search the entire document, or by author or case name. The “Advanced Search” options allow users to combine multiple keywords (using AND, OR, and NOT connectors), as well as search by document type (e.g. Amicus Brief, Appellee’s Brief, etc.).

You will need your CSU ID number and PIN to access Supreme Court Records and Briefs.

Make sure to check out all the databases available for research from our database page.