Trends

I have noticed something about the blogs I write:  many of them relate to criminal-ish law.  This is a disturbing revelation if only for the fact that most of my materials is criminal related. How is this so, you might ask?  Simply because there is so much criminal activity going on that it's hard not to notice/write about.

Right here in River City we have, on average, 3.2 patrons a day ask about things criminal (i.e. someone possibly going to jail).  Over a year, that's about 16 a week, 480 a month, 5,760 a year - just criminal stuff (that people admit to) at my library.  Multiply that by how many other libraries there are around the country and you get a staggering amount of questions related just to criminal activity.  The second most asked about topic is family law (divorce and domestic violence) followed by Unlawful Detainer actions (evictions).

And that's just where I live.  Around the country are stories about the lady in Detroit who is being charged with killing her two children (found in a freezer).  In Nashville, Tennessee, there's the story about the man who shot his wife and then himself in front of a grocery store.  In Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, an officer is being charged with homicide for killing an unarmed motorist while the man was faced down on the pavement.  In San Jose, California is the story about a man who shot and killed an officer who was checking on him...and that's just four stories I found on the internet in under 2 minutes...and this is happening every day all around us.  No wonder I blog more about criminal stuff than anything else. Boggles the mind, actually.

What's even more boggling is that at most county law libraries, the criminal law section is not even as comprehensive as the civil sections.  What that means is that you are better able to find out how to incorporate yourself than you are able to find out how to defend a white collar crime. 

Don't get me wrong.  While packed with civil we are, we do have some top-rate resources related to criminal law and practice such as:

• California Criminal Law: Procedure and Practice (CEB)
• California Judges Bench Book: Domestic Violence Cases in Criminal Courts (CEB)
• Appeals and Writs in Criminal Cases (CEB)
• Rutter: Sex Crimes: California Law and Procedure (West)
• Wiretapping & Eavesdropping: Surveillance in the Internet Age (West)
• Wharton's Criminal Procedure (West)
• Grand Jury Law & Practice (West)
• Seiser & Kumli on California Juvenile Courts: Practice and Procedure (Lexis)
• Criminal Defense Techniques (Lexis)

...just to name a few available resources.  While it might seem like the world is going down in a handbasket, know that your helpful neighborhood county law Librarians are a bit more optimistic. Yep, we'll do most whatever it takes to help you find what you need to get you on your path to enlightenment (or get out of jail, as the case may be).