Wisconsin State Law Library

Are you digging for information about mining? Our new legal topic page on metallic and nonmetallic mining aggregates regulatory agency and law links in one quick-reference page. 

We are always on the lookout for new resources to help visitors when they reach our site. Visit our Mining (Metallic and Nonmetallic) legal topic page now and tell us what you think.

The nights are getting longer and Wisconsin is carpeted in whispering golden leaves. It must be time for All Hallows Read.

All Hallows Read encourages people to give spooky books on October 31st. We are getting in on this new tradition by highlighting some of our spookiest legal materials:

Universal Monsters: All Hallows Read Extras

Revenge may be a dish best served cold, but vampire detective Nick Knight's Chocolate Pizza is best straight out of the oven. Make it yourself from the "Sweet Justice" chapter of The Cop Cookbook, then settle in to read something bone-chilling.

Our donated legal fiction collection, Prose and Cons, is full of mysterious ne'er-do-wells and insidious plots. Try Linda Farstein's Edgar Allen Poe inspired Entombed in which a decades-old skeleton is found behind a bricked up wall in a building once inhabited by Poe himself. Christopher Ransom's The Birthing House will keep you awake with his eerie story of a haunted house in rural Wisconsin.

For those who are reading this while doors mysteriously slam just down the hallway, these law review articles may prove invaluable:

• If the House You Bought is Haunted - Ghostbusters May be Your Only Recourse, by Sharlene A. McEvoy. 21 Brief 21 (1991-1992)

• Caveat Spiritus: A Jurisdictional Reflection upon the Law of Haunted Houses and Ghosts.
  Valparaiso University Law Review, Vol. 28, Issue 1 (Fall 1993), pp. 207-246

From Humorous Phases of the Law (Albany Law Journal, Vol. 2, July 9, 1870 (July 9, 1870), pp. 1-3) comes a tale of landlord, tenant, and ghost:

"The question was, whether a tenant is justified in quitting a house and rescinding the contract of letting, on the ground that it is haunted by evil spirits. Jean La Tapy had hired a house at Bordeaux from Robert de Vigne, but after inhabiting it for a short time he found, like John Wesley, that he had evil spirits for his fellow-lodgers. They appeared sometimes in the shape of infants, sometimes in horrible forms, and terrified the inmates, displacing the furniture, rattling and making all kinds of uncouth noises in the rooms, and tumbling the family topsy-turvey out of their beds. This was not to be endured …"

Read these articles and search for more articles on zombies, ghosts, and mummies using the library's subscription to HeinOnline.

Universal Monsters: All Hallows Read Extras

Also on HeinOnline, find juicy primary historical materials, like:

• "Famous Cock Lane Ghost"
  The Book of Remarkable Trials and Notorious Characters (1871)

• "Murder at Smutty Nose or the Crime of Louis Wagner"
  Murder at Smutty Nose and Other Murders (1927) 

Find the above historical books by entering the chapter name in quotes into the "Search all collections" box on the main page in HeinOnline. HeinOnline can be accessed from your dark, cobwebbed attic with a State Law Library card or from one of our mysterious portals - er, public-access computers - at our libraries in Madison and Milwaukee.

Each volume of Causes of Action, 2d, published by West, comprehensively dissects the elements of a cause of action by subject. Of particular value to the practicing attorney, it then explains how these elements can be proved or defended against.

Each entry contains coverage of the critical elements of a case, practice tips, sample complaint forms, research cross-references, plaintiff and defendant checklists, an overview of the substantive law, and primary law citations arranged by jurisdiction. This consistent organization allows the user to quickly navigate to sections about a particular question or point of substantive and procedural law. Together these features provide valuable guidance for how to successfully prepare a case for trial.

A few notable entries include:

• Consumer protection
• Copyright infringement
• Creditors and debtors claims
• Defamation and slander
• Family law
• Fraud
• Housing
• Internet defamation
• Motor vehicles
• Personal injury
• Physician and medical claims
• Trusts 

Causes of Action, also known as Shepard's Causes of Action, is available in print at the Wisconsin State Law Library, and is available through Public Access Westlaw at the Wisconsin State Law Library, Dane County Legal Resource Center, and Milwaukee Legal Resource Center.

The Madison-based Tenant Resource Center is hosting three free seminars on changes in rental property laws in October, according to a recent Wisconsin State Journal Property Trax article.

Seminars will be held:

• Oct. 12, in Appleton, at the Goodwill Community Center, 1800 Appleton Road, Door #2
• Oct. 19, in Stevens Point, at UW-Stevens Point's Dreyfus University Center, Room 374
• Oct. 28, in Janesville, at the Rock County Job Center, 1900 Center Ave., Room J

See Property Trax: Registration open now for October seminars on landlord/tenant state law changes for more information and a link to the registration brochure.

For links to laws and other resources, see our Landlord/Tenant legal topic page.

The October issue of WSLL @ Your Service has been published.

In this issue:

• What's New: Upcoming classes; Librarians speak out;
• This Just In...: New and updated library materials; monthly new titles list and RSS link;
• Click To It! A brief tour of the new wicourts.gov web site;
• 1836 - 2011: Celebrating Our History: Culminating our 175th anniversary celebration;
• Tech Tip in Brief: Searching law reviews and journals with Google Scholar;
• WSLL Recommends...: Class Actions: The Law of 50 States;
• Odds 'n' Endings: TRC housing law seminars; October notables