Wisconsin State Law Library

This month new rules went into effect for the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, a law restricting telephone solicitors. First passed in 1991, the Act is enforced by rules and regulations set up by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).

The new rules require clear, prior written consent from consumers before companies can make autodialed, recorded calls to landlines or mobile phones, despite any established business relationship.

For more consumer information about FCC regulations against telemarketers, see their Unwanted Telephone Marketing Calls info page.

In its second century of publication, Jones on Evidence: Civil and Criminal continues to be an influential treatise on all areas of civil and criminal evidence. Originally published in 1896 by Burr W. Jones, Professor of Law at the University of Wisconsin, the seventh edition by Clifford S. Fishman, began publication in 1992 and consists of five main volumes and a tables/index volume which are updated annually.

Jones on Evidence is primarily a practitioner’s tool rather than a theoretical treatise. The set integrates coverage of the Federal Rules of Evidence and the latest revised Federal Rules of Procedure, concisely explains the law, and provides guidance on how to work within the law and apply the rules. Fishman highlights significant recent decisions and includes numerous footnote references which cite to to resources such as American Law Reports, American Jurisprudence 2d, Proof of Facts, Am. Jur. Trials, etc.

Topics include:

• Burdens of proof 
• Relevance 
• Substantive inclusionary and exclusionary rules 
• How the evidence was obtained 
• The source of the information 
• The form of the evidence 
• Procedure 
• Prejudice; judicial economy 
• Objections and countermeasures 

Jones on Evidence is also available via Westlaw. Users can access Westlaw for free in one of our libraries.

For additional resources on evidence researchers may want to check out Mueller and Kirkpatrick’s Federal Evidence, The New Wigmore: A Treatise on Evidence (multiple titles) or Weinstein’s Federal Evidence: Commentary on Rules of Evidence for the United States.

The new term of the U.S. Supreme Court begins today, October 7th. Deemed essential, the court is currently operating normally. However, a notice on their website indicates that this decision will be revisited if the appropriation lapse lasts beyond October 11th.

During the term you can keep up with case developments using the Court's online docket search or follow updates and analysis from SCOTUSblog.


Image by Daderot (Own work) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Among the thousands of links on our website we link to many different Federal agency webpages - from published reports to consumer helplines. Due to the government shutdown, several of these websites are unavailable or not currently updated. If you have any questions about information you find on our site, please fill out our Ask a Librarian form to send us an email or call us at 608-267-9696.

Some of the sites that are completely unavailable include: the Census Bureau, Federal Communications Commission, Federal Trade Commission (and its consumer.gov website), US Department of Agriculture, National Park Service, etc. The Library of Congress' many websites are down except for its legislative information sites Thomas.gov and beta.congress.gov. The Government Printing Office's FDSys government publication website will only be updated with Congressional information and limited Federal Register information.

Other websites are online but not updated including: the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,
the Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Transportation, Department of Labor, etc.

Updates on the shutdown can be found at USA.gov's shutdown information page. They provide a toll free number at 1-800-FED-INFO (1-800-333-4636) for answers to government questions and will continue to staff the phone line throughout the shutdown.

Our October newsletter is now online! In our latest newsletter find articles on: 

• Room rentals, upcoming classes, and staff news.
• New and updated books, including a return of our new book list.
• Information about new internet domain name extensions.
• WSLL Recommends: Bohr’s Social Security Issues Annotated.
• Unearthed: an historical legal joke book from 1915.

BadgerLink databases, like Academic Search Premier and Newspaper Source Plus, may be unavailable for a limited time this evening beginning at 9 pm. 

This maintenance will not affect access to the Hein Online Law Journal Library or LegalTrac. For a list of all databases available with your library card, see our Articles & Journals page.