Fans of the legislative process have a new favorite Web site to frequent. C-SPAN has made digital copies of every program it has broadcast since 1987 available online. This video collection, totaling more than 160,000 hours, is searchable and is indexed by subject, person name, congressional committee, and several other fields. In addition to its coverage of Congressional activity, C-SPAN also broadcasts original programs, such as Booknotes, and America and the Courts. These programs are included as well, and the entire collection is available at no cost for education, research, review or home viewing purposes.

The law library has created a new guide to researching Congressional investigations.  The guide provides guidance on how to find relevant primary source documents, such as Congressional hearing transcripts, as well as case law dealing with the authority of Congress to conduct investigations. We have also listed some valuable secondary sources to help you get started on your research.

Nominees for the federal judiciary are required to complete a questionnaire created by the Senate Judiciary Committee. The Committee has made Judge Sotomayor's responses and related documents available on its home page. Included are her publications, speeches, news clippings, and notable past decisions and opinions.

The D.C. Court system is having an open house on Law Day (May 1).  There will be activities for all age groups. 

Learn more about the D.C. Courts by visiting its website or consulting our D.C. Legal Research Guide's section on the courts.

This year's Law Day theme is A Legacy of Liberty in celebration of the Bicentennial of Preisident Abraham Lincoln's birth. 

There's still a chill in the air, but the opening ceremony of the National Cherry Blossom Festival is scheduled for this Saturday at our Judiciary Square neighbor, the National Building Museum. This two week festival has been an annual Washington celebration of spring since 1912.

A complete calendar of all festival events highlights the Cherry Blossom parade, an April 11th fireworks show and the 43rd annual Smithsonian Kite Festival.

Read all about it and volunteer if you want to join the fun.

A voting representative in Congress for the District of Columbia has been proposed and debated throughout the course of this country's history. We've put together a Research Guide with links to the current legislation and Congressional documents available on the District of Columbia Voting Rights Act of 2009. The guide also links to current news coverage, law review articles on the topic and several historical Congressional hearing documents.

Earlier this month, Westlaw released the Obama Presidential Documents database (PRES-OBAMA).  It contains a series of documents issued by (or otherwise related to) the Obama White House since Barack Obama's election on November 4th, including executive orders, the inaugural address, and other statements.  In the coming months, Westlaw plans to add additional documents reflecting the policies of the Obama administration, such as bills, regulations, and laws.

For more information on accessing presidential documents from both the the current and prior administrations, see the Georgetown Law Library's Presidential Documents Research Guide.

As a result of the recently enacted American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, the White House has established Recovery.gov, a Web site designed to allow the public to follow the distribution of funds under the act. The site currently contains just an overview of the act and its purposes. But as federal agencies begin to allocate funds, the newly established Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board will be posting information in a variety of formats. Users will be able to see how the money is being spent and which states, districts, and contractors are receiving it.

On the 200th Bicentennial of Abraham Lincoln’s birth, take a minute to check out our extensive collection on this lawyer President, who appears to be the inspiration of our current President. Here are some of the most recent publications we have acquired on Lincoln

E457.2 .P65 2009The Political Lincoln : An Encyclopedia, by Paul Finkelman, Martin J. Hershock, editors Washington, D.C. : CQPress, c2009

PS504 .L56 2009The Lincoln Anthology : Great Writers on his Life and Legacy from 1860 to Now , edited by Harold Holzer [New York] : Library of America, c2009

KF8742 .M32 2008 Lincoln and the Court, by Brian McGinty Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 2008

E457.2 .M645 2008, President Lincoln : The Duty of a Statesman, by William Lee Miller New York : Alfred A. Knopf, 2008

E457.2 .D575 2007 Lincoln the Lawyer, by Brian Dirck Urbana : University of Illinois Press, c2007

E457.2 .S8 2006 An Honest Calling : The Law Practice of Abraham Lincoln, by Mark E. Steiner DeKalb : Northern Illinois University Press, c2006

To locate our entire collection, conduct a Subject search on Gulliver for:

Lincoln, Abraham

Also, the Law Library of Congress has prepared a website on Lincoln and the Law, which links to historical documents in their digital collection focusing on the legal career of Lincoln, as well as transcripts of the trials of the conspirators in Lincoln’s assassination.

In addition to the Georgetown Law art exhibit on Lincoln, other Washington institutions are celebrating the Bicentennial this weekend. Here are just a few that we’re located:

Smithsonian Institution’s celebration of Lincoln’s Bicentennial

Ford’s Theater: Grand Reopening

Library of Congress

National Archives: Display of the Emancipation Proclamation

Lincoln Memorial

This year's them is the Quest for Black Citizenship in the Americas.  The Library is featuring research materials on this topic in the Reading Room. 

Learn more by visiting the Law Library of Congress' online exhibit The African American Odyssey: A Quest for Full Citizenship. 

There are countless ways to celebrate Black History Month in DC. We've listed a few below.  Feel free to add your favorite in the comments.
 

• The Smithsonian has art exhibits, performances, reenactments, readings and more.  Find them all on its Black History Month calendar. 
• The National Archives is displaying the Emancipation Proclamation and hosting many events.