Read on Twitter
So obviously I am very strong advocate for free and open law. It’s vital for a free and open society.
I just want to make that clear because some dude that thinks the free law movement started in 2008 is gonna come in here and explain my life’s work to me and I ain’t having it.
I just want to make that clear because some dude that thinks the free law movement started in 2008 is gonna come in here and explain my life’s work to me and I ain’t having it.
ANYWAY, I was talking to someone about open law yesterday and was like “we’d never hand someone a med school textbook, a scalpel and some chemo drugs and say ‘good luck with your cancer!’ but we do that every day with law.”
I am a law librarian, so trust me when I say you don’t just “find a case” or look at a code section and you win in court. Often an situation is governed by amalgam of legal information sources and jurisdictions. Plus the court documents and processes that have to be navigated.
We don’t have a one stop open law shop where people can get many types of law from multiple jurisdictions and adequately understand their situation or issue. Not to mention an explanation of all the process and procedure plus forms.
brb reserving http://onestopopenlawshop.org
Just because a code book has been digitally scanned doesn’t mean it’s any better than a physical one from 1997 that’s missing its pocket part.
Legal information requires currency and context.
Legal information requires currency and context.
As I write this, Twitter is full of Bad Takes about the election court cases and code screenshots that explain exactly why Joe Biden and Hillary Clinton are going to GITMO.
(they’re not)
Beyond SRLs, our democracy NEEDS access and understanding of law.
(they’re not)
Beyond SRLs, our democracy NEEDS access and understanding of law.
When I was a baby law librarian, the phrase “information wants to be free” was a radical idea.
Flash forward 15 years and information is still paywalled and misinformation is free and running the streets.
Flash forward 15 years and information is still paywalled and misinformation is free and running the streets.
The answer is not locking down information and returning “dangerous information” to the realm of professionals like doctors and lawyers only. We need to work on making quality information sources freely available and provide tools for lay people to understand and use it.
(Chained library. Not the answer)
There’s still a lot of tech, legal & procedural hurdles to be overcome in open law to make law truly free & accessible. But I feel like we’re getting really close to the top of the first roller coaster hill and we can start planning on Open Law 2.0 and providing context for users
Okay, thank you for letting me think outloud on Twitter while I drink my coffee and wake up before starting work.
