Tagged law

Tax Season 2023: Here’s All You Need to Know Before Filing

2022 IRS Tax Return Updates and Paper Form Availability at the Library The IRS tax season has begun. If you are used to picking up paper tax forms at your local library, you will notice a few changes. The Internal Revenue Service is not…

Let's Talk: Philly D.A.

Philadelphians, we need to talk! Join your neighbors at eight Free Library of Philadelphia libraries between May 23 and June 30th, to watch and discuss individual episodes of the award winning PBS documentary series Philly D.A. . We…

Race in the United States: Social Justice Virtual Workshops for Teens

Updated Friday, July 10, 2020 4:59 p.m. "The Social Justice Symposium Teen Planning Committee supports the Concerned Black Workers of the Free Library of Philadelphia ! CBWFLP Response to DEI/Board of Trustees' letter We are…

A History Minute: The Many Firsts of Sadie T. M. Alexander

Women today often talk about the difficulty of "having it all", but Sadie T.M. Alexander was more concerned with "doing it all." She not only raised two children and worked to advance her husband’s political…

Modern Courts, Modern Lives

The workshop in the Free Library’s new Robert and Eileen Kennedy Heim Center for Cultural and Civic Engagement began with a quick quiz. And while I knew I wouldn’t ace it, I thought I would get by. Sliding on my reading…

The Mystery of Missing Persons

Many things go missing – overdue books, keys, socks in the dryer – but none of those can compare with the gravity of when a person simply disappears. Approximately 90,000 people are missing at this very moment in the United…

Expanding Legal Literacy in Neighborhood Libraries

Storm Rhodes is a Library Assistant at the David Cohen Ogontz Library , and a member of Cohort 1 of the Skills for Community-Centered Libraries training. In this post, she shares what she has learned. The most influential things I have…

In Commemoration of Law Day, the Free Library Offers Legal Advice Live!

On February 3, 1958, Dwight D. Eisenhower issued a proclamation to designate May 1 as  Law Day . This year marks its 60th anniversary. Eisenhower declared it to be a day for us to remember and reflect upon the significant role…

Virtual Event - PMC Shares: Protection from Abuse

Register As the demand for Protection from Abuse orders has increased, more than ever it is important that Pennsylvanians have the legal information they will need to navigate legal processes and seek support if they experience domestic…

Virtual Event - PMC Shares: Family Court

Register When it comes to the sensitive topic of parents and children going to court, better knowledge of the court system and your rights helps prepare you for the justice system and for its outcomes. This program will cover three…

Virtual Event - PMC Shares: Bail Watch Training Workshop

Register Be a part of court reform in Pennsylvania – PMC Watches expands on Pennsylvanians for Modern Courts’ traditional “court watchdog” role by enlisting a team of Citizen Court Monitors to observe, record and…

Kimberlé Crenshaw | #SayHerName: Black Women’s Stories of Police Violence and Public Silence

TICKETS In conversation with Dorothy Roberts One of the country’s foremost authorities in civil rights, Black feminist legal theory, race, and the law, Kimberlé Crenshaw is a law professor at UCLA and Columbia Law School,…

Virtual Event - PMC Shares: Navigating and Understanding PA Courts & Judicial Elections

Register This course illuminates the organization and procedures of the Pennsylvania Judicial System with the goal of bringing Pennsylvanian's awareness of and confidence in their courts. We will discuss the different subject…

Virtual Event - 2023 Appellate Courts Candidates' Forums

Register On October 24, 2023, Pennsylvanians for Modern Courts will host a virtual forum with candidates for Pennsylvania's appellate courts, including the Supreme Court, Superior Court, and Commonwealth Court. This event will…

Virtual Event - PMC Shares: Threats to the Independence of PA’s Judiciary

Register There are several bills pending in the current PA legislative session which threaten the independence of the judiciary. This will be a conversation about these threats, and how concerned Pennsylvanians can take action to defend…

LCD Office Hours: Tenants Rights - Illegal Lockouts

Are you or someone you know is dealing with an illegal lockout? Join the Legal Clinic for the Disabled for a free in-take office hours session to learn about your rights as a tenant. Thursday, September 28, 2023  |  Heim…

Slavery in America and the World: History, Culture, and Law

This HeinOnline collection brings together a multitude of essential legal materials on slavery in the U.S. and the English-speaking world. It includes nearly 2,000 titles, with every statute passed by every colony and state on slavery,…

Gun Regulation and Legislation in America

This new HeinOnline collection brings together more than 550 titles dealing with this difficult and important topic. Included are periodicals, key compiled federal legislative histories, relevant congressional hearings, CRS Reports,…

Wesley Lowery | American Whitelash: A Changing Nation and the Cost of Progress

In conversation with award-winning journalist and broadcaster Tracey Matisak In  American Whitelash ,  Wesley Lowery  examines the cyclical pattern of violence that marks each watershed moment of racial progress in this country, most…

James Comey | Central Park West: A Crime Novel

In conversation with George Anastasia The director of the FBI from 2013 to 2017, James Comey captured international attention for his investigations into Hillary Clinton’s emails, Russian interference into the 2016 presidential…

Kristen R. Ghodsee | Everyday Utopia: What 2,000 Years of Wild Experiments Can Teach Us

In conversation with Arwa Mahdawi Referred to by bestsstelling author Rebecca Traister as “exhilarating, good humored, and forward looking,”  Kristen R. Ghodsee ’s  Everyday Utopia  is a two-millennia examination of diverse…

Mark Bowden | Life Sentence: The Brief and Tragic Career of Baltimore’s Deadliest Gang Leader

In conversation with Bill Marimow Renowned for his “signature blend of deep reportage and character-driven storytelling ( The New York Times Book Review ),” Mark Bowden is a former national correspondent for The Atlantic and a former…

Alex Mar | Seventy Times Seven: A True Story of Murder and Mercy

In conversation with Shane Claiborne Alex Mar is the author of  Seventy Times Seven , a chronicle of the brutal 1985 Indiana murder of an elderly white woman by a fifteen-year-old Black girl.  “A probing examination of the intersection…

Judith Lewis Herman, M.D. | Truth and Repair: How Trauma Survivors Envision Justice

In conversation with Bessel van der Kolk, M.D.  Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation Endowed Lecture A professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School for more than 40 years,  Judith Lewis Herman , M.D., is one of the United States’…

Saidiya Hartman and Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor| Scenes of Subjection: Terror, Slavery, and Self-Making in Nineteenth-Century America

One of academia’s leading authorities on African American literature, enslavement, gender studies, and the ways in which marginalized people are excluded in historical narratives, Saidiya Hartman is a University Professor at Columbia…

Margaret A. Burnham | By Hands Now Known: Jim Crow’s Legal Executioners

In conversation with Tracey Matisak Margaret A. Burnham is the founding director of the Civil Rights and Restorative Justice Project, an initiative to document every racially motivated killing in the South between 1930 and 1970. Also a…

Michael Pollan | This is Your Mind on Plants

In conversation with Tamala Edwards, anchor, 6ABC Action News morning edition One of the world’s foremost chroniclers of the intersection of the human and natural worlds, Michael Pollan is a No. 1  New York Times  bestselling author of…

Hugh Ryan | The Women's House of Detention: A Queer History of a Forgotten Prison

In conversation with Sayeeda Rashid, Director of the Center for Gender Resources and Sexual Education at Haverford College Hugh Ryan is the author of When Brooklyn Was Queer , a “boisterous, motley … entertaining and insightful” ( The…

Robert Samuels and Toluse Olorunnipa | His Name Is George Floyd: One Man’s Life and the Struggle for Racial Justice

In conversation with Benjamin Todd Jealous A political enterprise and investigations reporter for The Washington Post since 2011, Robert Samuels has chronicled the impact of national policies and controversies from across the United…

Eric Holder | Our Unfinished March: The Violent Past and Imperiled Future of the Vote—A History, a Crisis, a Plan

In conversation with Tracey Matisak, award winning broadcaster and journalist The United States attorney general from 2009 to 2015, Eric Holder is the first African American to hold that position. In his 30-year career in government he…

Dorothy Roberts | Torn Apart: How the Child Welfare System Destroys Black Families—and How Abolition Can Build a Safer World

In conversation with Marc Lamont Hill Addressing social justice issues of policing, state surveillance of families, and science, Dorothy Roberts ’s books include Killing the Black Body , Shattered Bonds , and Fatal Invention . She has…

M. Chris Fabricant | Junk Science and the American Criminal Justice System

Meelya Gordon Memorial Lecture In conversation with John Holloway One of the United States’s foremost experts on forensic sciences and the criminal justice system, M. Chris Fabricant is the director of strategic litigation at the…

Elie Mystal | Allow Me to Retort: A Black Guy’s Guide to the Constitution

In conversation with Danielle M. Conway The Nation ’s legal analyst and justice correspondent, Elie Mystal is an Alfred Knobler fellow at the Type Media Center and is the legal editor of  More Perfect , Radiolab’s podcast about the U.S.…

Ro Khanna | Dignity in a Digital Age: Making Tech Work for All of Us

In conversation with Jonathan Tamari Born in Philadelphia to an immigrant family, Democrat  Ro Khanna  has served as the U.S. representative for California’s 17th congressional district—better known as Silicon Valley— since 2017. The…

Kathryn Kolbert and Julie F. Kay | Controlling Women: What We Must Do Now to Save Reproductive Freedom

Watch the event here . In conversation with Dorothy Roberts Sandra Shaber Memorial Lecture Recognized by the National Law Journal as one of the “100 Most Influential Lawyers in America,”  Kathryn Kolbert  made history in 1992 when…

Jonathan Karl | Betrayal: The Final Act of the Trump Show

In conversation with Tamala Edwards, anchor, 6ABC Action News morning edition Jonathan Karl is the author of Front Row at the Trump Show , an instant New York Times bestseller that peered behind the scenes into President Trump and his…

Jorge L. Contreras | The Genome Defense: Inside the Epic Legal Battle to Determine Who Owns Your DNA

In conversation with Orly Lobel, author of You Don't Own Me: The Court Battles that Exposed Barbie's Dark Side Specializing in intellectual property and science policy, Jorge L. Contreras is a professor of law and ethics of human…

Kristin Henning | The Rage of Innocence: How America Criminalizes Black Youth

In conversation with Marsha Levick, cofounder, deputy director, and chief counsel of the Juvenile Law Center The Blume Professor of Law and director of the Juvenile Justice Clinic and Initiative at the Georgetown University Law Center,…