This class will explore your right to government information in California, and the processes and procedures for obtaining public records from state and local agencies. Topics include what constitutes a public record, deadlines and timeframes, exemptions for confidential and other materials and how to formulate an effective request.

Class covers:

• Importance of the Public Records Act, and why we need it
• What constitutes a public record
• Deadlines and timeframes
• Exemptions for confidential and other materials
• How to formulate an effective request

Course Materials: If you would like to receive a copy of the course materials for any of the classes, including any PowerPoint used, please register at the Register Now! button for the class, provided below.

------ Video link will be posted soon ------

Video Recordings: We recognize that not everyone can attend in person classes, so even if you can't make it in, please watch any of these recordings and remember that we are still here to help! Call us at (213) 785-2513, email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., or chat with us online to get help finding information and resources on any legal (or not-quite-legal) question. Access to the video recordings is free.

Dated Material: Please note that the law changes. The original recording date for each class is provided on the display page. To be certain that you receive up-to-date information, please attend the in-person class, or contact us for help researching or updating your specific legal issue.

LA Law Library does not provide legal advice:
LA Law Library does not provide legal advice. LA Law Library provides legal resources and assistance with legal research as an educational service. The information presented in this program is not legal advice and is provided solely as an educational service to our patrons. For legal advice, you should consult an attorney.

Tuesday June 23, 2020 6:30 pm via zoom.

Zoom invitation and link will be emailed to registrants prior to discussion.

Read the book and join the LALL book discussion group’s year-long exploration of voting rights Our voting rights are more important now than ever! In One Person, No Vote, Professor Anderson chronicles the rollbacks to African American participation in the vote since the 2013 Supreme Court decision that eviscerated the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Known as the Shelby ruling, this decision effectively allowed districts with a demonstrated history of racial discrimination to change voting requirements without approval from the Department of Justice.

Focusing on the aftermath of Shelby, Anderson follows the astonishing story of government-dictated racial discrimination unfolding before our very eyes as more and more states adopt voter suppression laws. In gripping, enlightening detail she explains how voter suppression works, from photo ID requirements to gerrymandering to poll closures. And with vivid characters, she explores the resistance: the organizing, activism, and court battles to restore the basic right to vote to all Americans.

Named one of the Best Books of the Year (2018) by:

• Washington Post
• Boston Globe
• NPR
• New York Public Library

Join the authors of “Policing the Womb: Invisible Women and the Criminalization of Motherhood” and “After Roe: The Lost History of the Abortion Debate” for a timely and informative conversation about women’s reproductive rights in the United States. The battle over women's reproductive autonomy has intensified in recent years beyond debates about abortion rights to whether states can revoke or intervene in a pregnant woman's end of life decision-making, whether a woman can be forced to have a c-section under threat of criminal prosecution, whether falling down steps can be criminally punished during pregnancy and many other issues.

Discussion Will Include:

• The rise in state efforts to curtail women's reproductive rights as well as the legal, social, and medical implications.
• Historical backdrop and insights regarding contemporary constraints in reproductive healthcare.
• Predictions about what the future of reproductive rights might hold given the battles on these matters in state legislatures as well as the courts.
• Recent United Supreme Court decision, June Medical v. Russo.

Presented by:
Anna North (moderator), Senior Reporter, Vox
Michele Goodwin, Chancellor’s Professor of Law, UC Irvine Law
Mary Ziegler, Stearns Weaver Miller Professor, Florida State University College of Law

Please check back at a later time to view the video.

LA Law Library does not provide legal advice:
LA Law Library does not provide legal advice. LA Law Library provides legal resources and assistance with legal research as an educational service. The information presented in this program is not legal advice and is provided solely as an educational service to our patrons. For legal advice, you should consult an attorney.

Celebrate Constitution Day and the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment with a deep dive into the battle for women’s suffrage. Dr. Ellen DuBois, author of Suffrage: Women’s Long Battle for the Vote, offers a fresh perspective on the long struggle for women’s voting rights, looking at roads not taken, generations of activists involved, obstacles faced and overcome, and what was – and wasn’t – won as a result.

Presented by:
Ellen Carol Dubois, Professor Emeritus, UCLA
Katie O’Laughlin, Managing Librarian, Reference & Research, LA Law Library, Chancellor’s Professor of Law, UC Irvine Law

Please check back at a later time to view the video.

LA Law Library does not provide legal advice:
LA Law Library does not provide legal advice. LA Law Library provides legal resources and assistance with legal research as an educational service. The information presented in this program is not legal advice and is provided solely as an educational service to our patrons. For legal advice, you should consult an attorney.