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 Public Denied Access to LawThe closing of the Supreme Court Law, Library to the public prevents the average citizen from using the knowledge contained in its books. By EDWARD Z. MENKIN With great sadness and not a little anger, I read of the recent closing to the public of the Supreme Court Law Library on the fifth floor of the Onondaga County Courthouse. It seems that the library will now be open full time only to court personnel; the rest of the public, lawyers included, will have access 2 1/2 days a week. Most lawyers have libraries; they certainly have books - although all of us have seen barrister performances from time to time which seriously call into question either proposition. It is undoubtedly a painful and shameful blow to the dignity and importance of the local practice of law, however, to have our resident court library closed half of the week. Attorneys visiting this city will tend to get the impression that we don't place that great a value on such matters as statutes, regulations, research and, indeed, thinking. My greater concern, however, is not for the lawyers. It is for the average Joe or Jane whom the system has played ping-pong with but has such a complicated problem and so little in the way of resources that they can't get a lawyer to take on their case. If you have been to the law library at all, these people are a common sight: seriously, intensely, and quietly they pore over law books to find solace and a solution. Sometimes it's there, sometimes not. The staff of the library has been, in my memory of using this facility for almost 20 years, unfailingly polite and helpful. How many lawyers are like that? By closing off this library to such people, in fact to all of us, the Office of Court Administration is being fatally and ignorantly shortsighted. The closing will have a profound effect on us all. It will not merely frustrate a class of people who are already frustrated, but much more important, it will cause the community at large to be cut off from the one thing that shapes our future and helps us understand our past knowledge. As much as I am frustrated about delays in our court system because of lack of facilities, I can candidly admit that almost any lawsuit can wait. Surely the Conrad McRae incident was important to him, Syracuse University, the NCAA and basketball fans, but the world would have continued on its axis if it didn't get resolved. Was his problem any greater and "more -important" than a seriously injured worker's or a widow who has lost custody of her only child? As a civilized society, we should and must be able to work things out. Our court system costs a fortune to run and it ought to deal with people's legitimate problems one at a time. But if we face the reality that we can't accommodate everyone's needs and problems, probably the last thing that should be limited is access to a public law library. We, the People, have paid for the books, the shelves, the building and the copying machine; we have paid, through our society's sacrifices, to have shaped the laws that govern us. Who is the Office of Court Administration or indeed anyone, to say that the people of this community can have access to these laws, these books, only some of the time? It's the equivalent of the government telling us that because air pollution is such a serious problem, from now on we can breathe deeply only on the even days of the month because we have to conserve fresh air. In my opinion, this is a problem that deserves immediate and further attention. It is a chilling forewarning of a world where the laws become the property of those who can own them and make them rather than those who are supposed to live by them. I would encourage the public to speak out on this issue and I would urge the Onondaga County Bar Association to do something about this shameful turn of events. Menkin is a Syracuse lawyer. |
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