Back in 1991 when I was in a quandary about what to do when the U of MN Law Library/School questioned my mental health when I wanted to talk to potential employers WITHIN the law librarianship field about my experiences with a niche in law librarianship service to survivors/victims of crimes, Senator Joseph Biden, then Chairman of the US Senate Committee on the Judiciary sent me a letter dated October 17, 1991:

"Thank you for your letter and your request for assistance. It is general policy of the Judiciary Committee not to intercede in individual matters. However, I do appreciate your sharing with me the details of your situation. Again, thank you for your letter. Sincerely, Joseph R. Biden, Jr. Chairman."

Most of the US Senators whom I wrote-- I wrote all 100 of them-- did not bother to even respond or else told me I should be contacting the Senator for Minnesota which was where I was when I wrote most of these US Senators.

I thought I had to get some clout behind me as the former Director of the U of MN Law School Library was the Law Librarian of Congress-- M. Kathleen Price. I was not sure where the tactic of putting my mental health in question was coming from at that time. Still do not know how this approach came about at the U of MN.

The niche is the one I found after my then high school English teacher Mrs. Mitchell's daughter Michelle was murdered on February 24, 1976 near the University of Nevada, Reno campus. February 24 is also my birthday. In 1976, I had searched for materials to help my fellow Wooster High School classmates cope with this murder investigation in Reno, NV area libraries but found next to nothing. I had also been looking for stuff that my English teacher and her family but also could not find anything.

I did think this niche was more than just an individual matter especially when one of the biggest public law libraries in the US staff-- the U of MN-- suggested that I get mental health counseling just for wanting to be honest about an interest in doing something about a niche in services towards a rather large group of people within the legal community.

I had also just completed cataloging all the computer files on WESTLAW in a national project the summer of 1991 and thought I could be honest about what I had experienced to get my four degrees which included a law degree from the U of MN (Class of 1989).


A few law librarians like Robert Berring of the UC Berkeley (Boalt Hall) had told me to be honest about this interest in victims/survivors' of crimes as they thought it would come out at some point anyway. I just had these problems with where my employment references would be coming from -- the U of MN Law Library.

Anyway, Senator Biden seems like a good choice from my limited experiences with this US Senator.