Cleveland Law Library Weblog

GSA to Close Celebrezze Federal Building, Relocate Employees

The General Services Administration (GSA) plans to relocate over 4,000 federal employees from Cleveland’s Anthony J. Celebrezze (AJC) Federal Building within three years. The building, currently housing 30 federal agencies, has a $175 million repair backlog, prompting the GSA to seek a more cost-effective solution. The 1.2-million-square-foot building will be vacated, closed, and likely offered for sale to local governments. While the GSA is committed to maintaining federal services in downtown Cleveland, they have already pursued new leases for the displaced agencies. Local officials, including Congresswoman Shontel Brown and Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb, have expressed concerns about the move’s impact on the federal workforce and the downtown economy.

ABA and Other Bar Associations Issue Statement

The American Bar Association, along with 58 other bar associations, including the Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association, have united to “defend the rule of law and reject efforts to undermine the courts and the legal profession.” They issued a statement rejecting government actions that punish lawyers, law firms, or judges for their legal decisions, and emphasized the importance of protecting the independence of the legal system. They call upon all members of the profession, from private practice to elected officials, to speak out against such intimidations.

The Cleveland Municipal Court Will Reopen Today

The Cleveland Municipal Court will reopen on March 12, after a cyber incident led to its closure on February 23. Although an investigation is ongoing, General Division cases scheduled for Wednesday will be heard as planned. All criminal and civil cases set for hearings between February 24 and March 11 have been rescheduled, and affected individuals will receive new dates by mail.

The People’s Flag of Cleveland

After months of community engagement and public voting, the Cleveland Flag Project have unveiled the “People’s Flag of Cleveland.” The new design is packed with meaning, subtly nodding to Cleveland's history and future aspirations. Although city leaders are not adopting it as Cleveland’s official flag, organizers hope it will be embraced by residents, with flags debuting across the city and merchandise available to support the Greater Cleveland Food Bank.

 

"Cyber Incident" at Cleveland Municipal Court, Closed Monday (2/24)

The Cleveland Municipal Court, including the Cleveland Housing Court, is closed on Monday, February 24. The court is investigating an unspecified "cyber incident" that happened on Sunday evening. Deputy Court Administrator Mike Negray said they shut down all affected systems. It is unclear what caused the incident.

Data.gov Archive

The Library Innovation Lab at Harvard Law School just launched an archive of data.gov. This 16TB archive contains over 311,000 datasets from 2024 and 2025; the project is updated daily. They aim to preserve public datasets for research, policymaking, and public use. Additionally, the project released their open-source software for others to replicate their work and create similar repositories.

CPL Staff Memo on Immigration Enforcement

The Cleveland Public Library sent a memo to staff advising them not to intervene if Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents come to library branches to arrest patrons. Executive director and CEO, Felton Thomas, emphasized that interfering with arrests could lead to legal consequences, such as obstruction of justice. Thomas reassured staff that it’s unlikely ICE would target CPL employees but reminded them that ICE agents can legally enter public library spaces. Additionally, the library must protect patron privacy under Ohio law, and staff should direct ICE inquiries about personal information to the library’s legal counsel.

Cleveland Police Drone Policy

Cleveland Police have received approval to use drones under a new policy passed by the Cleveland Community Police Commission in November 2024. The policy allows the use of drones for law enforcement purposes but bans their deployment for crowd control or protest surveillance. Deployments need to be approved by the police chief, and flight paths must be posted online within 48 hours. Videos will be deleted after 30 days, if they are not needed for an investigation.

The Cleveland Police Chief and some city council members are taking issue with the approved drone policy/restrictions.

Law Library Insights- Episode 1

Our podcast is LIVE! Please check out Law Library Insights to learn more about the upcoming Ohio election and Issue 1. Election day is Tuesday, November 8th.

Cleveland Law Library Is Answering the Call for Increasingly Needed Pro Bono Legal Services with Timely Ethics CLE

On Sunday, November 21, 2010, Cleveland.com reported that the need for pro bono legal services is rising, but "few attorneys meet pro bono legal goals." The Cleveland Law Library is trying to help answer the call for help by providing an Ethics CLE on December 8th in which the hour on Professionalism will be dedicated to pro bono service. Head Librarian Kathleen M. Sasala has prepared a comprehensive program detailing pro bono efforts locally, regionally and nationally, and she hopes to inspire those who have yet to reach out by providing pro bono and/or related community assistance. The Ethics CLE will also cover lawyer conflicts of interest and feature OLAP Associate Director Paul Caimi on the topic of substance abuse. All in all, it will be a great program. Click here to access our registration form, send an email to [email protected], or call the Law Library at 216-861-5070, to register.