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Archive: February 2014 (18 Posts)

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Love and the Law

Posted by: Margaret Wood

Since our post on Christmas Movies and the Law was so successful, we decided to try our hand at a post about movies, love, and the law in celebration of Valentine’s Day.  As with our Christmas post, we found some of our colleagues were cynics, but although they may have a jaundiced eye regarding love they …

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An Interview with Jennifer Davis, Collection Specialist

Posted by: Kurt Carroll

This week’s interview is with Jennifer Davis, a collection specialist and supervisor of the technical services librarians in our Collection Services Division at the Law Library of Congress. Describe your background. I am from Baltimore, and I grew up mainly in Maryland, but all my family and friends are from different cultures, so I grew …

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Preparing Witnesses For Trial: A Beginner’s Guide

Posted by: Robert Brammer

This post was co-authored by Barbara Bavis and Robert Brammer, Legal Reference Specialists. When discussing the use of witnesses at trial, attention often focuses on the use of witnesses in criminal actions, such as how eyewitness identifications are made or whether improper behavior, like witness tampering, has affected the outcome of a trial. However, witnesses …

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Global Legal Monitor: December and January Highlights

Posted by: Hanibal Goitom

In December 2013 and January 2014, Global Legal Monitor (GLM) published a total of 72 articles covering various legal developments around the world. Here is a list of the top ten most viewed articles in the last two months: Indonesia: Universal Health Care Program Implemented Nigeria: Bill Prohibiting Same-Sex Marriage Moves Forward Norway: Bitcoins Are …

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Regulating the Winter Olympics in Russia

Posted by: Kelly Buchanan

The following is a guest post by Peter Roudik, Director of the Global Legal Research Directorate in the Law Library of Congress.  Peter is our Russian law specialist and has previously written posts for In Custodia Legis on Soviet law and the assassination of JFK, laws of the Russian Federation, the 95th anniversary of the …

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Sumptuary Laws

Posted by: Margaret Wood

During a recent blog team meeting, one of my colleagues mentioned restrictions during the early modern era concerning who could consume that newly discovered drink–chocolate.  Having studied medieval history in college, I was reminded that during the Middle Ages there had also been efforts to pass laws regulating many aspects of daily life, with the …

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Our New Report Looks at Bitcoin in 40 Countries

Posted by: Kelly Buchanan

The foreign law specialists and analysts at the Law Library of Congress recently completed a report that highlights the emerging global discussion around approaches to regulating virtual currencies, particularly Bitcoin.  This is of course a hot topic right now, and the report has been written about in news articles and blogs and referred to on …

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Mexican Law – Global Legal Collection Highlights

Posted by: Margaret Wood

The following is a guest post by Gustavo Guerra, senior foreign law specialist for Mexico and other Spanish speaking countries in the Law Library’s Global Legal Research Directorate. This post is part of the Global Legal Collection Highlights series which is intended to inform readers about recently published materials on foreign law available in English …

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Mexico’s Constitution and Its Square, the Zócalo

Posted by: Francisco Macías

Today, I return to blogging for In Custodia Legis after a considerable hiatus.  That gap came from being involved in other projects, among these the Library of Congress Leadership Development Program and the coordination of the Library’s recent Celebration of Mexico and tribute to the Living Legend Award Winner, Dr. Miguel León–Portilla. In keeping with Mexican and Spanish …