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Archive: 2017 (215 Posts)

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Two Koreas Separated by Demilitarized Zone

Posted by: Kelly Buchanan

This following is a guest post by Sayuri Umeda, a foreign law specialist who covers Japan and various other countries in East and Southeast Asia. She has previously written posts for In Custodia Legis on various topics, including English translations of post-World War II South Korean laws, laws and regulations passed in the aftermath of the Great East Japan Earthquake, and …

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Oh Christmas tree, oh Christmas tree, how much tax do I owe for thee?

Posted by: Jenny Gesley

It is generally believed that the modern Christmas tree tradition originated in Germany in the 16th century. (William D. Crump, The Christmas Encyclopedia (2001)). Thus, it makes sense that Christmas trees first started appearing in the United States in the 1830s when German settlers in Pennsylvania put them on display. (Id.) As we enter the holiday season, …

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Homeowners’ Associations Law: A Beginner’s Guide

Posted by: Barbara Bavis

Often, our topic choices for our Beginner’s Guide series are pulled from questions we receive at the reference desk and via our Ask a Librarian service.  The topic for this Beginner’s Guide, the law regarding homeowner’s associations, is no exception to the rule, as we have fielded questions about this area of law for many …

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The Creation of the Department of Justice

Posted by: Jim Martin

It is a curiosity of history that while the office of the Attorney General of the United States was created by the first congress as a part of the Judiciary Act of 1789, the Department of Justice was not authorized until over eighty years later, in 1870. Section 35 of the Judiciary Act provided And …

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New Way to Browse the Federal Courts Web Archive

Posted by: Robert Brammer

The Law Library and the Library of Congress Web Archiving team launched the Federal Courts Web Archive back in September. We are excited to bring you a new way to browse the archive. If you visit the new browse page, you will find the Federal courts arranged in a list. If you click on a court …

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Researching New Zealand’s Laws Related to “Doing Business”

Posted by: Kelly Buchanan

On October 31, 2017, the World Bank released the fifteenth edition of its Doing Business report, subtitled “Reforming to Create Jobs.” As with the fourteenth edition, New Zealand was given the highest “ease of doing business” ranking among 190 countries. The report explains that “[t]he overall measure of the ease of doing business gives an …

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Congress.gov Tip, Top, and New for November 2017, Part 2

Posted by: Andrew Weber

This is the second update to Congress.gov in November.  If you missed part one, take a minute to read it to see what else we have worked on this month. Search Tip Adrienne recently featured this search tip on the Congressional Record: Looking for daily edition issues of the Congressional Record from 1989-1994? You can browse them on …