The Legal Ramifications of the Current Political Crisis in Egypt

The following is a guest post by George Sadek, Senior Legal Information Analyst at the Law Library of Congress. On January 25, all across Egypt, hundreds of thousands of Egyptians took to the streets to demand the resignation of President Hosni Mubarak.  Mubarak responded to these demands by firing his cabinet and appointing a new …

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Legal Half Time Entertainment

The following is a guest post by Steve Clarke, Senior Foreign Law Specialist. In Custodia Legis wasn’t around last year when our fellow Library of Congress blogs, Inside Adams and In the Muse, discussed advertising and music surrounding the big game.  So I thought this year we should follow the trend and write about one …

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African American History Month

February is African American History Month.  The month celebrates the contributions that African Americans have made to American history in their struggles for freedom and equality and deepens our understanding of our Nation’s history. On the Law Library’s Commemorative Observations page for African American History Month, you can find an overview of the day as …

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Laws Regarding Our Most Popular Patron (a.k.a. The Cooper’s Hawk)

If you’ve been following the updates on the Library of Congress blog regarding the Cooper’s Hawk, you may know that she’s caused a lot of excitement around here.  Especially the news that the hawk has been rescued!  Along with the list of resources provided by the Humanities and Social Sciences Division, I’d thought I’d point …

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When Legal Systems Collide – The Case of the “Honeymoon Killer”

A young American woman dies while scuba diving on her honeymoon in Australia in 2003.  After lengthy police investigations, an inquest in 2008 finds that it is likely that her husband (an experienced diver) killed her by holding her under the water.  The husband voluntarily returns from the U.S. to face murder charges in Australia.  …

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Happy Veterans Day!

Whether or not you’re enjoying the day off, take a minute today to explore the Library’s Veterans History Project. There’s also a bill in THOMAS, S.Res. 670, that would designate this week beginning on Monday, November 8, 2010, as “National Veterans History Project Week.” Want to learn more about Veterans Day?  The Department of Veterans …

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Trouble in Hobbiton

You might have seen some articles in U.S. newspapers last week about the filming of the two Hobbit films in New Zealand.  Director Peter Jackson always intended to make The Lord of the Rings prequels there, but some recent activities of an actors union appeared to have thrown this into doubt and led to a …

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Duty Calls

How many of you love jury duty? I got to perform my civic duty last week.  When you live in D.C. you get called up for jury duty every two years, which people tell me is quite frequent.  The D.C. Superior Court uses a “one day or one trial” system.  The previous times I’ve gone, …

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Women’s Rights in Africa: One Step Forward, Two Steps Back

The following is a guest post by Hanibal Goitom, Foreign Law Specialist in our Global Legal Research Directorate. With a little over two months left in the year, 2010 is shaping up to be a year of some challenging hiccups in the cause for advancing women’s rights issues in Africa, both in the legislative initiatives …

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