Top of page
Posted by: Margaret Wood
This week’s interview is with Richard Wismer, a summer intern with the Public Services Division, Law Library of Congress. The Law Library’s internship program is in full swing and we are introducing all our summer interns to In Custodia Legis readers during the coming weeks. Describe your background. I live in Ellicott City, Maryland, which is …
Posted in: Interview, Law Library
Posted by: Margaret Wood
Several years ago, I came across a reference in the Congressional Globe to some sort of crime which seemed to have been committed by a member of Congress. I was intrigued and being an avid mystery reader, wanted to discover who had done what to whom! The entry which originally caught my eye appeared on …
Posted in: Collections, Congress
Posted by: Margaret Wood
The following is a guest post by Matthew Braun, Senior Legal Research Specialist at the Law Library of Congress. Matt has posted to the blog previously: most recently Taking the Reference Desk on the Road and Orphan Works and Fair Use in a Digital Age. For more than six years, the Law Library of Congress has been …
Posted in: Collections, Guest Post
Posted by: Margaret Wood
Some of the most interesting items in our collections, at least to my way of thinking, are the publications of various war-crimes tribunals. These range from the Nuremberg Trials to the more recent tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda. In this post, I want to touch on a number of these resources and invite you …
Posted in: Collections, Research Guide
Posted by: Margaret Wood
Generally when researchers visit the Law Library Reading Room with questions about marriage laws, I refer them to the relevant state code. The laws governing the contracting of a marriage or its dissolution are legislated by the state and usually in a chapter of the state code entitled “Domestic Relations.” However, in certain circumstances, the federal government will enter …
Posted in: Law Library
Posted by: Margaret Wood
We often think of law as a specialized, exotic creature, published in heavy tomes and largely inaccessible to laymen. But through my early childhood reading, I was introduced to one of the most important laws of the 19th century, which helped drive the westward expansion of this country. Like many children who read Laura Ingalls …
Posted in: Law Library
Posted by: Margaret Wood
A few years ago, the Law Library was asked to research and create web pages on commemorative observances. The project included identification of the laws which were passed and presidential proclamations which were issued to establish and annually observe these commemorations. The relevant pages can be found on the Law Library’s website under “Legal Topics.” Over the past two …
Posted in: In the News, Law Library
Posted by: Margaret Wood
When I began my research on the history of this national motto which prominently appears on U.S. currency, I glanced at the Wikipedia article on “In God we trust.” The entry contends that the motto was inspired by the fourth verse of the Star Spangled Banner: “Then conquer we must, when our cause is just, And …
Posted in: Congress
Posted by: Margaret Wood
The following is a guest post by Matthew Braun, Senior Legal Research Specialist at the Law Library of Congress. Over the past two years I have had the pleasure of presenting an educational program on how to conduct free legal research online at American Bar Association (ABA) annual, midyear, and section meetings. This program, which …
Posted in: Guest Post