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Archive: December 2015 (17 Posts)

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Most Viewed Legal Research Reports in 2015

Posted by: Ruth Levush

With 2015 coming to end we are looking back at our accomplishments for the year. Recently, Donna wrote about the Top 15 Articles from the Enhanced GLM. Another online source that is useful for policy makers, legal researchers, and anyone interested in U.S., foreign, international, and comparative law is our collection of legal research reports.  These …

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On the Shelf: Fire codes

Posted by: Jennifer Davis

On December 30, 1903, a fire broke out in the Iroquois Theatre in Chicago, Illinois when a broken arc light ignited a muslin curtain. The theatre burned to the ground and over 600 theatre occupants, more than two-thirds women and children, died of asphyxiation, burns, or trampling. It remains one of the deadliest fires in …

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Hawaii Added to the Indigenous Law Portal

Posted by: Robert Brammer

The Library of Congress debuted the Indigenous Law Portal back in 2014, starting with coverage for tribes located within the continental United States. Since that time, the portal has expanded to include Alaska, Canada, and Mexico. Constructed upon the Library’s K Classification system, the Indigenous Law Portal features links to current legal materials from the …

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On This Day: Establishment of the “White Australia” Policy

Posted by: Kelly Buchanan

Over the last few years, the Law Library of Congress has published a number of reports related to the immigration and citizenship laws of various countries. For example, I’ve written reports about Australia’s points-based immigration system, guest worker programs, investor visas, and pathways to citizenship. However, these projects did not involve delving into the early …

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Top 15 Articles from the Enhanced GLM

Posted by: Donna Sokol

The Global Legal Monitor (GLM), one of the Law Library of Congress’s premier online sources, published 473 articles in 2015 covering legal developments from around the world on a variety of issues, particularly parliamentary acts and court decisions. When writing for the Global Legal Monitor, we try to focus on issues that we believe will interest our readers.  One of the …

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13th Amendment – Pic of the Week

Posted by: Andrew Weber

On this day 150 years ago, December 18, 1865, then Secretary of State William H. Seward issued the following statement verifying the ratification of the 13th Amendment. These two digitized images come from A Century of Lawmaking.  The image below comes from the Abraham Lincoln Papers at the Library of Congress and shows that the …

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On the Shelf: Congressional Hearings

Posted by: Betty Lupinacci

Surprise! Another baseball-related post from Betty. This one is not entirely my fault. A would-be anonymous colleague brought the pictured item to me, having received it from the general collection. Why would the general (non-law) collection have congressional hearings, you may ask? Well, up until the 1960s when the Class K schedule was completed, congressional …

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Locating a Congressional Committee Print: A Beginner’s Guide

Posted by: Robert Brammer

This post is coauthored by Barbara Bavis and Robert Brammer, senior legal reference specialists. We have received a number of questions about congressional committee prints in the context of compiling a federal legislative history.  First, it helps to understand what congressional committee prints are and how they can be helpful for legislative researchers.  Congressional committee …