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Posted by: Jim Martin
On this day in 1790, the United States government issued a patent to Samuel Hopkins for an improvement in the means of making potash and pearl ash. Article I, Section 8, Clause 8 of the Constitution of the United States of America provides the Congress the power to pass laws to protect intellectual property. However, …
Posted in: Law Library
Posted by: Elin Hofverberg
August 1, 2020, marks the 40th anniversary of Vigdis Finbogadottir's inauguration as President of Iceland on August 1, 1980. She was the first woman to be democratically elected president in any nation. Learn more about her and the Icelandic Presidency in this blog post.
Posted in: Law Library, Global Law, In the News, Women's History
Posted by: Elin Hofverberg
July 29 is Olavsoka, the national day of the Faroe Islands. This blog post describes this Faroese holiday.
Posted in: Global Law
Posted by: Jennifer Davis
On June 25, 2020, the Library posted ISSNs on the pages of all of its blogs, including In Custodia Legis, which now bears ISSN 2691-6592 right under the “About this Blog” link on the upper left side of the page, and also on the bottom of the “About” page. If you are a serials cataloger, …
Posted in: Law Library, Collections
Posted by: Andrew Weber
In June, Margaret shared that we had added district maps to member profile pages on Congress.gov. Each map on a member profile can be expanded to show a larger size version of the map. With today’s update to Congress.gov, we build upon the district maps by adding a new search box to help you find your member. …
Posted in: Congress
Posted by: Anna Price
Special thanks to Willa Armstrong, Natalie Buda Smith, Karen Keninger, Katie Noethe, and Hope O’Keeffe for their assistance in putting together this post. Thirty years ago, on July 26, 1990, President George H. W. Bush signed into law the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA). Among its provisions, the ADA prohibits disability-based discrimination in …
Posted in: Law Library
Posted by: Margaret Wood
On July 24, 1567, an imprisoned Mary Queen of Scots was forced to sign the instrument of her own abdication, thereby handing over the throne of Scotland to her 13-month-old son, James, and his regents. She was only 24 years old and had been queen of Scotland since the first week of her life. She was forced …
Posted in: Law Library
Posted by: Jennifer González
The Digital Resources Division at the Law Library has had years of experience with remote interns, so we were well-prepared for this pandemic situation and quarantine! We were able to host over 50 remote interns and volunteers this summer to help further our goal of providing access to legal materials. We were also so glad …
Posted in: Law Library, Interview
Posted by: Robert Brammer
On January 6, 1874, Robert B. Elliot, an African American representative, from South Carolina debated a landmark civil rights bill on the floor of Congress against the former vice president of the Confederacy, Alexander Stephens. Robert B. Elliott served as a prominent delegate to the 1868 South Carolina State Constitutional Convention and was later elected to the …
Posted in: Law Library