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Archive: July 2023 (16 Posts)

Color image of temperance fountain, with the word "Temperance" written on the facing side.

“A monstrosity of art”: A Strange D.C. Landmark’s Connection to Congress

Posted by: Anna Price

The following is a guest post by Sarah Friedman, a former Presidential Management Fellow with the Public Services Division at the Law Library of Congress. She previously authored The Legal History of the Presidential Management Fellows Program and Hansberry v. Lee: The Supreme Court Case that Influenced the Play “A Raisin in the Sun.” Washington …

Doctrine of Discovery, Until Otherwise

Posted by: Jennifer Davis

On March 30, 2023, the Vatican issued a joint statement repudiating the “doctrine of discovery” and terra nullius. The doctrine of discovery was used as the legal foundation for taking the land of Indigenous people by Europeans, and for the establishment of residential schools; as Justice Marshall wrote, “The European governments asserted the exclusive right …