After Hurricanes Irma and Maria devastated Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands (USVI) this September, a survey revealed that only 54% of Americans know that the 3.4 million Puerto Ricans are American citizens. Many Americans are also unaware that the USVI are part of the United States. Paradoxically, 2017 was not only the year […]
This is a guest post by Ann Hemmens, a senior legal reference librarian with the Law Library of Congress. We recently received a question concerning resources available for victims of domestic violence. During this coronavirus pandemic we are seeing news articles about the increased reporting of domestic violence, also called intimate partner violence. According to […]
On Sunday March 10, 2019, most states in the United States “sprang forward,” meaning the clocks were set one hour forward. Most of us have by now more or less adjusted to the time change. The reason that we adjust our clocks twice a year (“springing forward” and “falling back”) in the United States can […]
This year marks the 13th National Caribbean American Heritage Month, which acknowledges and honors the contributions Caribbean Americans are making to American society. At the Law Library, we take the opportunity during these commemorative months to review our holdings in the related jurisdictions. The Caribbean is a term for the area that comprises nearly twenty-five […]
We have now completed our second full calendar year of In Custodia Legis. Our team of bloggers has continued to grow as we aim to share what we learn with you. We posted just over 240 times in the last twelve months! And we have been joined by Margaret, Tina, Jeanine, Donna, Barbara, and Robert during that period. Eleven […]
As a Mexican-born American, I’m always looking for occasions to celebrate. I guess this festive nature is simply dyed-in-the-wool (or dyed-in-the-cotton, if you’re Southern-raised, as I am). With that in mind, I wanted to write a bit about the Mexican Constitution – especially since two related holidays take place in the month of February: Mexican […]