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Unusual Laws: The Tudor Vermin Acts

Posted by: Robert Brammer

Continuing with our unusual laws series, we turn to Tudor Vermin Acts. These acts allowed officials to hinder the growth of vermin by placing a bounty on nuisance animals, creating an incentive for private citizens to take it upon themselves to eradicate what were believed to be agricultural pests. Since the United States inherited its common …

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Legal Writ in the Hand of Abraham Lincoln

Posted by: Robert Brammer

The Law Library of Congress houses approximately 60,000 rare items, 25,000 of which are contained in a climate controlled vault. To be classified as rare, an item generally must have been published prior to 1801. One of our interesting rare items is a petition for a writ of process handwritten by a young lawyer named …

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Justifying Speed

Posted by: Donna Sokol

This is a guest post by David Mao, Law Librarian of Congress. Recently, I had the chance to drive fast—Autobahn fast—and it was legal.  Most drivers (typically male) dream of driving with no limit to speed; however, unless one is on a race track or private road (as I was), that generally is not possible …

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What is your Favorite Case? Part 1

Posted by: Robert Brammer

It seems that nearly every person who works with the law will, at some point in their career, come across a memorable case that stays with them.  The circumstances could be inspiring, outrageous, or in my case, humorous.  I have already written about my favorite case, Nickerson v. Hodges, 146 La. 735, 84 So. 37 (La. …

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Executive Orders: A Beginner’s Guide

Posted by: Barbara Bavis

Although they are not specifically mentioned in the U.S. Constitution, Executive Orders have been considered one of the President’s powers since George Washington’s administration.  Executive Orders are exactly what they sound like—orders produced by the President, as head of the executive branch, that are “generally directed to, and govern actions by, Government officials and agencies.”[1]  …

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Unusual Laws: All That Glitters Is Not Gold

Posted by: Robert Brammer

Law is a serious profession, but as anyone who has ever picked up a wacky laws book would know, law can occasionally be a source of humor. We’ve discussed unusual laws from foreign jurisdictions in the past. Today, we return to the United States to discuss the unusual case of Nickerson v. Hodges. Nickerson frequently …

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The Electoral College – What Is It and How Does It Function?

Posted by: Margaret Wood

The following is a guest post by Barbara Bavis and Robert Brammer, both legal reference librarians in the Public Services Division of the Law Library of Congress. The 2012 Presidential election is projected to be close, and attention has turned to whether the Electoral College may diverge from the popular vote in shaping the outcome …

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Capoeira: From Crime to Culture

Posted by: Kelly Buchanan

The following is a guest post by Eduardo Soares, a Senior Foreign Law Specialist in the Global Legal Research Center of the Law Library of Congress.  Eduardo is a Brazilian attorney and provides research services relating to the laws of Portuguese-speaking jurisdictions. Portuguese explorers first made landfall in Brazil on April 22, 1500.  After the discovery, the …