The Constitutions of Clarendon were issued by Henry II in 1164. This document became the bone of contention between Henry II and the Archbishop of Canterbury, who was also his former chancellor and friend, Thomas Beckett. The quarrel between these two men eventually led to Thomas’s murder and then elevation to sainthood, as well as …
I love history and recently I have been researching congressional apportionment. But what you ask, is apportionment? According to Merriam Webster’s online dictionary, one of the definitions is to “divide and share out according to a plan.” I can see how this might apply to pizza and pie but what does this have to …
I have previously written about the budget process and appropriations. Now, I am turning to authorization legislation. In theory, process for funding the government is an orderly one in which each year the President proposes a budget; the U.S. Congress passes appropriations legislation; the enrolled bills are sent to the President for signing; and voila, government agencies …
The plans for the Law Library Reading Room‘s renovation have been finalized, and we are preparing to move operations to the ground floor of the Madison building during construction. This will be a complicated operation taking about three and a half weeks to shift to our temporary space. For those of you who have visited …
It is that time of year again – the National Book Festival! This year the Festival will be taking place on Saturday, August 30th at the Washington National Convention Center. Once again, Law Library staff are participating in the Book Festival with six staff members manning our booth. We will have some familiar faces at …
This week’s interview is with Ann Hemmens, a legal reference librarian with the Public Services Division of the Law Library of Congress. Describe your background. I grew up in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. My parents were transplants from Illinois and I inherited their interest in travel and living in different parts of the country. I’ve …
Today’s interview is with Andrew Winston, a legal reference librarian in the Public Services Division of the Law Library of Congress. Describe your background. I grew up in Virginia and went to college and law school there. I studied Ancient Greek and Latin as an undergraduate, went to law school and practiced law, and then …
This is a guest post by Jim Martin, senior legal information analyst at the Law Library of Congress. Jim has written some of our most popular posts over the years including The Articles of Confederation. On June 28, 1914, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the Hapsburg presumptive heir to the throne of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and his …
Home with a cold this spring, I was re-reading a mystery novel which centered in part around the fate of a British officer in World War I. In the novel, the officer had been executed for cowardice which made me begin to think about movies which portray incidents of military justice. Although fellow staff members …