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Category: Law Library

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Coutumes of France in the Law Library of Congress

Posted by: Kurt Carroll

The following is a guest post by Dr. Meredith Shedd-Driskel, Law Curator. With the rise of feudalism in medieval France, the country had evolved into two judicial territories.  The provincial parliaments in northern France, acting as sovereign judicial bodies independent of each other and claiming independence from the king, applied droit coutumier, or legal principles …

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Martin Luther King, Jr. Day

Posted by: Christine Sellers

Today is Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. In 1983, President Reagan signed H.R. 3706, a bill to make the birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr., a legal public holiday, which became Public Law No: 98-144.  The day (and federal holiday) is declared each year via Presidential Proclamation and is in honor of the birthday of …

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Happy Old Year

Posted by: Andrew Weber

The following is a guest post by Roberta Shaffer, Law Librarian of Congress. It is that time again when so many of us reflect upon achievements, and shortcomings, of the previous year and look forward to keeping ambitious resolutions for the new year.  In the past few days as the Law Library of Congress staff …

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Tribute to a K Class Act — Pic of the Week

Posted by: Kurt Carroll

This week’s Pic of the Week is in honor of Marie Whited and her retirement from the Law Library.  This past summer, Marie received the American Association of Law Libraries highest honor, the Marian Gould Gallagher Distinguished Service Award.  She is best known for her subject work with the Library of Congress Classification for Law, …

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December Retrospective

Posted by: Andrew Weber

December was another enjoyable month for In Custodia Legis.  We introduced two new guest bloggers, Nicole and Steve.  Nicole posted a couple of times:  first on Social Networks and French Labor Law and, in response to a comment on the blog, on The Role of the “Doctrine” as a Source of Law in France.  Steve …

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An Interview with Henry Rossman, Director of Information Technology

Posted by: Kelly Buchanan

This week’s interview is with Henry Rossman, Director of Information Technology for the Law Library. What is your academic/professional history? I have a B.A. in Psychology from the University of Miami, FL.  My Master’s Degree and Doctorate are both from Temple University (Philadelphia).  The graduate degrees are in Sociology, with sub-specializations in Social Psychology, Minority …

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There’s No Place Like Home

Posted by: Andrew Weber

Our most recent “Power Lunch” was a discussion by our Foreign Law Specialist, Hanibal Goitom.  He presented “Citizenship Issues Affecting Certain Ethiopians of Eritrean Origin.”  His talk focused mainly on an international arbitration case that Eritrea and Ethiopia litigated regarding the citizenship of a group of Ethiopians of Eritrean origin who were denationalized by Ethiopia. …