Ian’s Legal Fact of the Week 11/3/14: Grand Jury Testimony

Clients subpoenaed to testify before a grand jury–whether as witnesses or suspects–are not entitled to be represented by counsel as the Sixth Amendment is not applicable to grand jury proceedings. As these are “closed” sessions, a witness or suspect wishing to have benefit of counsel can have their attorney wait outside of the grand jury room, but must request permission to leave the room to consult with counsel.

A Happy Halloween Post (and a look back into the grab-bag of goodies from the past)

Zac was kind enough to put together a Halloween blog for the Executive LLM program, which features one of my all-time favorites of my Legal Facts of the Week–suing Satan–and he also included some other favorites from the archives. Until he mentioned it, I hadn’t realized how long I have been blogging and writing my facts of the week!

As always, your comments, questions and ideas are most welcome. Happy Halloween!

 

Ian’s Legal Fact of the Week 10/27/14: Titles of Nobility Amendment

Approved by Congress in 1810 as a proposed 13th Amendment, the Titles of Nobility Amendment was designed to strip U.S. citizenship from any citizen who accepted an aristocratic title from a foreign country. Ratified by tweleve states (the last in 1812) the amendment is still pending but would require ratification by an additional twenty-six states. It was erroneously included as the 13th Amendment in some early-nineteenth-century publications of the Constitution despite never having been ratified. “Thirteenthers” is a term sometimes used to refer to people who believe it was in fact ratified, or those who support its ratification now.

Ian’s Legal Fact of the Week 10/20/14: English Origins of Our Bill of Rights

The U.S. Bill of Rights was inspired by several documents including the U.K.’s Bill of Rights passed in 1689. This Act set out certain basic rights, including: no royal interference with the law; freedom to petition the monarch with grievances; no royal interference with the right of the people to bear arms as allowed by law; and no excessive bail or “cruel and unusual” punishments.

Ian’s Legal Fact of the Week 10/13/14: Medical Marijuana

Twenty-three states and the District of Columbia have legalized cannabis for medical use, with legislation pending in three more states. Massachusetts legalized medical marijuana in 2012 as a result of a ballot measure approved by 63% of state voters.

Ian’s Legal Fact of the Week 10/6/14: Sheriff

In Anglo-Saxon England the chief magistrate of a district (or “shire”) was known as the “reeve”. The shire-reeve eventually became known as “sheriff”, or the main law enforcement officer of a county, and was used in the U.S. from the 1660s onwards.

Ian’s Legal Fact of the Week 9/29/14: Suspension of Habeas Corpus

The first suspension of habeas corpus in the U.S. was by Abraham Lincoln in April 1861 in order to protect a railroad route between Annapolis and Philadelphia which pro-Confederate forces were threatening to destroy. His action was overturned by the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Maryland in Ex Parte Merryman, led by Roger B. Taney, Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. Lincoln’s Attorney General ignored the judicial decision.

Ian’s Legal Fact of the Week 9/22/14: 17th Amendment

The Seventeenth Amendment, ratified in 1913, provides for the direct election of members of the Senate by popular vote in each state, and also allows governors to make temporary appointments until a special election is held to fill vacancies. Originally, members of the Senate were elected by state legislatures. Seven states have not yet ratified the Amendment: Utah (which rejected it in 1913), Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, South Carolina, and Virginia. Utah requested Congress consider an amendment to repeal the Seventeenth Amendment in 2016.

Ian’s Legal Fact of the Week 9/15/14: The Origins of ‘Barrister’

Barrister derives its medieval origins from the word bar, referring to the wooden barrier that commonly stood near the front of the courtroom that separated spectators from judges, lawyers, court officers and parties. People admitted to practice were said to have been called to the bar or to have passed the bar. In modern usage, bar is commonly used as to refer to the members of the legal profession in a jurisdiction.

Ian’s Legal Fact of the Week 9/8/14: Anti-Stalking Laws

California passed the first anti-stalking law in 1990, following the 1989 murder of actress Rebecca Schaeffer. Within 3 years every state had a similar law. Today all states have laws that also cover cyber-stalking and/or cyber-harassment. In recent years, a growing number of states have also passed laws governing cyber-bullying (involving minors).

 

 

Ian’s Legal Fact of the Week 9/1/14: The Bill of Rights

James Madison introduced 39 proposed amendments to the Constitution before the House of Representatives in 1789; the House approved 17 of these, 12 of which were ultimately approved by Congress. Ten amendments, now known as the Bill of Rights, went on be ratified by the states. One of the proposed amendment, havng to do with Congressional salaries, was ratified in 1992 and is now the 27th Amendment. The twelfth proposed amendment, concerning Congressional apportionment, was ratified by 11 states as of 1792 and is considered still pending—it would now require ratification by 27 more states.