Ian’s Legal Fact for the Summer 6/27/16: The Nineteenth Amendment

As the Constitution gave power to the states to determine voting qualifications, prior to 1910 no states allowed women to vote. This changed with the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment, which prohibited United States citizens from being denied the right to … Continue reading

Ian’s Legal Fact of the Week 2/8/16: Jury Sequestration in New York

For more than a century New York state required that juries be sequestered during the deliberation phase of all trials for violent felonies. This extremely unpopular law was repealed in 2001. Missouri still makes jury sequestration mandatory in trials involving a charge … Continue reading

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 … Continue reading

Ian’s Legal Fact of the Week 2/17/14: Capital Punishment in the U.S.

The earliest recorded instance of capital punishment in the U.S. was in 1608, carried out in the Jamestown colony against a defendant for spying for the Spanish government. Three states have never implemented capital punishment during their statehood: Michigan, Alaska and … Continue reading