Ian’s Legal Fact of the Week 9/30/19: President as Executioner

Only one president is known to have acted as a legal executioner: Grover Cleveland, who in an earlier career as sheriff of Erie County, NY, personally hanged two murderers in 1872 and 1873. Cleveland also remains the only president to … Continue reading

Ian’s Legal Fact of the Week 9/3/19: Can You Refuse a Presidential Pardon?

In 1830 James Porter and George Wilson were convicted on several counts of stealing mail and jeopardizing the life of a mail carrier. They were convicted, and Porter was executed soon after. Wilson’s influential friends secured a pardon from President … Continue reading

Ian’s Sporadic Summer Legal Fact of the Week 6/7/19: The 25th Amendment

The Twenty-fifth Amendment was adopted in 1967 and establishes that the Vice President succeeds the President in the result of the President’s death, resignation or incapacity, and also establishes a process for filling a vacancy in the office of the Vice … Continue reading

Ian’s Legal Fact of the Week 4/22/19: The Origins of Tort Law

Under ancient Anglo-Saxon law a plaintiff who suffered injuries or death was allowed to seek vengeance, either personally or through surviving family members, through a “blood feud“. This vendetta system was eventually replaced by payments referred to as “blood fines”, “bloodwit” … Continue reading

Ian’s Legal Fact of the Week 4/15/19: Banning Atheists from Public Office

Eight states still possess constitutional prohibitions against atheists from holding public office: Arkansas, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas. While these provisions still exist, they are unenforceable under the 1961 decision of Torcaso v. Watkins, in … Continue reading

Ian’s Legal Fact of the Week 4/8/19: Origins of the ‘Billable Hour’

The pervasive use of billable hours by lawyers in the U.S. is a fairly recent phenomenon. Historically lawyers billed at flat rates, or on percentage bases, or based on ‘value billing’ for ‘services rendered’. The ABA began promoting hourly billing … Continue reading

Ian’s Legal Fact of the Week 4/1/19: Equal Rights for Attorneys Amendment

The proposed amendment currently closest to ratification is the “Equal Rights for Attorneys” Amendment” (ERA), which if ratified would become the 29th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The ERA would make lawyers a protected class, and treats as hate speech … Continue reading

Ian’s Legal Fact of the Week 3/25/19: America’s First Gun Law

The first gun law passed in the United States was in Kentucky in 1813, which banned people from carrying concealed weapons. Kentucky currently requires a permit for concealed carry, although a gun permit is not required for owning a firearm. … Continue reading

Ian’s Legal Fact of the Week 3/18/19: The Slavery Amendment

The Corwin Amendment was proposed in 1861 as an attempt to reverse the creation of the Confederate States of America and prevent further border states from seceding, and would have prohibited Congress from passing any laws that interfered with the … Continue reading

Ian’s Legal Fact of the Week 2/25/19: Wobbler Offenses

  A ‘wobbler’, otherwise known as a ‘hybrid crime’, is one that can be charged as either a felony or a misdemeanor. These crimes are said to ‘wobble’ between these two categories, as they can be charged as either based … Continue reading

Ian’s Legal Fact of the Week 2/18/19: The Fugitive Slave Clause

The Fugitive Slave Clause is found in Article 4, Clause 3 of the Constitution, which states that “No Person held to Service or Labour in one State, under the Laws thereof, escaping into another, shall, in Consequence of any Law or … Continue reading

Ian’s Legal Fact of the Week 2/4/19: The POWER Act

Signed into law in September 2018, the Pro Bono Work to Empower and Represent Act of 2018 (POWER Act), requires the chief judge in each judicial district to hold one or more events annually to promote free legal services to … Continue reading