While technically there is no legal issue with respect to having a leap year birthday, people born on February 29th (often called “leapers”) may face some problems, particularly with regard to medical or government records. Some computer systems do not accept February 29th as a valid date, or … Continue reading
Ian C. Pilarczyk
While the Constitution contains no explicit reference to privacy, the Supreme Court has held it is found within the “penumbra” of the Bill of Rights as an implied right. Specifically, the Court had pointed to the 1st Amendment (privacy of beliefs), 3rd … Continue reading
The practice of holding a “ladies’ night’‘ as a promotional event at bars and nightclubs has been often challenged on state and federal grounds. While challenges under the Equal Protection Clause and the Civil Rights Act of 1871 have failed, four … Continue reading
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 This extremely unpopular law was repealed in 2001.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
Related to the spousal privilege, attorney-client privilege, and priest-penitent privilege, the reporter’s privilege (also known as a ‘press shield law’) is provided for in 48 states and the District of Columbia, either statutorily or through judicial decisions. Federal courts have also … Continue reading
President Thomas Jefferson signed an Act of Congress approving Ohio’s statehood in 1803, making it the 17th state. Congress had never passed a resolution formally admitting it as a state, however. While this has no real constitutional significance, this oversight was … Continue reading
William Howard Taft, the 27th President of the United States (1909-1913), remains the only president to also serve on the Supreme Court. He served as the tenth Chief Justice, from 1921-1930.
The only crime defined in the Constitution is ‘treason‘, which is found in Article III s. 3. A response to the misuse of this crime by the British Crown, it was limited to waging war against the U.S. or giving … Continue reading
It was originally proposed that the President be chosen by popular vote, but the delegates to the Constitutional Convention agreed (after 60 ballots!) on a system known as the Electoral College. The procedure for election of the President and Vice President … Continue reading
The Law Library of Congress is the world’s largest law library, with nearly 3 million books, including one of the world’s foremost rare law book collections and the most complete collection of foreign legal periodicals in the United States.
The longest period in U.S. history during which there were no amendments to the Constitution was the 61 year gap between the ratification of the 12th Amendment modifying the Electoral College (in 1804), and the ratification of the 13th Amendment abolishing slavery (in 1865).
While Mondays might be the most unpopular, statistics over the past decade show that homicides are much more likely to occur on Thursdays than any other day of the week; Tuesdays are the “safest” with the lowest rate of homicides.