The Constitution imposes several qualifications for Congressional service, most notably in Article I, s2 & 3 (which sets out age, citizenship, and residency requirements). It also precludes members from Congress from serving in the executive or judicial branches through the … Continue reading
Tag Archives: Ian’s legal fact of the week
While George Washington is known as the first president of the U.S., there were 8 “presidents of the United States in Congress Assembled” between 1781-1789 appointed under the Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union. The name of only one is … Continue reading
California, Alaska, and Illinois now have pet custody laws that permit judges to determine what is in the best interests of a pet when settling disputes in divorce cases. These laws allow judges to treat these cases more like child … Continue reading
Leap year birthdays can be a source of legal issues for people born on February 29th (often called “leapers”), particularly with regard to medical or government records. Some computer systems do not accept February 29th as a valid date, or … Continue reading
The first country to formally recognize the United States was Morocco in 1777. The treaty between these two countries, known as the Moroccan-American Treaty of Friendship, was signed in 1786 and ratified in 1787 by the Confederation Congress. It remains … Continue reading
A proclamation by President George Washington and a congressional resolution established the first national Thanksgiving Day on November 26, 1789. The holiday was intended to give thanks for the new government formed under the Constitution. It became an official federal … Continue reading
The Equal Rights Amendment (ERA), which sought to guarantee equal rights for women, was introduced in 1923 but not submitted for ratification until 1972. It was ultimately ratified by 35 states (although five of these later voted to rescind their … Continue reading
While common in Europe, only 3 US states have ‘duty to rescue’ laws, otherwise known colloquially as ‘bad Samaritan laws’, on the books. These laws, which exist in Minnesota, Rhode Island, and Vermont, make it a crime to not provide … Continue reading
Only one state, Oregon, allows for non-unanimous verdicts for non-homicide felonies, allowing conviction on a 10-2 or 11-1 vote. A bill that would have brought this to a public referendum was not passed by the state legislature. The Supreme Court … Continue reading
Title 50, ยง21.12(d) of the Code of Federal Regulations prohibits removing a bald or golden eagle from a building without a permit from the Regional Migratory Bird Permits Office. So if one flies into your house, make sure you have … Continue reading
In the case of Nix v. Gedden (1893), the Court had to decide the weighty issue of whether a tomato should be considered a fruit or vegetable. Due to the Tariff Act of 1883, imported tomatoes were subject to a … Continue reading
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