The Law Library of Congress houses approximately 60,000 rare items, 25,000 of which are contained in a climate controlled vault. To be classified as rare, an item generally must have been published prior to 1801. One of our interesting rare items is a petition for a writ of process handwritten by a young lawyer named …
This is a guest post by David Mao, Law Librarian of Congress. Recently, I had the chance to drive fast—Autobahn fast—and it was legal. Most drivers (typically male) dream of driving with no limit to speed; however, unless one is on a race track or private road (as I was), that generally is not possible …
This is an interview with Andrew Walz, currently an intern at the Law Library of Congress Information Technology Office providing Geographic Information System support. Describe your background I grew up in a small town in southwestern Virginia called Lexington. Growing up where I did has had a huge impact on who I am today. Growing …
It seems that nearly every person who works with the law will, at some point in their career, come across a memorable case that stays with them. The circumstances could be inspiring, outrageous, or in my case, humorous. I have already written about my favorite case, Nickerson v. Hodges, 146 La. 735, 84 So. 37 (La. …
A friend’s son, who lived in Tanzania for a year, gave me this lovely cloth which hangs in my office. The centerpiece is a picture of Julius Kambrage Nyerere who is considered the father of modern Tanzania. Mwalimu is the Swahili term for teacher which was President Nyerere’s first profession before he entered politics.
At the start of this month I (along with several of my Global Legal Research Center colleagues) attended a very engaging and thought-provoking presentation by Professor John Witte, Jr. titled “Sharia in the West? What Place for Faith-Based Family Laws in Liberal Democracies?” Professor Witte recently completed his term as the Cary and Ann Maguire …
We are continuing to push forward on Congress.gov! We are working hard to refine the beta. Can you believe the launch was already two months ago? As with the first iterative update to Congress.gov, Jeanine has updated the About Congress.gov page: November 2012 Highlights of minor updates include: Member profiles search order tuning; Clarification of “Party history” for Members …
This is a guest post by Pamela Barnes Craig, Instruction/Reference Librarian at the Law Library of Congress. Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, Pub. L. 92-318, 86 Stat. 235, 373 turned 40 years old on June 23, 2012. Its birthday passed much like it became law—quietly and unassumingly. Its impact, however, has been …
Although they are not specifically mentioned in the U.S. Constitution, Executive Orders have been considered one of the President’s powers since George Washington’s administration. Executive Orders are exactly what they sound like—orders produced by the President, as head of the executive branch, that are “generally directed to, and govern actions by, Government officials and agencies.”[1] …
We’ve had an update to the Law Library of Congress physical spaces. The front doors to our main office were recently replaced with glass doors. We often talk about transparency in government, and the doors are our small symbolic contribution to making our inner workings “see-through.” The glass also lets visitors see into the …