Ian’s Legal Fact of the Week 9/29/14: Suspension of Habeas Corpus
The first suspension of habeas corpus in the U.S. was by Abraham Lincoln in April 1861 in order to protect a railroad route between Annapolis and Philadelphia which pro-Confederate forces were...
View ArticleIan’s Legal Fact of the Week 10/13/14: Medical Marijuana
Twenty-three states and the District of Columbia have legalized cannabis for medical use, with legislation pending in three more states. Massachusetts legalized medical marijuana in 2012 as a result of...
View ArticleIan’s Legal Fact of the Week 10/20/14: English Origins of Our Bill of Rights
The U.S. Bill of Rights was inspired by several documents including the U.K.’s Bill of Rights passed in 1689. This Act set out certain basic rights, including: no royal interference with the law;...
View ArticleIan’s Legal Fact of the Week 10/27/14: Titles of Nobility Amendment
Approved by Congress in 1810 as a proposed 13th Amendment, the Titles of Nobility Amendment was designed to strip U.S. citizenship from any citizen who accepted an aristocratic title from a foreign...
View ArticleIan’s Legal Fact of the Week 2/09/15: Reporters’ Privilege
Reporter’s privilege (also known as journalist’s privilege), is a limited First Amendment right of journalists to shield their confidential sources from discovery. Forty states and D.C. have enacted...
View ArticleIan’s Legal Fact of the Week 2/16/15: The Alford Plea
The Alford plea is a form of “alternative plea”, meaning that it does not correspond to traditional pleas of either guilty or not guilty. It is premised on the defendant’s acceptance of a plea bargain...
View ArticleIan’s Legal Fact of the Week 2/23/15: Alienation of Affection
One of the most common 19th century civil suits was for alienation of affection, awarding damages to litigants whose marriages disintegrated due to the actions of a third party. In order for a...
View ArticleIan’s Legal Fact of the Week 5/4/15: Composition of the Supreme Court
The Supreme Court is provided for in Article 3, Section 1 of the Constitution, but only the Chief Justice is specifically mentioned (in Article 1, Section 3). The number of other “Judges of the Supreme...
View ArticleLawyer Raises Prospect of ‘Trial by Combat’ in Lawsuit
In 2011 I wrote a blog about the archaic form of legal action known as trial by combat. In it, I mused about whether the right to trial by combat (also commonly called ‘wager of battle’ or ‘trial by...
View ArticleIan’s Legal Fact of the Week 3/21/16: Reading the Riot Act
‘To read the riot act’– meaning to warn someone that their current actions will not be tolerated — has its origins in an actual legislative enactment. Formally entitled An Act for preventing Tumults...
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