Questions tagged [history]
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What laws would Jesus be breaking if he were to turn water into wine today?
In the Bible is Jesus’ first miracle: of turning water into wine:
“On the third day a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee. [...] Nearby stood six stone water jars, the kind used by the Jews for ...
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Did any ancient legal systems require covenants/oaths/contracts to be made in the morning?
“Then Abimelech went to him from Gerar, and Ahuzzath one of his friends, and Phichol the chief captain of his army. And Isaac said unto them, Wherefore come ye to me, seeing ye hate me, and have sent ...
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Why was Ağca tried and imprisoned in Italy?
Mehmet Ali Ağca tried to kill the pope in 1981 in Vatican City. For this, he was tried and convicted by an Italian court, and served time in an Italian prison. Why Italian? What did Italy have to do ...
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Why was the house of lords seen to have such supreme legal wisdom as to be designated as the court of last resort in the UK?
Indeed their judgements seemed often to be quite sage, insightful, and eloquently given.
But why would that tend to be the case?
As I understand it, to become a lord, one must inherit a seat through ...
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Do countries which ceased to exist de facto continue to "exist" de jure in some jurisidictions?
I.e. Russian Empire, which was obviously recognized by the UK and the US, ceased to exist de facto due to a revolution. It was de facto succesed by the USSR, but the USSR wasn't a legal succesor. ...
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Have draft SCOTUS opinions been leaked before?
A draft opinion on Dobbs v. Jackson has been leaked. Cathi Herrod of the Center for Arizona Policy has claimed:
It is totally unprecedented for a draft opinion to be leaked.
Is it unprecedented, or ...
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What is the significance of raising one's right hand before making an oath or affirmation?
It is common in many jurisdictions to raise one's right hand before making an oath or affirmation. What is the origin and meaning of such a practice?
This can help answer similar questions. For ...
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Did Sweden really make it illegal to sell imported Nintendo 64 games (and *only* those) in the later half of 1997?
I'm re-reading my old Super PLAY magazines from the 1990s. Since before the Nintendo 64 was released in Sweden/Europe, and after it had occurred, the magazines were full of ads selling imported USA ...
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Were American lawyers ever required to know the Bible and if so which states
I heard this mentioned somewhere. Have also seen laws in some of the colonies that were almost verbatim taken from the Bible, however I can't find any mention of a particular state requiring (or even ...
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Lord Hailsham and Learned Hand - Two Addresses
I've been reading some broad and general books on constitutional and public law of England and Wales. A number of works are often cited, e.g. Lord Bingham's Rule of law, Bagehot's The English ...
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Did Las Vegas really ever have such harsh punishments for using/having/selling Cannabis?
In the movie "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas", set in the 1970s, Las Vegas has a big sign saying how possession of marijuana gives you 25 years in prison there (the entire Nevada, I assume?) ...
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Did they not require any kind of passport or identity when traveling between countries before the year 1914?
During World War I, European governments introduced border passport requirements for security reasons, and to control the emigration of people with useful skills. These controls remained in place ...
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Is the individual right to bear arms disproven by the deleted conscientious objector clause of the 2nd amendment?
As an individual, is the notion that an American has the right to a firearm per the 2nd amendment disproven based on the deleted clause of conscientious objectors?
Proposed by James Madison upon the ...
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In 1940 Ireland, could a man with a venereal disease obtain a condom legally?
My questions arise from a scenario in Finnegans Wake by James Joyce, published in 1939, and pertain to Irish contraception and medical laws around or before 1939.
Contraception was illegal in Ireland ...
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What are the top introductory texts on the Justinian Codex?
I'm a non-lawyer interested in reading an introduction to the Justinian Codex such as would be assigned to orient students in a law school program.
What are the usual suspects here?
Thanks,
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Does Turkey, Azerbaijan, or the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus have a law criminalising recognition of the genocide against Armenians in 1914-23?
The Turkish and Azerbaijani governments both deny that the genocide committed against Armenians in 1914-23 took place. But has either of those jurisdictions, or that of the Turkish Republic of ...
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Where/whom can I look/contact to find historical minutes of murder trials in former Yugoslavia (circa 1925)?
I am writing an article about an alleged female serial killer that committed over 30 murders in former Yugoslavia (now Serbia, possibly in the town of Zrenjanin) around 1925. I have found several US ...
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Focus on arson in New Mexico Constitution -- why? typo?
In the State Constitution of New Mexico, Article II Section 24 Rights of Crime Victims, all the victims' rights are listed specifically for "a victim of arson" (see https://law.lclark.edu/...
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Ethnic discrimination in education by the State
I found a petition on the potential ethnic discrimination/division of children by the national Ministry of Education.
The case describes a possible ethnic discrimination by the Ministry of Education ...
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What ever happened to the Nixon Pocket veto case?
What ever happened to the Nixon Pocket veto case? This is the case where members of congress sued over President Nixon's recess veto of a spending bill.
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Historical examples of retrial for longer prison sentences? [closed]
I've asked this question on the History SE, which resulted in some members commenting it might be better suited on the Law SE.
Today I've read in 'Journey into the Whirlwind' by Eugenia Ginzburg, ...
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Was William Bruce Mumford convicted of treason?
Wikipedia says
When the Union Army occupied the city on May 1, Mumford was arrested and charged with "high crimes and misdemeanors against the laws of the United States, and the peace and ...
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Does the iconic WWII-end "Kiss" photo depict sexual assault?
One of the most famous images from the end of World War II was of a sailor kissing someone who looked like a nurse in Times Square, celebrating the victory.
As described in a featured article in ...
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Does annexation of state apply to territories under dispute e.g. Kashmir?
I am not clear on the legal definition of annexation. Can we say India is annexing Kashmir, or Jammu and Kashmir? Or does the word strictly apply to two nation-states only? Many definitions are ...
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Stand the Patriot act in the U.S.A. a the Enabling act in Nazi Germany on equal footing? [closed]
We all know that after 9/11 the Patriot Act (and new law) was constructed to give the U.S.A. more power in combating Islamic terrorists (the war on terror).
After the fire in the Reichstag in Nazi ...
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Do police have a more extensive file on a person than can be obtained from the DMV?
Do police have a more extensive driving/traffic file on me than I can obtain from the DMV?
I just called the DMV headquarters in Oregon, my state of residence. After I answered two simple security ...
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The difference between a self-governing colony and a dominion
In 1949 Newfoundland became a part of Canada. Before 1949 it was a separate country. This Wikipedia article says in 1907 Newfoundland made the transition from the status of a "self-governing colony" ...
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Can you be arrested the day a law is enacted?
On October 2, 1937 the Marijuana Tax Act was enacted. On this same day, a man named Samuel R. Caldwell was arrested by federal agents for selling Marijuana to Moses Baca, who was also arrested.
Is ...
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Were Nazi atrocities legal according the German law of the time?
I have recently had a discussion with a German who claims that Nuremberg trials were entirely based on ex-post-facto laws, and all the atrocities Nazis did were legal according to the Germany's and ...
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Was (is?) pre-marital sex illegal anywhere in the United States?
I read this summary of laws banning adultery in the United States.
Now, the wording of some of these laws made me wonder if any of them are remnants from a time when pre-marital sex (not just ...
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What is the history of attorney licensing and regulation in the United States, Britain, and the colonies?
I'd like to know when law licensing first started, both as to "certification" and as to "licensing" if such a distinction applies in history. I'd like to know when it began to take hold. I'd like to ...
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Federal courts under the Articles of Confederation
This is meeting with silence at history.stackexchange.com, so I'm trying it here:
The ninth Article of Confederation establishes federal judicial jurisdiction in some cases, including "disputes and ...
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