Questions tagged [legal-history]
For questions related to how and why law has evolved over time.
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Why do many "No Trespassing" signs say "POSTED"?
Many "no trespassing" signs say "POSTED" in large letters at the top. Why? Obviously, the sign is posted; that's the whole purpose of a sign. To me, it makes as much sense as ...
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Why is the structure of the US Code so poor? (And would it even be legal to reorganize it?)
In the process of researching the legality of coil guns in Massachusetts (University engineering project), I stumbled across Cornell's Legal Information Institute, which offers what appears to be a ...
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Can a soldier refuse to carry a weapon?
During WWII, Desmond Doss joined the US Army as a combat medic. Due to his religious belief in nonviolence, he refused to carry a weapon and was eventually allowed to do so, going on to win various ...
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What is jury nullification?
What is jury nullification and what are its origins and history? What actions by a juror would be considered nullification?
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Why isn't there financial safety if I am arrested illegally? [closed]
I have been arrested approximately 14 times in my life and never Mirandized. The last time I was arrested, about 8 police officers stood around me asking me what I was doing. After I explained every ...
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What was the original idea behind the practice of courtroom wigs?
English judges and barristers have for a long time had to wear wigs. What was the intended implied message by the object aesthetic? What was the look of a judge or advocate wearing that type of ...
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Would publicly farting on a picture of the English monarch actually qualify as treason in 1798?
A famous political cartoon from 1798 by Richard Newton claims that farting on a picture of the British monarch would be prosecutable as "TREASON!!!" (caps and multiple exclamation marks in ...
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Were people born in the Confederacy eligible to run for president?
Since the Confederacy existed for about four years, presumably some number of babies were born there during that time. Technically, those people were not born in the United States.
When those people ...
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Were USA states really this disconnected in 1964, and was bigamy really punished by death?
I've just watched the The Alfred Hitchcock Hour episode Three Wives Too Many from 1964.
In it, a man has a wife in four different USA states, traveling between them constantly and keeping them secret ...
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When did criminal discovery rules substantially form?
The apparent non-existence of any criminal discovery/disclosure in Anatomy of a murder (1959) has struck me as odd and wildly disturbing. The trial is just a series of surprises to both sides.
For ...
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What is the purpose of pardoning powers?
Various countries have pardoning powers given to either the president or the governor, this is secured as a constitutional right of the president and governor.
What is the purpose of such powers? Is ...
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Why do judges use a hammer in court?
In many movies featuring a court scene, the judge is seen pounding a wood hammer on the desk to either silence the court room, or to announce a decision.
Why do judges use a hammer? Is it only a ...
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Do various common law sovereign citizen movement theories have any kernels of basis in fact?
Note: I had seen and reviewed the proposed duplicate/precursor question on freemen of the land but if you read my question a little more carefully you will hopefully see that mine seeks to go deeper ...
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What exactly is a "title of nobility" under the US Constitution?
Article 1, sections 9 & 10 of the US constitution prohibit granting titles of nobility by the federal government or the states. What exactly is a title of nobility for these purposes? Why is (say) ...
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What is the legal case for someone getting arrested publicizing information about nuclear weapons deduced from public knowledge
I have a vague memory of a court case involving a man being prosecuted for publicizing information about nuclear weapons. He obtained that information by logic deduction and probably calculations from ...
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Are there any jurisdictions in the world where dueling is still legal?
Is there any place in the world where it is still legally possible to kill someone in a duel and not be charged? If not, when and where was the last place to outlaw the practice?
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Why 12 Jurors, why not 11, 10, 9, 1?
The question might seem basic, but why do juries in the United States consist of 12 members?
Was there an experimental determination of this number?
Would the addition or removal of a juror ...
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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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Why do Supreme Court Justices call each other "Brother"?
Take the case of Brewer v. Williams. In his concurrence, Justice Marshall writes,
I concur wholeheartedly in my Brother STEWART's opinion for the Court
I recall seeing this in other concurrences, ...
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Origin/purpose of "Language" section in legal agreements
I've noticed a number of legal documents recently (FastMail's ToS, Apple's Developer Agreement, etc.) which include a "Language" section containing more or less the following:
It is the express ...
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Law in History: Weapon Law in New York in the 1960s: Long Blades
While researching for a novel, I stumbled about an interesting legal point I can't answer on my own because I neither am a lawyer nor am in the US:
Between 1945 and 1951 quite some Katana were ...
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Could the federal government ban people from drinking coffee?
Which amendment does this statement violate?
The federal government refuses to allow anyone to drink coffee.
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How was the court in Abingdon RDC v O'Gorman (1968 EWCA Civ) aware of Thornton v Cruther & ors (1769)?
At s23, the court cites Chief Justice Wilmot's decision in the 1769 case Thornton v Cruther & others, which it mentions is "unreported."
So how did the court become familiar with the ...
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When did indictments stop saying people were "moved and seduced by the instigation of the Devil"?
Criminal indictments used to use much more detailed and flowery language than they do now. I was surprised to learn, while looking at some early U.S. documents, that they had retained a feature of ...
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Which security is the social security number about?
Everywhere online this seems to be a given, no source even attempts to explain it:
If the social security number is about identifying an individual/citizen/taxpayer, why is it not called social ...
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In the past, how did lawyers learn the academic side of law?
In the past, I have read that lawyers simply 'read law' on their own or in an office, before passing the legal (bar) exam. But if they only indentured and never went to law school, then how did they ...
user89
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What are "equity" and "equitable remedies"?
What is equity and/or an equitable remedy? How does it relate to the common law?
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History of "No Warranty" clauses in software
Almost all free/open source software licenses include a section disclaiming any warranty or liability. This is not new; A 1985 licence for GNU Emacs includes the following:
GNU Emacs is distributed ...
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Why was the Armenian assassin of Talat Pasha acquitted for murder?
The Armenian assassin of the ex-Ottoman Grand Vizier Talat Pasha, Soghomon Tehlirian was acquitted of murder in his trial. His defence was that he was killing Talat Pasha in retaliation for his crimes ...
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What was the significance of the word "ordinary" in "lords of appeal in ordinary"?
The law lords of the House of Lords were formally known as the lords of appeal "in ordinary". Most of that phrase other than the final bit is self explanatory but the use of the word "...
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Is there "evidence-based" practice in law?
"Evidence-based practice" (sometimes colloquially called "what works") is a buzzword floating around many professions nowadays, especially medicine and education. The idea is to ...
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Strictly speaking, are damages an essential element of breach of contract?
Several resources, including one from an attorney in California and another from an attorney in Arizona state that harm or damages to the non-breaching party is an essential element of a breach of ...
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Is the term "ZIP Code" trademarked?
The exact words: " Look Up a ZIP Code™ " appear at the top of one of the pages at USPS.com. "Zip Code" seems to have the Trademark™ next to it in many other places on the site, but not everywhere.
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Was cannabis legal in the U.S. in 1969-1970?
In 1969, Timothy Leary challenged the Marihuana Tax Act of 1937 in Leary v. The United States. Leary claimed that the requirement to have a tax stamp to possess cannabis, while also requiring ...
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How did the “American rule” as to legal costs originate?
At some point the US diverged from its common law ancestor, the English system, and the respective divergences came to be known as the American and English rules. The American rule is that parties ...
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What is the origin and basis of stare decisis?
When, where, how, and why did the doctrine that courts must have regard to the entirety of the infinitely ever growing corpus of judicial decisions that came before that sub judice and align their ...
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Why does the USA not have a constitutional court?
I know the Supreme Court of the United States will hear constitutional matters, but why does United States not have a judicial branch specifically for constitutional matters?
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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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"Most junior counsel present"
In W.S. Gilbert's The Maiden Brief -- a work of fiction set in England in the mid-nineteenth century -- when prosecuting counsel does not attend due to another case, the judge calls for "the most ...
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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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When were the Black Acts passed in Scotland?
In 'The Scottish Legal System' 1, the authors say that
The first printing press was introduced into Scotland in 1507, but it was not until 1541 with the printing of the Black Acts that it was ...
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When was judicial attire first specified in England (or the United Kingdom)?
To many (if not most) of those not involved in legal matters, court dress may seem a bit absurd. Wigs, especially seem out of place in modern society. It is obvious that the judicial costume must date ...
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Why don't law collections show who the author of the law is?
When reading laws of the Swiss government it just says: "The federal council decrees x,y,z.". Now I'm wondering who the author of some text was and there seems to be no way to find out. I'm ...
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Did the House of Lords hear appeal cases in the main Lords’ chamber of Parliament?
I suppose that the appeal cases were only ever heard by the law lords, in actuality a subsection rather than any plenary session of the house, so was it just a smaller session in the main canonically ...
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Why do legal documents often have a place next to the date?
I am talking about Switzerland. So why is there often a line for the place next to the date? Is it for some historic reason, to be easier to archive or is it to prevent fraud? Does anybody know more ...
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Was being left in the Pacific in a lifeboat considered attempted murder in 1872?
It's 1872 and Mr. Fogg is having his journey around the world, and let's take the TV series adaption of 2021 as the basis.
The situation at hand in Episode 6 is as follows:
Taking a Steamship Carnatic ...
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What did it mean to be “declared infamous”?
According to Wikipedia, in Ashford v. Thornton,
If the plaintiff said the word craven ("I am vanquished") and gave up the fight, he was to be declared infamous, deprived of the privileges ...
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Why does the US patent law have a section about inventions in outer space?
I came upon a curiously exorbitant statute, Inventions in outer space (35 USC 105). To summarize my question, what was the story and the rationale behind this law?
The section reads, in part:
Any ...
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When did the Mexican legal requirement to register a child with two last names come into effect?
In Mexico, children are given two last names at birth, and keep those two surnames throughout life. That's built into information systems and assumed on government forms. It's required by government ...
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At what point could courts in England no longer legally create new Common Law offenses?
Common Law offenses, of course, were crimes created solely through case law rather than statute.
At what point was the legal authority of courts in England to create new Common Law offenses abolished?...
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