70
votes
Accepted
Were people born in the Confederacy eligible to run for president?
Technically, they were born in the United States, at least under US law, and the law of any existing nation. The United States never recognised the Confederacy, nor did any other country. There are ...
- 210k
51
votes
Can a soldier refuse to carry a weapon?
Under US Army Regulation 601-210 as of 2016, conscientious objection will normally disqualify someone applying to enlist, but the disqualification can be waived. Under Army Regulation 600-43, if they ...
- 23.6k
50
votes
Were USA states really this disconnected in 1964, and was bigamy really punished by death?
I'm thirding the "very plausible" on the disconnect.
Something to keep in mind is that the US is big. Really big.
It's one of the top things people who aren't familiar with the US just don'...
- 2,913
50
votes
Which security is the social security number about?
Social Security numbers are called Social Security numbers because were invented to implement the Social Security Act of 1935, which was one of the important programs adopted by Congress as part of ...
- 195k
49
votes
Accepted
Why is the structure of the US Code so poor? (And would it even be legal to reorganize it?)
Are there any underlying reasons behind the nonsensical structure of
U.S.C. titles? Is it simply a case of "This is how it's been for
awhile, don't fix what isn't broken." or is there more to it ...
- 195k
46
votes
Accepted
ASKED: Why do many "No Trespassing" signs say "POSTED"?
"Posted" is a Term of Art
"Posted" is a term of art in trespass law, specifically meaning that signs forbidding entry have been placed at the borders of a parcel. The page "...
- 113k
43
votes
Could the federal government ban people from drinking coffee?
None. The federal government is allowed to prohibit coffee drinking under its power to regulate interstate commerce. Prohibition would not have required a constitutional amendment under modern ...
- 195k
43
votes
Accepted
What was the original idea behind the practice of courtroom wigs?
The courtroom wig actually dates from an era centuries ago when it was common for the upper classes to shave their heads and wear wigs - a practice that arose for hygiene reasons.
That is, at the time ...
- 2,510
38
votes
Were USA states really this disconnected in 1964, and was bigamy really punished by death?
Were USA states really this disconnected in 1964
Yes.
Indeed they still are quite disconnected by the standards of other federated nations. US states have always jealousy guarded their autonomy. ...
- 198k
35
votes
What is the purpose of pardoning powers?
They are the modern legacy of the Royal prerogative of mercy
Or in Commonwealth countries that still have a monarch, it is the Royal prerogative of mercy.
Its modern functional purpose is to provide ...
- 198k
33
votes
Accepted
Do various common law sovereign citizen movement theories have any kernels of basis in fact?
Does this theory have any basis in current or historical fact?
Not really.
The sovereign citizen movement uses legal terms, but not correctly, and often confounded with Biblical doctrine, and hones ...
- 195k
29
votes
Accepted
Why do judges use a hammer in court?
The ceremonial hammer is called a gavel and usually looks like this:
Stock image used with permission
(Gavels in India and in the U.S. Senate which received its gavel as a diplomatic gift from India,...
- 195k
28
votes
Accepted
When did criminal discovery rules substantially form?
When did the discovery/disclosure rules as we know them today
substantially form?
In the United States, the constitutional right to criminal discovery was established in Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. ...
- 195k
26
votes
Why is the structure of the US Code so poor? (And would it even be legal to reorganize it?)
Congress is reorganizing the U.S. Code. Positive Law Codification:
Section 205(c) of House Resolution No. 988, 93d Congress, as enacted into law by Public Law 93-554 (2 U.S.C. 285b), provides the ...
- 3,954
26
votes
Accepted
Would publicly farting on a picture of the English monarch actually qualify as treason in 1798?
The cartoon may call back to events of 1795, where George III had stones thrown at him while he was on his way to the State Opening of Parliament. In response, the government - headed by Pitt the ...
- 341
26
votes
ASKED: Why do many "No Trespassing" signs say "POSTED"?
The Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department has a web page about this. If you read the current law you will see the exact wording of the signs is not specified. But in the past, the exact wording of the ...
- 4,237
25
votes
Were the ten commandments the first laws of civilization?
Nope. Even if we were to accept this definition of law as some written decree, and I'm unsure that's the case1, there are civilisations with written law that predate the Ten Commandments.
Babylonian ...
- 12.1k
25
votes
Could the federal government ban people from drinking coffee?
This would almost certainly be within Congress's powers under the Commerce Clause, which has been interpreted quite broadly to encompass virtually anything someone could imagine possibly affecting ...
- 10.2k
24
votes
What is the origin and basis of stare decisis?
I assume you are asking about horizontal stare decisis: a court following its own previous holdings or those of courts of coordinate jurisdiction (e.g. courts at the same "level" in the ...
- 43.9k
22
votes
Accepted
Can a soldier refuse to carry a weapon?
In the UK Armed Forces, conscientious objection is grounds for a refusal at the admission stage and has been since the end of conscription in 1963. Where a person develops an objection to military ...
- 3,976
19
votes
Accepted
Which security is the social security number about?
The SSN was originally meant to be used strictly for tracking a worker’s lifetime earnings in order to calculate retirement benefits after age 65 under the Social Security Act of 1935.
In fact, until ...
- 1,992
18
votes
Were USA states really this disconnected in 1964, and was bigamy really punished by death?
Yes, the Disconnect is Plausible
The US has always been quite localized in the collection and retention of vital statistics. Even today there is no central repository or database of such information; ...
- 113k
18
votes
What is the origin and basis of stare decisis?
The underlying idea has been implicit in law for over a millenium in England. The term dates back at least to Sir Matthew Hale who cites his doctrine of stare decisis in Hanslap v. Cater (1673). ...
- 210k
17
votes
What is the legal case for someone getting arrested publicizing information about nuclear weapons deduced from public knowledge
You are likely thinking of United States v. The Progressive, Inc., 467 F. Supp. 990 (W.D. Wis. 1979) and the related injunction against a letter by Charles R. Hansen. However, these were not ...
- 43.9k
17
votes
What is the purpose of pardoning powers?
The purpose was to place in an individual person, independent from the judiciary, the power and individual agency to provide mercy for outcomes that have resulted in "unfortunate guilt." See ...
- 43.9k
16
votes
What exactly is a "title of nobility" under the US Constitution?
Overview
Generally speaking the Titles of Nobility clauses in Article I, Sections 9 and 10 of the U.S. Constitution, were aimed at barring hereditary grants of special privileges which is what it ...
- 195k
15
votes
Were the ten commandments the first laws of civilization?
Not with your age estimate of the Ten Commandments (3000-3750 years ago). The Code of Hammurabi dates to around 1750 BC, which would make it over 3750 years old, which is older.
- 23.6k
15
votes
Accepted
Why does the USA not have a constitutional court?
Why does the one country that promotes constitutional democracies
above all others not have a judicial branch specifically for those
matters? I know SCOTUS will hear these matters . . . I have had it
...
- 195k
14
votes
Accepted
Why are magisterial judges not addressed with "your majesty?"
tl;dr: The terms have separate etymologies. Majesty derives from greatness, while magistrate comes from mastering something (people or a trade).
Majesty
Middle English (in the sense 'greatness of ...
- 6,088
14
votes
Were Nazi atrocities legal according the German law of the time?
It can (and has) been argued that some of the post-bellum trials of Germans and Japanese (but no Italians because they were Allies now) proceeded on shaky legal grounds. However, the arguments of your ...
- 198k
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible