The Goodson Blogson

You probably already know that current state constitutions are reprinted in state code publications, and are generally freely available on state legislature websites (like North Carolina's ). But what if you want to search across all fifty states? A new free resource from the State Democracy Research Initiative at the University of Wisconsin Law School, 50Constitutions.org , allows researchers to explore the text of current state constitutions individually or across the country. Fourteen states, including North Carolina , also include constitutional histories , detailing amendments over time and providing access to historical texts. The site’s editors note that “additional features will be added for other states on a rolling basis.” 50Constitutions.org has been added to the Law Library's Legal Databases & Links page. Other sources for state constitutional research available at Duke include Oxford Constitutions of the World , which provides U.S. state materials in its Juri...

September 17 is Constitution Day , commemorating the 1787 signing of the United States Constitution in Philadelphia. The National Archives and Records Administration, which houses the original document, maintains a page for America's Founding Documents: The Constitution of the United States with a transcription and historical background about the document and its signing. (Constitution Day shares the September 17 holiday with Citizenship Day , an occasion often marked by naturalization ceremonies across the country. The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service offers a sample citizenship test on its website: can you achieve a passing score?) As always, you can pick up a pocket copy of the U.S. Constitution at the library service desk, while supplies last. You might also want to take a look at the thousands of resources in the Duke Libraries Catalog on constitutional law and interpretation. Some recent highlights from the print and electronic collections: Elie Mystal, Allow Me...

Since the founding of America, the United States has ratified 27 amendments to the Constitution. The first ten, of course, form the Bill of Rights ; subsequent amendments expanded rights for Black citizens and women, prohibited (and later repealed the prohibition on) the sale of alcohol, added presidential term limits and clarified presidential succession, abolished poll taxes and lowered the voting age, among other modifications. Background on each amendment can be found in the online treatise Constitution Annotated: Analysis and Interpretation of the United States Constitution . For every amendment in the Constitution, though, there are thousands more that failed to complete the arduous ratification requirements outlined in Article V. (For details, see the 2016 Congressional Research Service report The Article V Convention to Propose Constitutional Amendments: Contemporary Issues for Congress .) The Amendments Project at Harvard University , launched on July 4, has compiled over 2...

The Friday night announcement of Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg's death prompted national mourning. Over the weekend, hundreds gathered on the steps of the United States Supreme Court, and at courthouses around the country, to celebrate the life of this trailblazing jurist. This week, the Justice will lie in repose at first the Court steps, and then at the U.S. Capitol. To learn more about Justice Ginsburg's remarkable life and career, the Duke University community can access the 2018 documentary film RBG online. Additional biographical resources can be found in the Duke Libraries catalog with a subject search for "Ginsburg, Ruth Bader" . The "Available Online" filter will limit your results to e-books and video links; the Duke community may also request circulating print materials via Takeout service. Justice Ginsburg's death has prompted not only an important national conversation about filling a vacant Court seat during a presidential elect...

This Thursday marks the 233rd anniversary of the signing of the U.S. Constitution. Constitution Day and Citizenship Day are recognized together, as described in 36 U.S.C. § 106(b) to "commemorate the formation and signing on September 17, 1787, of the Constitution and recognize all who, by coming of age or by naturalization, have become citizens." While the restricted library building access and quarantine protocols mean we can't provide our usual pocket Constitutions to visitors for the time being, the Government Publishing Office's Constitution of the United States with Index and the Declaration of Independence, Pocket Edition is available as House Doc. 112-129 (be sure to select "Booklet" if printing!). The text of the Constitution is also available in the Organic Laws of every print or electronic version of the U.S. Code , in the Library of Congress's Constitution Annotated site, and as a high-quality scan at the National Archives . To lear...

Today marks the centennial of the ratification of the Amendment XIX to the U.S. Constitution, guaranteeing: "The right of the citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex." On August 18, 1920, Tennessee became the 36th state to ratify the amendment, which had passed in both chambers of Congress during the summer of 1919. The National Archives include a high-resolution image of the House Joint Resolution at its America's Founding Documents site for the U.S. Constitution . To commemorate the occasion, the New York Times has published Suffrage at 100 , a series of articles exploring the fight for women's right to vote and the stories of those left behind by it. As the articles note, Native American women and Asian immigrants were excluded due to citizenship laws of the era, while Black Americans faced discriminatory measures such as poll taxes in much of the country. For more informatio...

Tuesday is Constitution Day , which commemorates the signing of the United States Constitution in Philadelphia on September 17, 1787. In celebration, the Library of Congress just announced a redesign of the website for The Constitution Annotated (CONAN) , an invaluable treatise on constitutional history and practice. The revised web version of the publication (full name: The Constitution of the United States of America: Analysis and Interpretation ) allows readers to search from the main page, or to browse individual articles and amendments. Results provide a detailed overview of U.S. Supreme Court jurisprudence on that particular article or amendment, written by staff members of the Congressional Research Service's American Law Division. CONAN also includes helpful tables on such topics as Supreme Court Decisions Overruled by Prior Decisions and Laws Held Unconstitutional in Whole or in Part by the Supreme Court . A print edition of the most recent CONAN volume (issued in 2017...

Sunday, September 17 marks the 230 th anniversary of the signing of the U.S. Constitution. "Constitution Day" was established in 2004, piggybacking on the existing federal recognition of September 17 as "Citizenship Day." See 36 U.S.C. § 106 (2012) . Celebrate Constitution Day at the Goodson Law Library by picking up a free pocket Constitution at the library service desk, courtesy of the U.S. Government Publishing Office. (GPO also sent us some government information notecards with QR codes to key federal resources, as well as bookmarks promoting Ben's Guide to the U.S. Government , its educational site for children. These are also available at the service desk giveaway rack, while supplies last.) Throughout the year, the service desk also has free pocket Constitutions courtesy of LexisNexis. You can also read the text of the Constitution online through the U.S. Senate , the National Archives , and at the start of every print or online version of the United...

This past February marked 50 years since the ratification of Amendment XXV to the U.S. Constitution . Written to clarify the procedures for presidential and vice-presidential succession in the aftermath of the Kennedy assassination, the amendment also allows for a U.S. President to be sidelined by either his own declaration of incapacity, or by a declaration of "the Vice President and a majority of either the principal officers of the executive departments or of such other body as Congress may by law provide." Since Donald Trump's inauguration, the 25th Amendment has been discussed on social media and in op-eds, in response to concerns about erratic presidential behavior. In May, the Atlantic summarized the growing discussion . More recently, UW law professor Hugh Spitzer explored the possibilities last week in the Seattle Times . In April, freshman U.S. Representative Jamie Raskin introduced H.R. 1987 , a bill which would establish an "Oversight Committee on P...

Since its founding in 1920, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has been involved in some of the most well-known constitutional law cases in American history. In the "Scopes Monkey Trial" of 1925 (which inspired the acclaimed play and film Inherit the Wind ), the ACLU partnered with attorney Clarence Darrow to defend a biology teacher arrested for teaching evolution in his Tennessee classroom. In the 1960s, the ACLU provided free legal assistance to Richard and Mildred Loving, arrested for violating Virginia's ban on interracial marriage; the 1967 U.S. Supreme Court decision Loving v. Virginia subsequently struck down prohibitions on interracial marriage on equal protection grounds. More recently, the ACLU has challenged Trump administration executive orders concerning immigration and border security. Researchers at Duke now have access to archival materials from the ACLU ' s work in the twentieth century. The Goodson Law Library has just subscribed to The M...

The Goodson Law Library's HeinOnline subscription now includes the new library Slavery in America and the World: History, Culture & Law . Edited by Paul Finkelman of Albany Law School, Duke's Fall 2012 John Hope Franklin Visiting Professor of American Legal History, the collection compiles slavery-related treatises, law review articles, case law, and statutes into a single place, which is described as "all known legal materials on slavery in the United States and the English-speaking world." The collection includes such seminal historical works as Catterall's Judicial Cases Concerning American Slavery and the Negro , a five-volume digest of early American case law concerning slaves. More modern works on slavery can also be found in the "Articles" tab as well as the "UNC Press" tab, featuring more recent e-books from the University of North Carolina Press. The collection may be browsed or searched. For example, researchers who wish to ...

How well do you know the U.S. Constitution? Today is the official observance of Constitution Day , a national holiday commemorating the signing of the United States Constitution on September 17, 1787. If it's been a while since you last reviewed the Constitution's seven articles and 27 amendments, take a moment to re-read this founding document. Considering its monumental importance to the American government and its legal system, it is a surprisingly short and simple read. You can pick up a pocket-sized Constitution at the Goodson Law Library service desk, courtesy of either LexisNexis or Westlaw . You can also print your own mini-Constitution from House Document 112-129 -- be sure to choose the "booklet" option when printing! Alternatively, the text of the Constitution is available online through the U.S. Senate , the National Archives , and at the start of every print or online version of the United States Code , as part of the "Organic Laws." Thin...

At last week's Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia, the United States Constitution made an unexpected guest appearance. Khizr and Ghazala Khan, the parents of a Muslim-American soldier who was killed in Iraq, appeared on stage after a moving video tribute to their late son. In remarks that followed, Mr. Khan, an immigration lawyer in Charlottesville, Virginia, criticized Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump for his proposed immigration ban on Muslims. Khan noted that not only would a religious bar to immigration be fundamentally unconstitutional, it would have also prevented the Khans' son from coming to America at age 2, later joining the U.S. Army, and ultimately sacrificing his life to save his fellow soldiers from a car bomber in 2004. Captain Humayun Khan was one of 14 American Muslim members of the armed forces who have died in service to their country since September 11, 2001. In a particularly emotional moment, Mr. Khan asked Donald Trump, "...

Yesterday, the world learned of the death of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, who had been the longest-serving member of the current Court since the 2010 retirement of Justice John Paul Stevens. Excellent obituaries summarizing Scalia's life and legal philosophy are available at the New York Times (free) and in United States Law Week (NetID required). Justice Antonin Scalia (1936-2016) Photo from SupremeCourt.gov.   In a televised address to the nation last night, President Barack Obama noted that "today is a time to remember Justice Scalia's legacy" rather than speculate about future appointments to the U.S. Supreme Court. However, Justice Scalia's death – in the middle of the Court's current term, with a number of cases left to be argued and/or decided – has naturally sparked questions from the public about the continued operations of the Court. (The last time a sitting Justice passed away was former Chief Justice William Rehnquist in 200...

This guest post was written by Marguerite Most , Reference Librarian and Senior Lecturing Fellow. "Men think 'tis a disgrace to change their mind… But there is not a greater piece of folly than not to give place to right reason." Samuel Sewall, January 1689. Source: Salem Witch Judge: The Life and Repentance of Samuel Sewall , a 2007 biography about Sewall in the Goodson Law Library collection. Scholars of colonial history will know the name Samuel Sewall . He was one of nine judges who presided over the 1692 witchcraft trials in Salem, and the only one to publicly acknowledge and accept blame for the harm and horror of the trials. Sewall is almost as well-known as the author of the first abolitionist tract in colonial America. Portrait of Samuel Sewall by Nathaniel Emmons (1728). Massachusetts Historical Society . In May 1692, Samuel Sewall was appointed by Massachusetts Governor William Phips to sit on the Court of Oyer and Terminer, a court created specific...

The Framers of the U.S. Constitution vested Congress with the power "[t]o promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries." The earliest American patent statute was enacted in April 1790 , and provided successful applicants with exclusive rights in their inventions for a period of fourteen years. Only three inventors were granted patents under this version of the Act (which would be revised in 1793). The first was " Samuel Hopkins of the city of Philadelphia ," who was granted patent number X0000001 on July 31, 1790. Hopkins received the first U.S. patent, signed by President George Washington himself, for his method of manufacturing pot ash and pearl ash, forms of potassium carbonate which were commonly used in the production of soap or fertilizer. U.S. Patent No. X000001, granted to Samuel Hopkins on July 31, 1790. The enterprising Hopk...

[This is a guest post by Reference Librarian and Senior Lecturing Fellow Marguerite Most .] Resolved: that these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent States, that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the state of Great Britain is, and ought to be totally dissolved. With these words Richard Henry Lee of Virginia stood before the Second Continental Congress on June 7, 1776 at the Pennsylvania State House (Independence Hall today) and advocated independence from the British Crown. Lee's Resolution began the series of events that lead to the writing of the Declaration of Independence and its adoption on July 4, 1776. Five days after Lee's Resolution was introduced, the Congress appointed a committee to "prepare a declaration to the effect of the said first resolution." The Committee of Five – Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman, and W...

The U.S. Supreme Court will close its October Term 2014 at the end of this month. With several blockbuster decisions still pending (including same-sex marriage, and the Affordable Care Act exchanges), the Court has scheduled opinion announcements at 10 a.m. each day on Thursday, Friday, and Monday. SCOTUSblog will live-blog each announcement, and post opinions and commentary to each case page on its website. The OYEZ Project at Chicago-Kent Law School will also feature live coverage of opinion announcements. Opinions will also be loaded to the Supreme Court's " Latest Slip Opinions " shortly after their announcement each day. Commentary and analysis of recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions can also be found in United States Law Week , available via Bloomberg BNA or Bloomberg Law . For more resources devoted to the activities of our highest court, check out the Goodson Law Library research guide to the U.S. Supreme Court , or Ask a Librarian .

Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled , That the Secretary of the Treasury is hereby directed to cause the immediate destruction of all income-tax returns and any copies thereof, with all statements and records relative thereto , now in possession of the Treasury Department, by reason of "An Act to reduce taxation," and so forth, in effect August twenty-eighth, eighteen hundred and ninety-four. On this day in 1896, Congress approved House Joint Resolution No. 42 , providing for the immediate destruction of income tax returns and records that the Treasury had received. In his 1897 annual report , the Secretary of the Treasury confirmed that the office had delivered all income tax returns and other documents to a specially-appointed committee, which "totally destroyed the same by burning." As April 15 approaches (see our earlier post for help with locating free or low-cost filing assistance ), it...

[The following guest post was written by Goodson Law Library Reference Intern Aaron Kirschenfeld , who is completing a dual J.D. and Master's of Information Science at UNC-Chapel Hill in May.] The monumental changes in American law, let alone in society, brought about by the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and '60s are well known to many in the legal community and to our country as a whole. Cases like Katzenbach v. McClung , 379 U.S. 294 (1964) and Heart of Atlanta Motel, Inc. v. U.S. , 379 U.S. 241 (1964), and major federal legislation like the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 78 Stat. 241 , and the Voting Rights Act of 1965, 79 Stat. 437 , have left a lasting impression on the nation. But what about the significant legacy of legal reform in the years following the Civil War? A new display in the Goodson Law Library's Riddick Rare Book & Special Collections Room , located on Level 3, commemorates Black History Month with a gathering of materials related to 19th cent...