There are many different things that make the United States, one of the most important of which is the Constitution. Though you may have learned quite a bit about it in your high school history class, there are some seriously fun facts about this important document that were probably left out. Here are just a few. It Almost Had Some Weird Amendments. In the 200 years since the Constitution was first created, there have been a total of 27 amendments, but there were almost more than that. In 1893, one amending legal statute was proposed, which would have changed the name of the country to the United States of Earth. In 1916, it was proposed ... Read More >

It's been more than 200 years since the Founding Fathers created the constitution. To date, there have been a total of 27 constitutional amendments, and thankfully, those are the only ones. In the two centuries since its creation, Americans have tried to pass some rather strange amendments. Luckily, after a proposed amendment makes it through Congress, it needs to be ratified by three-fourths of the states, so none of these bizarre legal statutes have made it through. Here are just a few of the ones that almost did. The Council of Three Amendment. In 1878, there was a proposed constitutional amendment to replace the president with an ... Read More >

LEGISLATING ANIMALS:  Since before a New York court decided Pierson v. Post, animals have been a source of interest in legal circles because they provide sport, companionship … and food.  As a staff member for an Oregon legislator, I heard all about the childless constituent who was lobbying desperately to stop the ban on the ownership of exotic pets.  The photos of her and her capuchin monkey were pretty cute, but ultimately, the legislature directed the Department of Agriculture to not issue any additional permits. Every now and then, we here at Legislative Intent Service, Inc. get to research fascinating and emotionally-charged animal ... Read More >

In your time doing law research, there's a pretty good chance you've stumbled across a strange legal statute or two. For example, Sterling, Colorado has a legal statute forbidding cats from roaming around unless they're wearing a taillight. What makes such legal statutes even stranger isn't their seeming lack of legislative intent, but rather the system that spawned them, if you think about it. Here's how it's weird. Passing a Law Is a Lot of Work Turning a bill into a law is a lot of work. First it's introduced, and then handed off to a committee who makes changes to it and votes on it. Once the bill passes their muster, they put it ... Read More >

The United States' democratic legal system might be used as a model for other countries across the world, but it itself was not an entirely original concept, having deep roots in other countries' legal theories. In fact, not only does the state of Louisiana still use some traces of French law, but the United States legal system developed primarily out of the English common law system. Just before the American Revolution, Sir William Blackstone published Commentaries on the Laws of England as a complete overview of English common law, which was crucial as the nation's founding fathers founded the nation. Considering this deep, ... Read More >