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 >

Did you know that Ancient Egyptian law, which dates as far back as 3000 BCE, had civil codes that were likely broken into 12 books, and were based on the concepts of tradition, rhetorical speech, social equality, and impartiality? Legal history -- the study of the history of laws and how they've evolved over time -- dates much farther back than most people think, and includes concepts and legal statutes that would surprise most people. Here are a few of the most surprising finds our legislative history research was able to dig up. The Ancient Celts Protected Animals' Rights. According to an ancient Celtic legal statute, it is illegal ... Read More >