Taking notice
A lesson from Arkansas law It is one of the most basic elements of the law. You can't do something about an issue if you don't know about it. And so the law makes people who want you to have to do something -- or who want to do something to you -- post notice about...
Finding the law in the Natural State
Early Arkansas statutes It's been called, at one point or another, the Bear State, the Toothpick State, Rackensack, the Wonder State, the Land of Opportunity and -- now -- the Natural State. Only the last three, however, were official nicknames of Arkansas, each...
The history in the news
When is it copyright-free? It's the kind of question that arrives in the email box of The Legal Genealogist on a regular basis. This one, from reader Jerry Lumpkins, is typical: “As I create ( or publish ) a book on our town's history using newspaper articles, HOW can...
About that court case
... it's a grave matter The Legal Genealogist cannot resist the pun: calling the case of Knick v. Township of Scott a grave matter. It's factually a case about access to graveyards.[1. See Knick v. Township of Scott, No. 17-647, slip opinion (U.S. 21 June 2019); PDF...
Hey, Find A Grave…
... it really is time to take action It was two months ago that The Legal Genealogist added this space's voice to that of others calling for a moratorium on non-family-members posting memorials for the recently-deceased on Find A Grave for at least some time to give...
Sunshine on Sunflower state laws
A one-stop shop for early Kansas statutes It's called the Sunflower State, and the sunflower has been the official state flower since 1903. Its people sometimes call themselves Jayhawkers, with a source ascribed to some blending of a noisy blue jay and a courageous...
Baker serendipity
It strikes again! The Legal Genealogist often uses one particular branch of the family as examples in lectures: the Bakers of Virginia-North Carolina-Texas. This is on my maternal grandfather's side: we descend from David Baker (1749 VA - 1838 NC), through Martin...
Justice Department issues DNA guidelines
New guidelines emphasize informed consent, notice In an effort to balance the desire to solve crimes with the need to protect individual privacy, the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) this week issued interim guidelines to govern -- and in some respects rein...
A worthy cause indeed
Today's Conference for a Cause Today is the day The Legal Genealogist has been headed towards, roaming through Utah and Colorado this past week. Today is the fifth annual Conference for a Cause of the Larimer County, Colorado, Genealogical Society. It's when the...
Centennial State laws
Colorado statutes from 1861 It was part of Spain, France — no, Spain — no, France — both Spain and France, the United States and Mexico and Texas, and then just the United States. At least some part of its land at one time or another had been in the Louisiana,...
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