Minimum Competence

This day in legal history, September 7, 1977, President Carter signed the Panama Canal Treaty , setting the relinquishment date for the Panama Canal back to Panama for January 1, 2000.  In the early 20th century, the U.S. secured rights to build and operate the Panama Canal, initially through the Hay-Herrán Treaty with Colombia, but eventually through the Hay-Bunau-Varilla Treaty with Panama, post...

This day in legal history, September 6, is a dark one – but one that should not be ignored just because it is difficult to talk about. On September 6, 1941, German authorities announced the adoption of a regulation requiring all Jewish people in German territories to wear the Star of David. For our purposes here on a legal news website, we’ll talk about how it highlights and exemplifies the Nazi r...

On this day in history, September 5, 1774, about 9 miles as the crow flies from where I’m writing this, the first Continental Congress convened to discuss the Intolerable Acts of 1774. On September 5, 1774, the First Continental Congress convened at Carpenters' Hall in Philadelphia, marking a pivotal moment in America's journey to independence. Representatives from twelve of the thirteen American...

On this day in history, September 1, 1807, Aaron Burr, former Vice President and notable shooter of Alexander Hamilton, was acquitted of treason.  Aaron Burr's 1807 treason trial was a landmark case and one of the earliest tests of the U.S. Constitution's Treason Clause, outlined in Article III, Section 3. The clause was carefully crafted to limit the charge of treason to the most serious of crime...

On this day in history, August 31, 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson, the B. stood for Baines don’t you know, signed a law illegalizing the burning of draft cards. The act, known as the Draft Card Mutilation Act of 1965 carried with it steep penalties: Individuals found to have violated the restriction could be subject to a five year prison sentence and $1000 fine.  In the United States v. O'Brien...

On this day in history, August 30, 1967 Thurgood Marshall was confirmed as a Supreme Court Justice, becoming the first African-American to be seated on the court.  Thurgood Marshall was a pioneering American civil rights lawyer and jurist, serving as the first African-American associate justice on the U.S. Supreme Court from 1967 to 1991. Before his time on the bench, he was a leading attorney for...

Find links to all the following stories as well as other law and legal-adjacent stories at esq.social Links . On this day in history August 29, 1957, the Civil Rights Act of 1957 was passed by congress – the first piece of federal legislation aimed at civil rights since reconstruction. Prompted by the Supreme Court's landmark 1954 ruling in Brown v. Board of Education , which ignited public debate...

On this day in history August 28, 2003, the Supreme Court of Alabama removed a monument of the Ten Commandments from its courthouse.  The Ten Commandments monument in the Alabama Supreme Court building was initially installed by Chief Justice Roy Moore, garnering support from evangelical Christians nationwide. However, Moore's refusal to comply with a federal court order to remove the monument by...

On this day in history, August 25, 1921, the U.S.–German Peace Treaty was signed in Berlin, marking a significant moment in the aftermath of World War I. The treaty was necessitated by the U.S. Senate's refusal to ratify the multilateral peace treaty signed in Versailles, leading to a separate peace agreement with Germany. The U.S. had declared war on Germany on April 6, 1917, and was part of the...

On this day in history, August 24, 1894, the US Congress passed the first graduated income tax law, 2% on all income over $4,000, which lasted a year before it was declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court and overturned.  The tax, which was imposed under the Wilson-Gorman Tariff Act , slightly reduced U.S. tariff rates from those set in the 1890 McKinley tariff and imposed a 2% tax on income...

On this day in legal history, August 23 1927, Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti were executed in the United States. They were Italian-born American anarchists who were controversially convicted of murdering a guard and a paymaster during an armed robbery in 1920. Their trial and execution sparked protests and debates about the justice system, immigration, and political radicalism. Many were cri...

On this day in legal history, August 22 1996, welfare as we knew it was ended and millions of folks living in precarity had the rug ripped out from under their feet. The so-called "Welfare to Work" bill signed by President Bill Clinton in August 1996 was a contentious piece of legislation that aimed to move individuals from welfare to employment, premised on the flawed notion that those unable to...

On this day in legal history, August 21, 1878, the American Bar Association or ABA was formed. The American Bar Association (ABA) was established on August 21, 1878, in Saratoga Springs, New York, marking a pivotal moment in American legal history. At a time when the legal profession was primarily comprised of sole practitioners, 100 lawyers from 21 states founded the ABA with the stated aim of ad...

On this day in legal history, on August 18, 1920, the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution was ratified by the states – beginning in earnest the path to women’s suffrage.  The fight for women's suffrage in the United States began after the war for independence, where most states denied women the right to vote. Throughout the 19th century, leaders like Lucretia Mott, Elizabeth Cad...

On this day in legal history, August 17, 1870, Esther Morris became the first female magistrate appointed in the United States.  Esther Hobart Morris was the first female Justice of the Peace in the U.S., appointed in Wyoming Territory in 1869. Though some credit her with the success of the woman's suffrage amendment in Wyoming, she credited William H. Bright. Born in 1814 in New York, she was a s...

On this day in legal history, August 16, 1918, Lothar Witzke was convicted of espionage in the United States on behalf of Germany and became the first German spy convicted during World War I.  Lothar Witzke was a junior officer in the German Imperial Navy during World War I, who became a spy and saboteur in the United States and Mexico. After escaping internment in Chile, he reached San Francisco...

On this day in legal history, we have a low point in American history. On August 15, 1876, the US Congress passed a “starve or sell” bill that cut off support for the Sioux Indian nation unless they gave up the gold-laden Black Hills. This was two months after the US army was routed at the Battle of Little Bighorn and brought to an end the Great Sioux War of 1876.  In the years leading up to the B...

On this day in legal history, August 14, 1935, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Social Security Act. The act created unemployment insurance, pension plans for the elderly and what would become “Aid to Families with Dependent Children” (AFDC).  In the midst of the Great Depression, the Social Security Act was conceived to provide economic security for the aged. Early in January 1935, the...

On this day in legal history, August 11, 1792, the Supreme Court delivered its first reported decision in Georgia v. Brailsford . It arose from a debt dispute between the state of Georgia and a British creditor, and it is renowned for being one of the first cases in which the Supreme Court exercised its original jurisdiction as well as being the first reported decision. In this case, the court all...

On this day in legal history, August 10, 1993, Ruth Bader Ginsburg was sworn in as a U.S. Supreme Court Justice, becoming the second woman to serve on the Supreme Court. Her work has had a lasting impact on U.S. law, particularly in the areas of gender equality and civil rights.  Ruth Bader Ginsburg's tenure on the U.S. Supreme Court was marked by significant decisions that shaped American law. In...

On this day in legal history, Richard M. Nixon resigned the office of the presidency, effective at noon. We covered that in yesterday’s episode, so we won’t go in to detail here. Instead, let’s talk about Charles Manson. On this day in legal history, the Manson Family murdered actress Sharon Tate and four others in Los Angeles, California. The Manson Family murders not only shocked the nation but...

On this day in legal history, President Richard Milhouse Nixon announced his resignation of the office of the presidency, effective the following day at noon.  On August 8, 1974, President Richard Nixon addressed the American public from the Oval Office to announce his resignation, marking the end of the infamous Watergate scandal. This scandal began with a break-in at the Democratic National Comm...

On this day in legal history, August 7, 1789, Congress passed an act known as the 9th Act of the First Congress, which established the Lighthouse Service. This marked a crucial commitment to maritime navigation safety in the United States and was a key piece of legislation designed for the establishment and support of lighthouses, beacons, buoys, and public piers. Remarkably, this was the first no...

On this day in legal history, August 4, 1735, a significant victory for the free press was achieved in the United States. Publisher John Peter Zenger was acquitted of libel charges against New York's colonial governor, William Cosby, in a case that became a landmark moment for American liberty. The New-York Weekly Journal, printed by Zenger, had consistently criticized Governor Cosby, leading to v...

On this day in legal history, we have a dark one. On August 3, 1934, the German Parliament combined the offices of President and Chancellor, raising Adolf Hitler as the supreme leader of Germany.   President Paul von Hindenburg, a key figure in German politics, died at the age of 87 on August 2, 1934, marking a dark turning point in German history. Hindenburg had been a decorated military officer...