Minimum Competence

This Day in Legal History: Fugitive Slave Act On September 18, 1850, President Millard Fillmore signed the Fugitive Slave Act into law, intensifying the national divide over slavery. As part of the Compromise of 1850, the law mandated that all escaped enslaved individuals, upon capture, be returned to their enslavers and that officials and citizens of free states were legally obligated to cooperat...

This Day in Legal History: Treaty of Fort Pitt On September 17, 1778, the Treaty of Fort Pitt—also known as the Treaty of Fort Pitt or the Delaware Treaty—was signed between the newly independent United States and the Lenape (Delaware) Nation. It was the first formal treaty between the United States and a Native American tribe, signaling an alliance during the Revolutionary War against British for...

This Day in Legal History: Final Draft of the US Constitution Engrossed On September 16, 1787, the final draft of the United States Constitution was signed by the Constitutional Convention delegates in Philadelphia. Although the official signing date was September 17, the 16th was the day the finished document was ordered to be engrossed — meaning it was written in its final, formal script on parc...

This Day in Legal History: Nuremberg Laws Enacted On this day in legal history, September 15, 1935, Nazi Germany enacted the Nuremberg Laws, codifying one of the most infamous legal frameworks of racial discrimination and hate in modern history. Announced at the annual Nazi Party rally in Nuremberg, these laws included the Law for the Protection of German Blood and German Honor, the Reich Citizens...

This Day in Legal History: SCOTUS Rejects Challenge to Brown On September 12, 1958, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a unanimous decision in Cooper v. Aaron , firmly rejecting a challenge by the State of Arkansas to the enforcement of Brown v. Board of Education . In the wake of Brown , which declared racial segregation in public schools unconstitutional, Arkansas officials sought to delay desegregat...

This Day in Legal History: Certiorari Granted in Windsor On September 11, 2012, the U.S. Department of Justice filed a petition for certiorari in United States v. Windsor , setting the stage for one of the most consequential civil rights decisions of the decade. The case challenged Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which defined marriage for federal purposes as between one man and o...

This Day in Legal History: Sewing Machine Patent On this day in legal history, September 10, 1846, Elias Howe was granted U.S. Patent No. 3640 for his invention of the lockstitch sewing machine. Though not the first to envision mechanical sewing, Howe’s design was the first to successfully automate stitching in a way that was both efficient and commercially viable. His machine used a needle with t...

This Day in Legal History: A. Lincoln Admitted to Bar On September 9, 1836, Abraham Lincoln was licensed to practice law by the Illinois Supreme Court, setting in motion a legal and political career that would ultimately reshape American history. At the time, Lincoln was a 27-year-old former store clerk and self-taught frontier intellectual, with no formal legal education. Instead, like many aspir...

This Day in Legal History: Ford Grants Nixon Pardon On September 8, 1974, President Gerald R. Ford granted a full and unconditional pardon to former President Richard M. Nixon for any crimes he may have committed while in office, specifically those related to the Watergate scandal. The announcement came just one month after Nixon resigned in disgrace, becoming the first U.S. president to do so. Fo...

This Day in Legal History: First Continental Congress On September 5, 1774, the First Continental Congress convened in Philadelphia, marking a critical early step toward American independence. Delegates from twelve of the thirteen colonies—Georgia being the sole exception—gathered at Carpenters’ Hall to coordinate a colonial response to the "Intolerable Acts," a series of punitive measures imposed...

This Day in Legal History: Little Rock Nine On September 4, 1957, a constitutional crisis unfolded in Little Rock, Arkansas, when Governor Orval Faubus ordered the Arkansas National Guard to block nine Black students—known as the “Little Rock Nine”—from entering Central High School. This came after the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark decision in Brown v. Board of Education (1954), which declared seg...

This Day in Legal History: Frederick Douglass Escapes Slavery On this day in legal history, September 3, 1838, Frederick Douglass escaped from slavery, setting in motion a life that would fundamentally reshape American legal and political thought. Disguised as a free Black sailor, Douglass boarded a train in Baltimore and made his way north to freedom, ultimately arriving in New York City. His fli...

This Day in Legal History: George Wallace Calls out the Alabama National Guard On September 2, 1963, Alabama Governor George Wallace once again attempted to defy federal court orders mandating school integration, this time at Tuskegee High School. Just months after his infamous “Stand in the Schoolhouse Door” to block Black students from enrolling at the University of Alabama, Wallace ordered the...

This Day in Legal History: John Locke Born On August 29, 1632, John Locke was born in Wrington, England. A foundational figure in political philosophy, Locke’s ideas on government, natural rights, and property would come to shape the ideological core of liberal democracies. His “Two Treatises of Government” advanced the notion that legitimate governments are founded on the consent of the governed...

This Day in Legal History: Alabama Ten commandments Monument On August 28, 2003, the Supreme Court of Alabama removed a 5,280-pound granite monument of the Ten Commandments from the rotunda of the state courthouse in Montgomery. The monument had been installed two years earlier by Chief Justice Roy Moore, who argued it reflected the moral foundation of U.S. law. However, its religious nature spark...

This Day in Legal History: Constitutional Convention–Article III On August 27, 1787, the delegates to the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia turned their attention to the judiciary. Debates centered on what would become Article III, particularly the scope of judicial power. The Convention approved language stating that federal judicial power would extend to “all cases, in law and equity, ar...

This Day in Legal History: Nineteenth Amendment Certified On this day in legal history, August 26, 1920, the Nineteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was formally certified by Secretary of State Bainbridge Colby, granting women the right to vote nationwide. The certification marked the culmination of a nearly century-long struggle led by suffragists like Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stant...

This Day in Legal History: Organic Act Establishes the National Park Service On August 25, 1916, President Woodrow Wilson signed the Organic Act, formally establishing the National Park Service (NPS) as a federal bureau within the Department of the Interior. This act marked a foundational moment in U.S. environmental and administrative law, as it created a centralized agency responsible for protec...

This Day in Legal History: Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act On August 22, 1996, President Bill Clinton signed the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act into law, reshaping the American welfare system in ways that continue to spark debate. Billed as a way to "end welfare as we know it," the law imposed strict work requirements on recipients a...

This Day in Legal History: ABA Formed On August 21, 1878, 75 lawyers convened in Saratoga Springs, New York, and formally established the American Bar Association (ABA). Their shared aim was to advance the “science of jurisprudence,” promote uniform legislation, strengthen justice administration, uphold the profession’s honor, and encourage collegial interaction among lawyers. Their organizing doc...

This Day in Legal History: Economic Opportunity Act On August 20, 1964, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Economic Opportunity Act into law, marking a major legal milestone in the federal government’s efforts to address systemic poverty. The Act authorized $1 billion to fund a wide range of social programs aimed at improving education, employment, and economic security for low-income American...

This Day in Legal History: Salem Witchcraft Executions On August 19, 1692, five individuals—George Burroughs, John Proctor, George Jacobs Sr., John Willard, and Martha Carrier—were executed by hanging in Salem, Massachusetts, after being convicted of witchcraft. These executions occurred during the height of the infamous Salem witch trials, a dark episode in colonial American history fueled by rel...

This Day in Legal History: Nineteenth Amendment Ratified On August 18, 1920, the Nineteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was ratified, guaranteeing women the right to vote and marking a major legal milestone in the struggle for gender equality. The amendment states simply: “The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged… on account of sex.” Its passage cap...

This Day in Legal History: Starve or Sell On August 15, 1876, the United States Congress passed a coercive measure aimed at forcing the Sioux Nation to relinquish their sacred lands in the Black Hills of present-day South Dakota. Known informally as the "starve or sell" bill, the legislation declared that no further federal appropriations would be made for the Sioux's food or supplies unless they...

This Day in Legal History: Social Security Act On August 14, 1935, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Social Security Act into law, establishing the foundation of the modern American welfare state. The legislation was a centerpiece of Roosevelt’s New Deal and aimed to address the widespread economic insecurity caused by the Great Depression. For the first time, the federal government creat...