Skip to main content

Subscribe to Smithsonian magazine and get a FREE tote.

Law

Trending Today

Yosemite Gets Its Historic Place Names Back

A settlement with a former concessions operator means Camp Curry, the Ahwahnee Hotel and other iconic sites can use their original names again

A child picks out jury candidates before a courtroom audience.

When 6-Year-Olds Chose Jury Candidates

Before computers randomly issued jury summons, some state laws required that children do the picking

Trove of English Court Records Reveal Stories of Murder, Witchcraft, Cheese Theft

Archivists are cataloging documents from the Assizes court in the Isle of Ely, which tried serious crimes

An artist's rendering of the recomposition facility

Washington Becomes First State to Allow ‘Human Composting’ as a Burial Method

The accelerated decomposition method transforms remains into soil and uses just an eighth of the energy required for cremation

Photograph from the 2015 LGBTQ Pride celebration. Upward of 60 000 people took to the streets of Taipei for the annual Pride march, the largest such event in Asia.

Taiwan Legalizes Same-Sex Marriage—a First for Asia

Activists hope the law will inspire similar pushes for equality in other parts of the continent

The statue of Thomas Jonathan "Stonewall" Jackson stands in Justice Park (formerly known as Jackson Park) on August 22, 2017 in Charlottesville, Virginia.

Judge Rules Charlottesville’s Confederate Statues Are War Monuments

But the legal fight to remove the city’s statues of Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson may not be over

Observers in the galleries of a legislative hearing about a marijuana bill in May 1973

History of Now

Why the 1970s Effort to Decriminalize Marijuana Failed

The explosion of kid-friendly paraphernalia led the federal government to crack down on pot

A polar bear walks on the ice of the Beaufort Sea in Arctic Alaska.

Trending Today

Judge Blocks Oil Drilling in Arctic Ocean

The ruling says only Congress—not presidential executive orders—has the authority to reverse bans on oil drilling leases

New York is the second state to pass a ban on single use plastic bags. California was the first.

New York to Introduce State-Wide Ban on Plastic Bags

But the plan has drawn criticism from both business groups and environmental advocates

Tamara Lanier takes questions this week during a press conference announcing a lawsuit against Harvard University.

Trending Today

Why These Early Images of American Slavery Have Led to a Lawsuit Against Harvard

Tamara Lanier claims the university has profited off the images of her ancestors

Fingerprinting became widespread in the early 20th century.

The Myth of Fingerprints

Police today increasingly embrace DNA tests as the ultimate crime-fighting tool. They once felt the same way about fingerprinting

Sandra Day O'Connor, the first woman appointed to the Supreme Court, at her hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee

Women Who Shaped History

Behind the Scenes of Sandra Day O’Connor’s First Days on the Supreme Court

As the first female justice retires from public life, read about her debut on the highest court in the nation

The complaints of the apartment owners were, generally speaking, met with little sympathy from the public.

Tate Modern Neighbors Lose Legal Battle Against Peeping Visitors

A judge recommended that residents of a luxury apartment building install curtains to guard against prying eyes

The Gulf fritillary butterfly is one of many that call the sanctuary home.

Border Wall Construction Threatens Texas Butterfly Sanctuary

Construction vehicles and law enforcement arrived at the National Butterfly Center on Sunday, sparking confusion among staff members

Le Roux’s diplomatic passport from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, under the name Paul Solotshi Calder Le Roux

The Computer Programmer Who Ran a Global Drug Trafficking Empire

A new book uncovers the intricacies of Paul Le Roux’s cartel and how it fueled the opioid epidemic ravaging the U.S. today

Mary Beth and John Tinker display their black armbands in 1968, over two years after they wore anti-war armbands to school and sparked a legal battle that would make it all the way to the Supreme Court.

The Young Anti-War Activists Who Fought for Free Speech at School

Fifty years later, Mary Beth Tinker looks back at her small act of courage and the Supreme Court case that followed

A man walks past the covered Confederate monument in Linn Park on August 18, 2017.

Alabama Judge Overturns Law That Protected Confederate Monuments

The city of Birmingham was sued when it erected plywood around a Confederate memorial in a downtown park

New York City Has Banned Plastic Foam Containers

Single-use foam products ‘cannot be recycled in a manner that is economically feasible, environmentally effective, and safe for employees,’ the city said

A segment of the 3 million-strong "women's wall" that gathered in the southern Indian state of Kerala on January 1, 2019.

Two Women Make History by Entering One of India’s Holiest Sites

This is the first time that women have been able to enter the Sabarimala temple since India’s Supreme Court overturned a ban that denied them access

Tom Hanks (center) won an Oscar for his portrayal of Andrew Beckett, a gay man suffering from AIDS.

Looking Back at ‘Philadelphia,’ 25 Years Later

What would the breakthrough movie about the AIDS crisis look like if it were made today?

Page 17 of 35