Category: Law and Justice

Source: US Global Legal Monitor

Today’s interview is with Tanja Krüger, a foreign law intern working with Foreign Law Specialist Jenny Gesley in the Global Legal Research Directorate of the Law Library of Congress.

Describe your background.

I was born in Berlin, the capital of Germany. With around 3.9 million inhabitants, it is the country’s most populous city. At the age of 18, I moved away from my hometown to pursue my studies in Halle, a city located south of Berlin and near Leipzig in eastern Germany. However, I ultimately found my way back to Berlin for my current legal traineeship.

What is your academic/professional history?

I studied at the University of Halle-Wittenberg in Halle, where I completed the First State Examination in law (equivalent to a juris doctorate degree in the United States). Driven by a strong interest in international and European law, I specialized in international, transnational, and European law during my studies. Building on this specialization, I spent a semester abroad at the Ghent University in Belgium and pursued an LL.M. in European Law at Université Panthéon-Assas in Paris, France, where I gained deeper insights into the various areas of European law and its regulatory framework.

Currently, I am completing my legal traineeship at the Higher Regional Court of Berlin. As part of the two-year program, I have worked with a civil law judge of the court, at the local public prosecutor’s office, the Foreign Federal Ministry of Germany, and a major U.S. law firm in Berlin. The internship with the Global Legal Research Directorate (GLRD) is the final stage of my traineeship, which concludes with the Second State Examination and qualifies me to practice law in Germany.

How would you describe your job to other people?

As a foreign law intern in the GLRD of the Law Library of Congress, I support my supervisor, Foreign Law Specialist Jenny Gesley, in responding to requests from members of Congress, executive agencies, courts, and the general public concerning the jurisdictions of German-speaking countries and the European Union (EU). I carry out legal research, prepare detailed reports, and engage in comparative legal analysis. I also write articles on new legislation and notable legal developments in these jurisdictions for the Law Library’s Global Legal Monitor.

Why did you want to work at the Law Library of Congress?

My strong interest in international law and in the similarities and differences between legal systems motivated me to go abroad and seek an internship that would allow me to work across a wide range of jurisdictions. The Law Library of Congress is an ideal setting for this, as it enables me to contribute research on German-speaking jurisdictions and the EU while gaining valuable insight into how U.S. institutions approach complex legal questions.

What is the most interesting fact you have learned about the Law Library of Congress?

It is fascinating that the Law Library of Congress is the largest law library in the world and part of the largest library in the world. The Jefferson Building of the Library of Congress is especially impressive, and it houses one of only three surviving complete copies on vellum of the Gutenberg Bible. You can see it for yourself when visiting the building, and I was told that staff changes the pages on display every two to three months to help preserve the Bible.

What’s something most of your co-workers do not know about you?

In typical German fashion, I worked on an asparagus farm as a teenager to earn some pocket money and sold the beloved white and green asparagus during the asparagus season between April and June.

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Source: US Global Legal Monitor

Today’s Congress.gov interview is with Kristen Davis, Design Division Chief in the Office of the Chief Information Officer. She previously blogged about Volunteer for a Congress.gov User Interview, Congress.gov User Interview Update and Call for More Volunteers, and Congress.gov User Interviews – Call for More Volunteers.

Describe your background.

I grew up in Massachusetts and attended Bentley University, majoring in business management and minoring in information technology/computer science. I also developed a love for psychology, and working with neurodivergent children and adults. 

That led me to start a chapter of Best Buddies International at Bentley University and to serve as the president of that chapter. I also volunteered at a local community learning center to teach computer skills to neurodiverse adults. During school breaks, I worked as a substitute paraprofessional for a local school system, supporting neurodiverse children from kindergarten to 8th grade. 

I went on to earn my Master of Science in human factors in information design at Bentley University, focusing on cognitive psychology and how the brain processes information. Over time, I grew to love fine arts and enrolled in various art classes, which I still take to this day. I enjoy painting with pastels, oil paints, and watercolors.  

I have always had a love for books and for libraries. I spent countless hours in my local library in Springfield, Mass., as a kid and still do as an adult. I volunteer at my local library in Maryland and make sure to explore the Library of Congress’s Reading Rooms whenever I get a chance. I am an avid reader; I read 107 books last year alone! I enjoy visiting used book shops and growing my own personal library that I share with friends.  

How would you describe your job to other people?

As Design Division Chief in the Office of the Chief Information Office at the Library of Congress, I support user experience designers, user researchers, digital accessibility architects, and quality assurance and testing teams. In my role, I wear multiple hats. I am lucky in this role to lead user research efforts across the Library, including those for Congress.gov. I advocate for user needs and provide data to make evidence-based decisions. 

What is your role in the development of Congress.gov?

I am the lead user researcher on Congress.gov. I work with user experience designers on the team to conduct multiple rounds of user research to help the team to continue to improve Congress.gov. I also provide strategic planning that allows the team to follow a user-centered design process and prioritize continues improvement opportunities. 

What is your favorite feature of Congress.gov?

I love that users can save searches and create personalized alerts. It allows someone to stay informed on the changes to legislation and latest member activity that matter to them. They can work more efficiently when they do not need to rebuild a search they run often. They do not need to visit the site to see if something changes, when an alert can do that for them by sending an email. If you do not have a Congress.gov account, I recommend signing up for one to take advantage of these features. 

What is the most interesting fact you’ve learned about the legislative process while working on Congress.gov?

I do not think most of us realize everything that goes into the legislative process. It can be a complex process that does not always follow the same path.  It is a good thing Congress.gov has great resources to better understand the legislative process, such as helpful videos. 

What’s something most of your co-workers do not know about you?

I love the outdoors and exploring our National Parks. I want to visit all of them! I have hiked, camped, or explored 12 so far, along with countless other locations managed by the National Parks Service. I have also hiked all of the Presidential Range in the White Mountains in New Hampshire. Mount Washington was an extremely challenging hike, but well worth it for the view. 

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Source: US Global Legal Monitor

In a recent post on this blog, I wrote about David Hoffman, the early 19th-century lawyer who founded the University of Maryland’s first law school. In that post, I talked about Hoffman’s vision for legal education. He thought that lawyers ought to have a firm foundation in moral and philosophical principles and that the legal profession should play a public role in defending those principles. In his lectures and other writings, Hoffman advocated theories of natural law, claiming that they offered American lawyers, who faced the pressures of a rapidly changing society and an often cutthroat business environment, a necessary mooring in enduring principles. Natural law is the idea that there are basic rights and obligations that people have by nature. They have their source, as Thomas Jefferson wrote in the Declaration of Independence, in “nature and nature’s God.” This idea was widely discussed by 18th-century legal authors, and Hoffman was not alone in the early history of this country in attempting to place it at the center of legal education. In this post, I want to talk about another important lawyer of that era who tried to offer students of law a natural law account of American jurisprudence. That lawyer was James Wilson.

James Wilson (1742-1798) began his career in 1766 as a Latin tutor at the College of Philadelphia (which later became the University of Pennsylvania). He began studying law that same year, taking up an apprenticeship with John Dickinson, who was perhaps Pennsylvania’s leading lawyer. Dickinson himself had benefited from an unusually strong education for an American of that time. He had elite private tutors, he was apprenticed to John Moland, an important figure in the Pennsylvania bar, and he attended lectures for three years at Middle Temple in London. Wilson had his own advantages: he was an emigre from Scotland and had attended Cupar grammar school and later the University of Glasgow, and [possibly] also the University of St Andrews and the University of Edinburgh before departing for America. These experiences furnished Wilson, above all, with a strong background in classics and the major works of the Scottish Enlightenment. (Hall (1997), pp. 7-34.)

As a lawyer, Wilson quickly moved toward the top of the profession, but it was his participation in the politics of the times that was career-defining. He served with John Dickinson on the Pennsylvania delegation to the Second Continental Congress. He was one of six men who signed both the Declaration of Independence and the United States Constitution. At the Constitutional Convention in 1787, he spoke more often than any other participant apart from Gouverneur Morris. (Hall (1997), p 21.) It has been said that the final draft of the U.S. Constitution bears the mark of Wilson’s ideas and influence more than those of anyone apart from James Madison. (Hall (1997), p 21.) He was also a driving force behind Pennsylvania’s ratification of the Constitution. (Hall, 1997, p 22.) He drafted Pennsylvania’s state constitution and he served as one of the inaugural justices of the United States Supreme Court.

James Wilson’s foray into teaching law came late in his career, in 1790-92, when he was already a national figure. He delivered the lectures he wrote that year at the College of Philadelphia, where he had recently been hired as professor of law. (Hall (1997), p 27.) Though his was among the first appointments to a professorship in law in the United States, it was preceded by the College of William and Mary’s appointment of George Wythe for that role in 1779. Tapping Reeve had also established his law school in Litchfield, Connecticut, in 1784. Instruction in the law – in most cases by far – was still done at that time through apprenticeship. But the chance to deliver university lectures allowed Wilson to relate to the law as a coherent body of knowledge, and to present with structure and organization subject matter that was most often taught with neither. Wilson hoped that by doing so, he would be remembered as America’s Blackstone. (Hall (2004), p. 63.)

The lectures took place at a time when Philadelphia was the seat of the federal government. It is reflected in comments that Wilson makes both in his plan for the lectures (Wilson (1791), pp. 75-76) and in his introductory lecture on law (Wilson (1804), v. 1, pp. 4-5) that prominent members of the American elite were in attendance for some part of the course, but he intended it primarily for students. As he makes clear in his plan for the lectures, his intention was to teach a course that could introduce the subject by first discussing general principles, and then, through careful elaboration of these, to continue on to more developed parts of the law. (Wilson (1804), v. 1, pp. 13-17.)

The first several lectures covered the basic parts of Wilson’s theory of natural law. One important example of these is the idea, especially found in chapter V of Wilson’s Lectures on Law (in Works), “On Municipal Law,” that might does not confer authority and that no one has natural authority to command another. Wilson concludes from this insight that political authority, the right to make law and expect people to uphold it, depends on the consent of the people rather than on, say, superiority of social rank. (Wilson (1804), v. 1, pp. 204-228.) Another example is the idea, mostly found in chapter III, “Of the Law of Nature,” that people have an innate moral sense, a sense of right and wrong that is known through something like intuition. (Wilson (1804), v. 1, pp. 118-137.) Over the course of his lectures, Wilson presents the idea that simple perceptions about right and wrong – that one should do no harm, that a person’s property should be respected, that contracts should be kept, that life with one’s fellows is desirable – lead to far-reaching conclusions about how best to organize society. (E.g., Wilson (1804), v. 1, pp. 104-106 and passim.) They lead, he says, to conclusions about the relationships between states (Wilson (1804), v. 1, pp. 145-178.) and even how states ought to respect their own internal cohesion and self-preservation. (Wilson (1804), v. 1, pp. 179-228.) 

People familiar with this type of theorizing will hear in Wilson’s ideas about the consent of the governed echoes of the book Of the Laws of Ecclesiastical Polity, by the theologian Richard Hooker (1554–1600). And Wilson’s discussion of the moral sense is in conversation with similar ideas that were advanced by the Scottish authors Francis Hutcheson (1694–1746) and Thomas Reid (1710–1796).

While Wilson had hoped to publish his lectures in his lifetime, his schedule with the United States Supreme Court, which included riding circuit to federal courts throughout the country, kept him too busy to complete the work. He died of illness while riding the Southern Circuit in 1798. (Hall (1997), pp. 31-32.) The lectures he wrote out were edited and published by his son, Bird Wilson, in 1804. Both the 1791 introductory lecture and plan of the lectures, and the 1804 collected works can be found in the Law Library’s rare books collection. 

Wilson’s legacy has sometimes been eclipsed by other men of the founding generation. Yet in the 20th century, he was sometimes held by Catholic natural law theorists to offer a link between the natural law of Thomas Aquinas and the founding of the United States. (E.g., Obering and Delahanty, below.) He was also studied by students of the political philosopher Leo Strauss, for whom the subject of natural rights theories attracted exegetical interest. (E.g., Velasquez, below.) It is worth noting that the writings Bird Wilson compiled offer us the earliest university lectures ever presented on the United States Constitution, and they were written by one of its principal architects within a couple of years of its adoption.  

July 2026 marks the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Keep an eye out for more posts like this one that celebrate the Declaration, the lives of its signers, and the world in which they lived.

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Secondary Sources:

• Delahanty, Mary T. The Integralist Philosophy of James Wilson. Pageant Press, New York, [c1969].
• Hall, Mark David. The Political and Legal Philosophy of James Wilson, 1742-1798. Columbias: University of Missouri Press, c1997.
• Hall, Mark David. “James Wilson’s Law Lectures.” The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography, Vol. 128, No. 1 (Jan., 2004), pp. 63-76.
• Jezierski, John V. “James Wilson and Blackstone on the Nature and Location of Sovereignty.” Journal of the History of Ideas, Vol. 32, No. 1 (Jan. – Mar., 1971), pp. 95-106.
• Obering, William F. The Philosophy of Law of James Wilson, Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court, 1789-1798; a Study in Comparative Jurisprudence. Issued by the Office of the secretary of the American Catholic philosophical association, Catholic university of America, Washington, D. C., [1938].
• Smith, Page. James Wilson, Founding Father, 1742-1798. Greenwood Press, Westport, Conn., [1973, c1956].
• Velásquez, Eduardo A. “Rethinking America’s Modernity: Natural Law, Natural Rights and the Character of James Wilson’s Liberal Republicanism.” Polity, Vol. 29, No. 2 (Winter, 1996), pp. 193-220.

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Source: US Global Legal Monitor

The following is a guest post by Sayuri Umeda, a foreign law specialist who covers Japan and other countries in East and Southeast Asia in the Global Legal Research Directorate of the Law Library of Congress. Sayuri has previously authored numerous posts for In Custodia Legis, including Food Delivery in Japan – History and Current Regulation; Tradition vs Efficiency: ‘Hanko’ Affects Workplace Efficiency and Telework in Japan; The History of the Elimination of Leaded Gasoline; The Law Library’s New Report on Public Prosecution Reform in South Korea; Law Library’s New Report Reviews Foreign Ownership of Land Restriction in Major Economies; FALQs: The Conscription System of South Korea; and many more!

At the Milano Cortina Olympics 2026, Japan placed fifth in overall medal count and tied for 10th in the gold medal count (5 gold, 7 silver, and 12 bronze). It was an all-time high medal number for Japan’s Winter Games. I am from Japan and was surprised by the result. I remember that Japan got only one medal (gold) at the Turin Olympics in 2006, when I lost hope in Japan’s winter sports.

Yet, Japan has performed better in recent Olympics. Intrigued, I researched the system that has made Japanese players more competitive in the 21st century. It appears that the Japanese government, along with each sports association, has made efforts in this regard.

Law

The first law to promote Japanese sports was the 1961 Sports Promotion Act (Act No. 141 of 1961). The act established the fundamental principles for sports promotion measures and defined their implementation as a government duty. Based on this act, initiatives such as developing physical education facilities and enhancing sports instruction systems were advanced.

In 2011, the Basic Act on Sports (Act No. 78 of 2011) revised and replaced the Sports Promotion Act to align with the changing times. It includes an article about the development of outstanding athletes (article 25). It states:

“The State shall take necessary measures to secure and develop outstanding athletes, including providing support for training camps conducted by sports organizations, the dispatch of athletes, coaches, and other personnel to international competitions or nationwide sports tournaments, and the provision of guidance and other activities for youth possessing exceptional potential; and establishing the necessary environment to facilitate the improvement of athletes’ competitive skills and the full realization of their potential.”

Basic Plan for Sports

According to the 2011 act, the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) formulates the Basic Plan for Sports for comprehensive and systematic sports promotion. (2011 Act art. 9, para. 1.) The first plan was established in 2012. One of the key principles of sport promotion in the plan is “training human resources and developing the sport environments in order to enhance international competitiveness.” (MEXT, Sports Basic Plan, p. 5.) It also states that one of the policy objectives is to establish a systematic talent development framework, spanning from junior to elite levels, and to improve the sports environment within disciplines where strong competitive potential is found. It set concrete goals, as follows:

• the medal count in both the Summer and Winter Olympic Games will exceed Japan’s respective historical records, and
• rankings in the Olympic gold medal standings will be a top-five finish in the Summer Games and a top-ten finish in the Winter Games. (p. 34.)

The second and third Basic Plans for Sports also aimed to enhance competitive strength and achieve an all-time high medal count.

Sports Agency

The 2011 Basic Act also prompted the establishment of the Sports Agency in its supplemental provision. (Basic Act on Sports, sup. art. 2.) In 2015, the Sports Agency was established under the jurisdiction of the MEXT. The Sports Agency is engaged in various support initiatives and efforts to improve the sports environment, among other measures, aimed at enhancing Japan’s international competitiveness in sports.

There are other sports organizations. Among them, the Japanese Olympic Committee (JOC), an incorporated foundation that is separated from the government, is a National Olympic Committee (NOC).  The Japan Sport Council (JSC), an independent administrative institution, serves as the core, specialized organization dedicated to promoting sports and fostering the health and physical well-being of children and students in Japan.

Budget for Sports

National budgets for sports have been increasing. An article stated that, in fiscal year 2013, the sports budget was 24.3 billion yen (US$154 million), which was double the amount allocated in fiscal year 2012. The budgets were increase to 33.4 billion yen (US$211 million) in 2017 and 43 billion yen (US$272 million) in 2022. These “sports budgets” include various things, e.g., spending to improve school physical education. The budget for improving the competitiveness of Japanese athletes was 9.15 billion yen (US$ 57.9 million) in 2017 and 17 billion yen (US$107.5 million) in 2022. Most recently, for fiscal year 2026, the MEXT asked 11.1 billion yen (US$70.2 million) for this purpose.

To serve as an additional source of funding for the promotion of sports, the sports promotion lottery “toto” was introduced based on the Act on the Implementation of Sports Promotion Betting (Act No. 63 of 1998, as amended) in 2001. It is a system of betting on the results of football games operated by the J-League. The profits are used for the identification and development of athletes possessing exceptional potential, and the development of core facilities for the improvement of the competitiveness of athletes and hosting international competitions and similar events, among other purposes.

Competitiveness Support Programs

There are various programs to improve the competitiveness of athletes.  As a foundational strengthening measure, the Sports Agency provides support for the activities that individual sports federations undertake on a routine and continuous basis in preparation for major international competitions. The Sports Agency also implements “High-Performance Support Programs” that are designed to provide specialized and advanced assistance to those competitive disciplines where medal-winning potential is high. Specifically, this program entails athlete support using sports medicine, sports science, and information technologies that are provided by expert staff in their respective fields during training camps and competitions, including motion analysis, game analysis, information gathering, nutritional support, conditioning support, and psychological support.

Development of Facilities

The government has endeavored to establish an environment that effectively enhances athletes’ competitive performances. In 2001, it opened the National Institute of Sports Sciences (JISS), which has training facilities, sport-specific practice facilities (competitive swimming, rhythmic gymnastics, etc.), and sports medicine and science research facilities, such as high-performance gyms and wind tunnels. Since 2003, the JISS has been under the jurisdiction of the JSC. In 2008, JISS opened the National Training Center (NTC) as a training facility dedicated to the comprehensive enhancement of the international competitive capabilities of top-level athletes. For sports that cannot be handled by the NTC, the government has designated sports-specific NTCs.

It appears the government’s efforts paid off at the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Olympics. I am looking forward to watching the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics to see if the trend will continue.

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Source: US Global Legal Monitor

On September 3rd, 1783, the United States of America secured its independence from Great Britain by signing the Treaty of Paris. (Treaty of Peace, U.S.-U.K., September 3, 1783, 8 Stat. 80). Not only did this treaty bring an end to the Revolutionary War, but it also set the initial border between the United States and Canada, then known as British North America. This border, which stretched from modern-day Maine to the Lake of the Woods in modern-day Minnesota, for the most part still exists in the present day. The initial drafting of the border was not without its flaws, however, in large part due to the inaccurate maps of the time.

The border was supposed to reach the most northwestern part of the Lake of the Woods in Minnesota, and from there proceed due west to the Mississippi River. However, the Mississippi River’s headwaters are too far south of the Lake of the Woods to be intersected by a line drawn due west, a fact unknown at the time. Furthermore, at the other end of the border, in Maine, the border was drawn “From the North West angle of Nova Scotia viz [that is to say], that angle which is formed by a Line drawn due North from the Source of St. Croix River to the Highlands.” (Treaty of Peace, art. 2).

The 1794 Jay Treaty appointed a survey team to the Lake of the Woods and appointed two commissioners to adjudicate a dispute over the St. Croix River. (Amity, Commerce, and Navigation (Jay Treaty), U.S.-U.K., November 19, 1794, 8 Stat. 116.) Given that neither of these issues were resolved before the War of 1812 began between the two powers, the issues were again addressed in the 1814 Treaty of Ghent. (Peace and Amity (Treaty of Ghent), U.S.-U.K., December 24, 1814, 8 Stat. 218.) Along with bringing peace to the two nations, the Treaty of Ghent also made provisions for two new sets of commissioners to be appointed, one for each issue.

In 1818, the two nations signed the Convention of 1818. (Fisheries, Boundary, and Restoration of Slaves, U.S.-U.S., October 20, 1818, 8 Stat. 248). This treaty established the border west of the Lake of the Woods, which was to run along the 49th parallel to the Rocky Mountains, referred to in the treaty as the Stony Mountains. The border was drawn with a “Line drawn from the said Point [the most northwestern point of the Lake of the Woods] due North or South… until the said Line shall intersect the said Parallel of North Latitude [the 49th parallel]… and that the said Line shall form the Northern Boundary of the… United States.”

This remains the border to this day, though it is not without issues. Due to the wording of this treaty and the shape of the Lake of the Woods, a line drawn from the northwestern point of the lake led to the U.S. owning a small strip of land only accessible from Canada. Known as the Northwest Angle, there are a small number of U.S. citizens living there, who can only access their homes by land through Canada, though they can also travel over or through the Lake of the Woods. However, this is not the only part of the U.S. cut off from the mainland via treaty, as explained below.

The Aroostook War, named for skirmishes along the border, grew out of heightened tensions in the late 1830s. Both the British and American local governments mobilized militia forces, and General Winfield Scott was sent in to negotiate. The resulting agreement, the Webster-Ashburton Treaty of 1842, finally brought an end to the disputes over the Maine-Nova Scotia section of the border, establishing the modern path of the border in most of Maine. (Boundaries, Slave Trade, Extradition (Webster-Ashburton Treaty), U.S.-U.K., August 9, 1842, 8 Stat. 572).

In 1846, the Oregon Treaty was signed, which extended the 49th parallel past the Rockies to the Pacific, ending the dispute over the Oregon Territory. (Boundaries (Oregon Treaty), U.S.-U.K., June 15, 1846, 9 Stat. 869). This treaty would have two important ramifications. One was a second US exclave in Canada, and the other was another bloodless “war”, once again negotiated down by Winfield Scott. The exclave, Point Roberts, still exists today, and is home to another small US community, where the children must cross the border four times a day for schooling. It is a tourist destination for its novelty, as it is one of the few existing U.S. exclaves.

The Pig War took place on the San Juan Islands, in the straits between Washington and Vancouver Island. The Oregon Treaty had led to some ambiguity over who controlled the islands, so both British and U.S. settlers had established residence on the islands. At first, they peacefully coexisted, but eventually a U.S. settler killed a pig belonging to a British settler, as it had wound up on his property. This dispute between settlers led to British warships facing off against US troops who had rushed to the island. Winfield Scott was once again sent to negotiate down the tensions, and eventually the two powers agreed to a joint occupation of the islands until the dispute could be arbitrated by another power. The islands were eventually granted to the United States by the German Emperor in 1872 (see footnote 1 on page 123), but the occupation would continue for 12 years in the meantime.

Over the course of the centuries of border negotiations between the British and Americans, several separate commissioners had to be appointed to resolve various disputes along the border, from Passamaquoddy Bay and the St. Croix River in Maine to the Alaskan border in the late 1800s. In the early 1900s, in the Treaty of 1908, it came to pass that the two powers appointed yet another commission, charged with the task of more accurately determining and demarcating the border along its entire length. In 1925, this commission was made permanent, and it persists into the modern era. Known today as the International Boundary Commission, they are in charge of maintaining the border monuments, as well as keeping a 20-foot swath of land cleared along the entire length of the border and maintaining the official maps of the border.

Additional resources for further learning:

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Source: US Global Legal Monitor

Today’s blog post is a guest post by Emily Frazier, a legislative data specialist in the office of the Congressional Research Service (CRS). Emily has previously published Modernizing Congressional Data – Statute Compilations are a Gift to Researchers and Congress.gov: Slip Laws in BETA USLM Are Now Available for In Custodia Legis.

In September, we announced slip law texts in BETA USLM on Congress.gov. Today, we are announcing a new feature built on United States Legislative Markup (USLM): deep linking, also in BETA. You may be familiar with deep linking, which is already available on XML bill texts in earlier stages of the legislative process. Now, Congress.gov has expanded its deep linking features to work with these modern, web-optimized law texts.

Think of deep linking as a way to home in on a specific section of a bill or law text, and then share or save the link to the exact section you are looking at.

As you read a text, hover over the section you would like to share to highlight it. Click on the link icon and click “Share This” to automatically copy the direct link to your clipboard. When you open that link, you will be taken to the entire text, but the page will automatically scroll to the section that you shared. For bills that are hundreds of pages long, deep linking allows you to quickly share what you are looking at or save a section to refer to later.

On Congress.gov, some web-friendly XML bill texts are too large to function well with most browsers and devices. In those cases, Congress.gov shows a plain-text version of the bill instead. Deep linking is not available for plain-text bills. However, USLM slip law texts can be displayed up to a higher size threshold. As a result, some bills that previously could not be offered due to the length of the text now offer deep linking from the slip law text.

Be aware that USLM slip law texts and deep linking on USLM texts are in BETA on Congress.gov, and you may encounter display issues. PDF continues to provide a complete and accurate display of legislation and law texts. Deep links are not permalinks and may not provide long-term stable access to a specific text section. If you encounter issues, you can report them using the Site Feedback button in the upper right corner of any item in Congress.gov. Happy searching!

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Source: US Global Legal Monitor

To kick off the celebration of Law Day, the Law Library of Congress and the American Bar Association are excited to bring you a conversation between the American Bar Association President Michelle A. Behnke and the Law Librarian of Congress Aslihan Bulut. The topic of the discussion concerns this year’s Law Day theme, “The Rule of Law and the American Dream.”

Source: US Global Legal Monitor

Here at the Law Library of Congress, we enjoy celebrating commemorative days, weeks, and holidays, as they allow us to explore the collections we have at the Library and research new topics. National Library Week is an incredibly fun way to celebrate. Each year, all across the United States, the important work of our libraries and librarians, and the endless ways in which they serve our communities, is celebrated. The 2026 National Library Week theme is “Find Your Joy.” To celebrate National Library Week, I asked my colleagues to highlight ways the Law Library and the Library of Congress bring them joy, whether that be through the collections we have, their roles at the Library, or the Library’s initiatives as a whole.

Legal Reference Librarian Sarah Friedman: One of the things I love the most about working at the Library is getting to share it with others. I enjoy giving tours of the Law Library, the Jefferson Building, and the Capitol to new staff, visiting groups, and my family and friends. It is a great opportunity to inform people about all of the history and resources available at the Library, and every time I give a tour, it reminds me that I work in a remarkable place.

Bibliographic and Research Instruction Librarian Barbara Bavis: I find a lot of joy in creating and teaching classes here at the Law Library of Congress! I love making legal research clearer and more accessible to our patrons across the country and around the world, because I know how intimidating it might feel to try to start a research project. That is why, if you run into me outside of the Library, you will probably catch me trying to sign you up for one of our webinars!

Foreign Law Specialist Elin Hofverberg: As a foreign law lawyer with an international law background, I did not expect that I would end up working in a law library, but it turns out the Law Library is particularly suited for creating a happy lawyer. I have great colleagues, respond to interesting, timely, and diverse requests, ranging from research advice on where and how to find local ordinances to substantive research on space law. What supports all that work is our unique law collection. When researching a historical request, I often feel like I get to travel in a time machine. If I research a particular historic law, I often take a quick peek to see whether it was passed on this day that same year, and I have been intrigued to find all kinds of legislation to share with the In Custodia Legis blog. For instance, a proclamation on the home production of Brännivn was such a post. I feel privileged to use and share the collection with our patrons and Congress, providing accurate, authentic, and authoritative expertise in a timely fashion.

Visual Information Specialist Bailey Desimone: Working at the Law Library helps me connect with folks all over the world who are looking to find themselves represented in legal perspectives. Whether answering reference questions or designing visual aids, I am proud to help serve the public by making legal information accessible and enjoyable. Being a librarian helps me pursue my own curiosity as well as inspire that in others, and I am grateful every day to work alongside the Library of Congress staff in achieving this.

Program Specialist Taylor Gulatsi: One thing that brings me joy through my role in outreach at the Law Library is when I have the opportunity to engage with members of the public. I love hearing how patrons engage with the Law Library’s services through the resources available to them, whether that is at a conference we are exhibiting at, a tour we are hosting at the Law Library, or when tourists visit from other states and countries. Additionally, any chance that I get to highlight the amazing work of my colleagues brings me immense joy!

Law Librarian of Congress Aslihan Bulut: There is a quiet but profound joy in serving as a law librarian at the Library of Congress—a sense of purpose that comes from standing at the intersection of knowledge, history, and public service. Each day offers the opportunity to connect people with the information they need to shape decisions, understand the law, and participate more fully in civic life. Leading a team that supports patrons from all three branches of government, as well as members of the public, deepens that sense of meaning. It is both a responsibility and a privilege to help ensure that lawmakers, judges, executive agencies, and citizens alike have access to reliable, carefully curated legal resources. In this role, service becomes something larger than any one individual—it becomes a contribution to the functioning of democracy itself.

We hope you will visit the Law Library of Congress and find your joy among our collection and the beauty that the history of the Library has to offer!

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