It was a chapter in American history that every decent person wishes had never been written. Slavery was legal — at least in some parts of the country. Slaves were viewed as […]
The Unlikely Lawyer Who Represented a Slave Owner
Dormie — The Dog That Went on Trial for Murder
The charges against the defendant were almost unimaginable. Prosecutors accused him of leaving a trail of twelve corpses. A dozen lives were tragically and unjustifiably cut short by an inexplicable killing spree. […]
Deliver Us From Weevils — The Time a Town Put a Bunch of Insects on Trial
Something was bugging the people of St. Julien. The “something” was a bug. A bunch of them, actually. Weevils were threatening the peace and prosperity of the French town. Criminal trespass to […]
Abraham Lincoln: Mystery Writer
Abraham Lincoln attempted many things in his life. He was a railsplitter, boatman, store clerk, soldier, surveyor, postmaster, lawyer, legislator, and President. Along the way, he tried his hand as an inventor, […]
Carl Tanzler and the Love that Creepily Continued After Death
Volumes of poetry and countless love songs are dedicated to the proposition that love endures forever. This is an honorable and appropriate sentiment. Even so, it is possible to take things too […]
Mayor LaGuardia and Justice for a Stolen Loaf of Bread
The bleak, dreary years of the Great Depression brought an energetic, ambitious, and unconventional mayor to the city of New York. Fiorello H. LaGuardia (1882-1947) swept into office, following successive mayors who […]
Contemplate the Variegated Cancerous Concoctions of the Asphyxiating Snare in the Escalating Venality of a 19-Year-Long Court Case
Charles Dickens’ novel Bleak House introduced the world to the never-ending legal saga of Jarndyce and Jarndyce. In Dickens’ uniquely-descriptive words: Jarndyce and Jarndyce drones on. This scarecrow of a suit has, […]
The Story of Two Trials that Launched a Life of Greatness
George Jacobs was arrested for an unspeakable offense. He was innocent, as he loudly proclaimed to anyone who would listen, but his protests fell on deaf ears. Whatever her reasons, George’s granddaughter […]
Drink Pepsi and Win a Jet — Or Maybe Not
In 1995, Pepsi launched the Pepsi Points promotion. The public was encouraged to drink as much Pepsi as possible with the promise of earning points with every purchase. These points could then […]
A Pastor, A Picnic, and A 3-Day Trial About A Sandwich
For several weeks in 1927, the residents of Santa Ana, California were glued to their newspapers, eager to learn the latest details of possibly the most curious case in Orange County legal […]
The Strange Story of the Town that Keeps Switching Between Two Countries
National boundaries are nice, clean methods of distinguishing who owns what. If something is on one side of the border, it belongs to one country; if it is on the other side, […]
How to Steal an Airplane Without Breaking the Law
William McBoyle stole an airplane, and it was perfectly legal. Just to be clear, he actually took possession of someone else’s aircraft without their permission and never gave it back. Even so, […]
The Teenager Who was Executed Twice
In the long list of people who have been executed by the electric chair, Willie Francis (1929-1947) was the first one to go through the process twice.
Before Rosa Parks, There Was Claudette Colvin
It was 1955 in Montgomery, Alabama. The young African-American woman was seated on a segregated bus, when she was told to give up her seat for a white passenger. She refused and […]
Battle of the Titans: DC and Marvel’s War Over Ownership of “Captain Marvel”
Moviegoers who lined up to see Captain Marvel probably walked past posters announcing the soon-to-be-released D.C. Comics’ blockbuster Shazam!. Anyone remotely familiar with comic book lore knows that the muscle-bound superhero with […]
Commonplace Fun Facts 