Ambassador David Carden Archives - JURIST - Commentary

Commentaries by Ambassador David Carden

Beyond Rights and Justice: Democracy as a Competition of Ideas

March 28, 2025 03:12:26 pm

There’s much talk these days about democracy being under threat at home and around the world. Most of this discussion tends to be focused on efforts by autocrats and their supporters to erode the rule of law and the right to vote; their adoption of policies that discriminate against minorities and women; and their use [...]

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Netherlands becomes the first country to legalize same-sex marriage and euthanasia

On April 1, 2001, the Netherlands became the first country to legalize same-sex marriage. The nation then became the first country to legalize euthanasia on April 1, 2002.

First US wartime conscription law took effect

On April 1, 1863, in the midst of the Civil War, the first wartime conscription law passed in the United States went into effect. It included a clause allowing a person to pay $300 to avoid military service, a controversial "rich man's" exception that precipitated the July 1863 New York City Draft Riots. The riots, the worst in US history to that point, killed as many as 100 people and had to be quelled by troops, some of whom had recently fought at the Battle of Gettysburg. Learn more about the Draft Riots.