Armed Career Criminal Act ruling [US SC] News
Armed Career Criminal Act ruling [US SC]

Begay v. United States, US Supreme Court, April 16, 2008 [ruling that convictions for driving under the influence of alcohol do not trigger enhanced sentencing for prior "violent felony" convictions under the Armed Career Criminal Act]. Read the full text of the opinion [PDF]. Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here.

THIS DAY @ LAW

Eighteenth Amendment came into effect

On January 16, 1920, the Eighteenth Amendment to the US Constitution came into effect as scheduled one year after ratification, marking the beginning of Prohibition. Learn more about Temperance and Prohibition from Professor K. Austin Kerr of the Ohio State University Department of History.

English Parliament bans Roman Catholicism

On January 16, 1581, the English Parliament banned Roman Catholicism throughout the country during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I. From that time on, Catholicism declined in England until the Catholic Emancipation of the late 18th century.

Read the history of the Roman Catholic Church in England.