Illinois capital gains tax ruling [US SC] News
Illinois capital gains tax ruling [US SC]

MeadWestvaco Corp. v. Illinois Department of Revenue, US Supreme Court, April 15, 2008 [overturning an Illinois state court decision allowing the state to tax a portion of the $1 billion capital gains realized by MeadWestvaco's predecessor when it sold its interest in Lexis/Nexis ]. 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.