US Supreme Court Chief Justice Earl Warren was born on March 19, 1891, in Los Angeles, California. He led the Court during a critical period of social change in the 1950s and 1960s and is perhaps best known for his Opinion in Brown v. Board of Education. Learn more about Earl Warren from the Supreme [...]
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On March 19, 1972, India and Bangladesh signed a Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation, and Peace for twenty-five years. The treaty recognized the independence of Bangladesh by India at the conclusion of Bangladesh’s war of independence from Pakistan. The treaty expired in 1997 without renewal.
On March 18, 1963, the US Supreme Court in Gideon v. Wainwright held that the Constitution requires states to provide counsel for indigent criminal defendants. For a unanimous Court, Justice Hugo Black wrote, “Any person haled into court, who is too poor to hire a lawyer, cannot be assured a fair trial unless counsel is [...]
On March 18, 1922, a court in British-ruled India sentenced Mohandas Gandhi to six years in prison for sedition in connection with his civil disobedience campaign for Indian home rule. Read Gandhi’s famous statement to the trial court. Gandhi served two years of his sentence and was then released.
US Supreme Court Chief Justice Roger Taney, author of the decision in Dred Scott v. Sandford, was born in Calvert County, Maryland, on March 17, 1777.
On March 17, 1999, the International Olympic Committee expelled six of its members for taking bribes. The preceding investigation revealed that the indicted officials had received over $800,000 in gifts and benefits from the Salt Lake Organizing Committee (SLOC) before awarding the 2002 Winter Games to Salt Lake City.
James Madison, a leading framer of the US Constitution and Bill of Rights, an author of the Federalist Papers, and the fourth President of the United States was born in Port Conway, Virginia, on March 16, 1751. Review Madison’s speech in Congress introducing his proposed amendments to the Constitution, and his contributions to the Federalist Papers.
On March 16, 2006, the United Nations General Assembly established the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) to replace the UN Council on Human Rights. The UNHRC was created by the overwhelming passage of Resolution A/RES/60/251ly.
On March 15, 1803, the Code Napoleon (French Civil Code) was promulgated in France. The Code is considered the first successful legal code in Europe and is still used today as the basis for the modern French Civil Code. Napoleon’s conquests spread his Code across the European Continent, influencing modern legal codes in Portugal, Austria, [...]
US Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was born on March 15, 1933. Learn more about Justice Ginsburg from Oyez, the Supreme Court multimedia project at Northwestern University.
