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Full-Text Articles in Legal History
The War(S) On Christmas In The Law Books, Kurt Metzmeier
The War(S) On Christmas In The Law Books, Kurt Metzmeier
Faculty Scholarship
This piece takes a reference to a December 25, 1823, session of the Kentucky Senate as a starting point to discuss the legal history of Christmas in America and specifically Kentucky from the Puritan era when it was banned, to the early 1800s when it was officially ignored, to the late 19th century when it was raised to a legal holiday (and when many of the day's tradition were created).
Kentucky Criminal Law Reform In The Age Of Aquarius, Kurt Metzmeier
Kentucky Criminal Law Reform In The Age Of Aquarius, Kurt Metzmeier
Faculty Scholarship
In Kentucky criminal law, it is useful to divide legal history into two broad eras: the years before the 1970s and those after that pivotal decade of reforms. The 1970s brought a new court system, a dramatic bail reform law which criminalized the hated bail-bondsmen and even a new court house. However, for the modern case law researcher the most significant change was the adoption of a statutory penal code—a code that marked a break between the two centuries of common-law crimes that preceded 1974 and the four decades afterwards.