What are some interesting laws or law related happenings in history?
Counterfeiting was treated like a treason in Europe and Asia and punished accordingly
Some guy made laziness a crime punishable by death in Greece
Lawyers in republican and early imperial rome were not supposed to collect fees, and were supposed to represent people as a public service because they believed their friend was innocent or the opposing party was guilty (there was no public prosecutor at that time). Though people still obtained the best lawyers by "paying" them through favors such as business opportunities, loans at very favorable terms, or partisan support in elections. But in Tacitus' Annals book XI chapter 7 he states that during the time of the Emperor Claudius some lawyers in the senate convinced the emperor to abandon this system, and to support changing the law to allow lawyers to openly charge fees for their services like any other trade. But the emperor limited the "maximum fee" an advocate could charge on a single case to an eye watering 10,000 Sestertius, and remember that is just for one case. At this time the annual salary for a legionary soldier was 700 Sestertius.While I'm sure not every Roman lawyer was a near equal to Cicero, who could command that maximum fee from their wealthy clients, that seems like a much better job than joining the Roman army to me.
>>18415896I do regional history for a county in southeast Michigan Here's my second favorite local history story:In 1830, the Michigan territorial legislature passed a law outlawing bowling (what was then called nine-pin). They banned it because bowling "is productive of a great waste of time, and leads to habits of idleness and dissipation"In the 1840's a bowling alley opened in a small Michigan town, and led to the men of the farming community spending too much time away from their farms (and wives), for their wives to go along with. The women attempted to get the law to close it, but the law basically laughed them off. So, one night, the 'women of the town showed up at 1AM with axes and hammers, and proceeded to raze the entire building. They stayed for less than an hour, and when they left not a single stick (including the roof) was standing.The story, as you might expect, became a VERY popular public interest story. Within a few months, the story had not only made it east, but made it overseas and was spreading all around the UK
>>18415980Michigan is also the only US state that never had a death penalty.
>>18415983Yes and no. It had the death penalty between 1805-1847; but it was never used for state crimes after statehood (1837).https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/state-and-federal-info/state-by-state/michiganBut yes, Michigan was also pretty 'progressive' about things; perhaps not out of altruism but out of self-preservation. For example, in 1841 (in the middle of the first major economic crisis since statehood), the legislature passed a law which said:> If you're going to seize farm land for non-payment of debt, you can't seize it until any crops currently growing on the land are harvested.
>>18415896In Brazil, there will soon be a misogyny law where it will be treated like racism. Even if you talk about something that is true and easily verifiable, if it's deemed misogyny, you can get 3~5 years iirc
>>18416121did making racism illegal end racism in brazil?
>>18416162It was barely a thing in the first place. However now they have an excuse to arrest anyone who mentions anything that can be loosely interpretated as racist
>>18415983I consider Michigan part of Canada
