644 articles
Louisiana v. Callais
Louisiana v. Callais (also Callais v. Landry, Robinson v. Callais), 608 U.S. _ (2026): Supreme Court ruling holding Louisiana's SB8 map with two majority-Black districts an unconstitutional racial gerrymander and narrowing VRA Section 2 to intentional discrimination.
Loujain al-Hathloul (لجين الهذلول)
Loujain al-Hathloul (لجين الهذلول), born 1989 in Jeddah, is a Saudi women's rights activist who led the Women to Drive campaign and the movement to end male guardianship; detained in 2018, sentenced by a terrorism court in 2020, released in 2021 after 1,001 days, and still under a travel ban.
Loung Ung (អ៊ឹង លឿង)
Loung Ung (អ៊ឹង លឿង), born 1970 in Phnom Penh, is a Cambodian American author and activist, survivor of the Khmer Rouge genocide, author of the memoir First They Killed My Father, landmine campaign spokesperson, and co-writer of the 2017 Netflix film.
Love Canal
Love Canal is a Niagara Falls, New York neighborhood built over a chemical waste landfill whose contamination led to hundreds of evacuations and the 1980 Superfund law.
Lycurgus (Λυκοῦργος)
Lycurgus (Λυκοῦργος), semi-legendary lawgiver of Sparta, credited via Plutarch's Life and the Great Rhetra with Sparta's constitution, messes, and agoge; his dating and very existence are disputed.
Lyttleton Constitution
The Lyttleton Constitution was the 1954 constitution of colonial Nigeria, named for Colonial Secretary Oliver Lyttelton, which established a federation of regions and remained in force until independence in 1960.
Mahmoud v. Taylor
Mahmoud v. Taylor, 606 U.S. _ (2025), a 6-3 Supreme Court Free Exercise decision by Justice Alito requiring Montgomery County, Maryland schools to grant religious parents notice and opt-outs from LGBTQ+-inclusive storybook instruction.
Malala Yousafzai (ملاله یوسفزۍ)
Malala Yousafzai (ملاله یوسفزۍ), Pakistani girls' education activist born 1997 in Mingora, Swat; BBC Urdu blogger as Gul Makai; survived a 2012 Taliban shooting; youngest Nobel Peace Prize laureate (2014, with Kailash Satyarthi); co-founder of Malala Fund.
Malawi Independence Act 1964
The Malawi Independence Act 1964 is an Act of the UK Parliament that ended British responsibility for Nyasaland, which became Malawi on 6 July 1964.
Malolos Constitution
The Malolos Constitution was the charter of the First Philippine Republic, drawn up by the revolutionary assembly at Malolos and promulgated in January 1899. It was written in Spanish and set out.
Mandamus
Mandamus, a common law "we command" writ, is a court order compelling officials, agencies, or lower courts to perform ministerial duties or correct clear abuses of discretion, granted only when no adequate alternative remedy exists.
Marbury v. Madison
Marbury v. Madison (1803, 5 U.S. 137) is the Supreme Court decision in which Chief Justice John Marshall held Section 13 of the Judiciary Act of 1789 unconstitutional, establishing federal judicial review.
Marcin Matczak
Marcin Matczak is a Polish professor of legal science at the University of Warsaw and practicing legal counsel, a prominent commentator on Poland's 2015–2023 rule-of-law crisis.
Martial law in the Philippines
Martial law in the Philippines: Ferdinand Marcos's Proclamation No. 1081 of September 21, 1972 placed the country under military rule until January 1981, marked by mass arrests and torture; the 1987 Constitution limited the power, tested by Duterte's 2017 Mindanao martial law.
Mary Ziegler
Mary Ziegler is an American legal historian and law professor at the University of California, Davis, described as the leading expert on abortion law in the United States.
Matthew Whitaker
Matthew Whitaker, American lawyer and Acting U.S. Attorney General from November 7, 2018, after Jeff Sessions resigned; Trump named him under the Federal Vacancies Reform Act, sparking Appointments Clause litigation that ultimately failed in court.
Means test
A means test is an eligibility-determination method that measures a household's income and assets against program-specific limits, governing welfare, bankruptcy relief, healthcare coverage, housing subsidies, and legal aid.
Meech Lake Accord
The Meech Lake Accord (1987 Constitutional Accord), a Mulroney-era deal meeting Quebec's five conditions including distinct society status, died in June 1990 without unanimous ratification after Elijah Harper's Manitoba stand and Newfoundland's Clyde Wells refused approval.
Meiji Constitution
The Meiji Constitution (Dai Nihon Teikoku Kenpo), Japan's 1889 imperial constitution, promulgated 11 February 1889, effective 1890, modeled chiefly on the Prussian 1850 constitution, established imperial sovereignty with a Diet, and was replaced in 1947.
Michael Stolleis
Michael Stolleis (1941–2021) was a German legal historian and professor of public law in Frankfurt, known for his four-volume History of Public Law in Germany.
Miller test
The Miller test, from Miller v. California (1973), is the three-part U.S. Supreme Court standard for obscenity: prurient appeal under community standards, patent offensiveness, and lack of serious value.
Missouri Compromise
Missouri Compromise, 1820 US federal law: admitted Missouri as a slave state and Maine as a free state, banned slavery north of 36°30' in the Louisiana Territory; repealed 1854, voided by Dred Scott 1857.
Missouri Executive Order 44
Missouri Executive Order 44, the 1838 Mormon Extermination Order by Governor Lilburn Boggs, ordered Latter-day Saints exterminated or expelled from Missouri; rescinded by Governor Christopher Bond on June 25, 1976.
Mongolian Constitution of 1924
The Mongolian Constitution of 1924 is generally regarded as Mongolia's first codified constitution, adopted on 26 November 1924 to establish the Mongolian People's Republic and begin nearly seven decades of socialist rule.
Mongolian Constitution of 1960
The Mongolian Constitution of 1960 was the fundamental law of the Mongolian People's Republic, its third constitution, proclaiming the attainment of socialism and serving until replaced in 1992.
Motu proprio
A motu proprio, Latin for "of one's own initiative," is a papal document issued at the pope's own impulse with real legal force, used to amend canon law or restructure Vatican governance.
Multiple citizenship
Multiple citizenship, also called dual or plural nationality, is holding two or more citizenships at once. Arises by birth (jus soli, jus sanguinis) or naturalization; increasingly accepted worldwide, with obligations like taxes, military service, and limited consular protection.
National Commission for Backward Classes (राष्ट्रीय पिछड़ा वर्ग आयोग)
National Commission for Backward Classes (राष्ट्रीय पिछड़ा वर्ग आयोग, NCBC), India's constitutional body under Article 338B safeguarding socially and educationally backward classes (OBCs); set up 1993, constitutional status 2018, advises on central OBC lists and 27 percent reservation.
National Commission for Scheduled Castes (राष्ट्रीय अनुसूचित जाति आयोग)
National Commission for Scheduled Castes (राष्ट्रीय अनुसूचित जाति आयोग, NCSC): India's constitutional body under Article 338 safeguarding Scheduled Castes; Chairperson, Vice-Chairperson and three Members; recommendatory powers, civil-court powers for inquiry only.
National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2026
The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2026 is a U.S. federal law enacted in 2025 that funds the Department of Defense and sets military personnel strengths.