Valentine’s Day (February 14) may be the holiday of sweethearts, but it’s not the most legal-themed of celebratory days. 

We did a law journal article search in our favorite database HeinOnline to see if there were any articles about Valentine’s Day… with no luck. We saw a few references to the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre of 1929, a gang-violence crime widely thought to be instigated by mob boss Al Capone, and a few bar journal articles about Valentine’s Day gifts for your lawyer sweetie, but nothing about the holiday itself. 

While we didn’t find what we thought we might- it’s a good reminder that the research process doesn’t always go to plan. You might envision the ideal article or case about your topic… and then the search proves that it doesn’t exist. 

However, you might also find out another thing you weren’t expecting! For us, it was learning that former Supreme Court Justices William Rehnquist and Sandra Day O’Connor were law school sweethearts at Stanford Law School! A biography of Justice O’Connor found that Rehnquist even proposed to her during their 2L year and she turned him down. Forget seeing your ex in class- imagine being on the Supreme Court with them! 

Submitted by Babler,Emma on February 13, 2024

This article appears in the categories: Law Library