# A place where the law is on display **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 21, 2013, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-place-where-the-law-is-on-display/647943 "2013-01-21T21:16:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2013, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-place-where-the-law-is-on-display/647943/1 "2013-01-21T21:16:07Z")
Hooray for our literate class of on-line journalists! Seen in Yahoo! News on-line today: [Inauguration 2013: Barack Obama sworn in for second term](http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/inauguration-day-kicks-off-washington-132853541--election.html) > [@](#): > > The First Family attended a luncheon with members of Congress in the Statutory Hall in the U.S. Capitol after the ceremony. In brief comments at the luncheon, Obama acknowledged that the politicians in the room disagree on many issues, but thanked the attendees on their service. Obama also thanked his wife. “There is controversy about the quality of our president, but no controversy at all about the quality of our First Lady,” he said. The Statutory Hall would be the museum-like place, I would imagine, where you may see our nation’s greatest statutes, past and present, on display atop marble pedestals. ETA: I just refreshed that news page, and in the time it took me to write the above, I see the article has been updated already. They’re on the ball, those Yahoo! News people. But the Statutory Hall is still there. ---
**Author:** ![Defensive\_Indifference](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/defensive_indifference/32/6502_2.png) [@Defensive\_Indifference](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Defensive_Indifference)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2013, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-place-where-the-law-is-on-display/647943/2 "2013-01-21T22:07:07Z")
It’s easy to gather all the statutes for the collection, since they’re generally stationery. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2013, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-place-where-the-law-is-on-display/647943/3 "2013-01-21T23:23:08Z")
It’s a section of the capitol under the dome, originally the House of Representatives. Now it has 50 statues, each chosen by a state to honor one of its most important citizens. The [statues are around the perimeter](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6d/National_Statuary_Hall_Collection.jpg), though. The central area is open, so there’s no need to move any of them. ---
**Author:** ![Space\_Vegetable](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6de8d8/32.png) [@Space\_Vegetable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Space_Vegetable)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2013, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-place-where-the-law-is-on-display/647943/4 "2013-01-22T01:15:55Z")
> [@Bayard](#): > > It’s easy to gather all the statutes for the collection, since they’re generally stationery. The Secret Service won’t let anything stationery near the President, for fear the situation might suddenly turn epistolary. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2013, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-place-where-the-law-is-on-display/647943/5 "2013-01-22T02:00:06Z")
The original plan was to have a huge tapestry with the entire federal code written on it, but it turns out that it won’t fit into the room. That’s right, it’s a statute of limitations. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2013, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-place-where-the-law-is-on-display/647943/6 "2013-01-22T02:33:02Z")
> [@Space\_Vegetable](#): > > The Secret Service won’t let anything stationery near the President, for fear the situation might suddenly turn epistolary. 😃 Yeah, they don’t want any incidence. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2013, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-place-where-the-law-is-on-display/647943/7 "2013-01-22T03:55:37Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > It’s a section of the capitol under the dome, originally the House of Representatives. Now it has 50 statues, each chosen by a state to honor one of its most important citizens. > > The [statues are around the perimeter](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6d/National_Statuary_Hall_Collection.jpg), though. The central area is open, so there’s no need to move any of them. That sound you are hearing is “whoosh”, not distant applause. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2013, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-place-where-the-law-is-on-display/647943/8 "2013-01-22T04:11:24Z")
I was going to try for a capital/capitol one, which would have been a natural here. But I’m not sure I understand the nuances and I probably would have ended up embarrassing myself. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2013, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-place-where-the-law-is-on-display/647943/9 "2013-01-22T04:57:34Z")
Aye, when a member of Congress does something wrong, it might be a capitol offense. ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2013, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-place-where-the-law-is-on-display/647943/10 "2013-01-22T05:23:02Z")
Meh, mild typo and its already been fixed. Actually, googling, I can find the same mistake made so often, in places like the Congressional Record, that I’m not so sure it isn’t a valid alternative spelling. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2013, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-place-where-the-law-is-on-display/647943/11 "2013-01-22T05:34:49Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > The Statutory Hall would be the museum-like place, I would imagine, where you may see our nation’s greatest statutes, past and present, on display atop marble pedestals. Did they borrow the _stele_ of Hammurabi from the Louvre for the occasion? Or was it just a copy?