ABA President Mary Smith is asking an ABA commission to study the prevalence and impact of bar admissions questions that require survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault and stalking to disclose their involvement in legal and administrative proceedings.
“Moreover, the series has thus far failed to explain some of the most counterintuitive aspects and sex-based discrepancies of American sentencing and incarceration,” writes Oklahoma lawyer and ABA Journal columnist Adam Banner.
Chanel Miller, whose victim impact statement at the rape trial of Brock Allen Turner went viral in 2016, will present about the importance of survivors’ stories at an ABA event on April 16.
At the ABA Midyear Meeting, the House of Delegates acknowledged the disproportionate risks of abduction and violence experienced by members of Alaska Native and Native American communities.
Updated: To overcome the language barriers in a region where the official language the courts use is English, Kishore Kommi, a police officer and a former data scientist, is making use of Jugalbandi, an open-source multilingual chatbot using generative artificial intelligence.
Some lawyers are less reliable than defendants when it comes to showing up in court, according to a study of criminal cases in Philadelphia courts during a 10-year span.
A former partner at Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll has pleaded guilty to possession of child pornography after his arrest as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat child sexual exploitation and abuse.
The ABA Commission on Domestic and Sexual Violence Trial Skills Institute helps attorneys who represent survivors of domestic violence improve their advocacy and litigation skills. Participants act as counsel for a party in a hypothetical case involving domestic violence and develop theory, opening statements, closing arguments, direct examinations and cross-examinations.
The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday agreed to decide the constitutionality of a federal law that bans gun ownership by people subject to domestic-violence restraining orders.
Updated: A judge in Cook County, Illinois, has agreed to step down from a case after a lawyer alleged he made statements that are “violent, discriminatory, racist and antagonistic” during an in-chambers discussion.
Family courts in Colorado custody cases can’t cut off a child’s contact with a protective parent to whom they are bonded just to improve a relationship with a rejected parent accused of abuse or domestic violence, according to a bill signed into law last week.
Low-income clients overburdened by debt, transgender and nonbinary people who need help changing their names, and youths experiencing homelessness are among the groups supported this year by the American Bar Endowment’s Opportunity Grant Program.
Prima Facie is a new one-woman play on Broadway, centered on an ambitious lawyer who, after building her reputation representing men accused of rape, must navigate the same legal system to seek justice for herself after her sexual assault.
Kari Burns describes promoting the rule of law as “near and dear” to her heart. That’s why Burns gets involved in Law Day, which is annually May 1 to recognize the rule of law in our society and encourage a greater understanding of the legal profession.
The ABA Journal wants to host and facilitate conversations among lawyers about their profession. We are now accepting thoughtful, non-promotional articles and commentary by unpaid contributors.
