‘In the Shadow of Liberty’ shines light on American immigration history

Ana Raquel Minian uses the personal experiences of four immigrants to walk readers through the history of immigrant detention in the United States in In the Shadow of Liberty: The Invisible History of Immigrant Detention in the United States.

May 1, 2024 9:00 AM CDT

Lawyer who argued Nixon-Watergate case fears SCOTUS might expand presidential immunity for Trump

Philip Lacovara, counsel to the Watergate special prosecutor, spoke with the ABA Journal about his experience with U.S. v. Nixon and his concerns about Trump v. United States. “When the Nixon case was decided, I thought that while it would give subsequent presidents the opportunity to claim executive privilege, which was not an established doctrine, I never thought it would lead to a former president claiming immunity from criminal prosecution. Yet here we are.”

Apr 23, 2024 11:19 AM CDT

OJ Simpson criminal trial had a lasting impact on popular culture

Americans turned off their soap operas and flipped to Court TV. They developed an unexpected taste for around-the-clock news coverage of the same story, night after night. And before long, they had elevated the non-acting, non-singing goddaughter of a disgraced football player to global superstar. In other words, you can thank, or blame, O.J. Simpson for everything that has happened to television.

Apr 15, 2024 1:00 PM CDT

Artificial intelligence could make originalist analysis easier, federal appeals judge says

Determining the meaning of constitutional provisions at the time that they were drafted, as originalism requires, can be “highly laborious and time-consuming,” according to a federal appeals judge.

Apr 2, 2024 9:17 AM CDT

May 8, 1867: Trolley segregation ends in New Orleans

Since their inaugural service in the 1830s, streetcars were a source of both convenience and resentment for the Black citizens of New Orleans. With their access limited by local “Black codes” only to “star cars”—segregated trolleys emblazoned with a black star—even free Black workers, housewives and shoppers found a daily reminder that their freedom bore scant resemblance to that of whites.

Apr 1, 2024 12:05 AM CDT

Creatures Great and Small

Widely regarded by legal experts as one of the world’s most powerful statutes for protection of wildlife and ecosystems, the Nixon-era Endangered Species Act has halted the decline of hundreds of species along with protecting their habitats. But the unified political support that led to the act has vanished.

Apr 1, 2024 12:00 AM CDT

Supreme Court revisits abortion debate in case over access to pregnancy-ending drug

Next week, a case about federal regulation of the primary drug used in medication abortions will be taken up by the justices, returning a major issue in the abortion debate to them perhaps sooner than they would have wished.

Mar 21, 2024 10:34 AM CDT

Writing advice for lawyers from nonlawyers

From pretty much the moment that we start law school, we get advice on how to be better writers. Most of it is from lawyers (or ex-lawyers). That’s fine to start. Legal writing is a genre and has unique considerations that you have to master, if only because courts demand it, like The Bluebook.

Mar 14, 2024 9:09 AM CDT

Was wrong person executed in death of Lindbergh baby? Ex-judge’s book and DNA quest raise issues

Updated: A court case and a book by a former judge are raising questions about the guilt of German immigrant Bruno Richard Hauptmann, a man convicted and executed in the 1932 kidnapping and death of the 20-month-old son of aviator Charles A. Lindbergh.

Mar 11, 2024 10:22 AM CDT

New true-crime docuseries sheds light on how polygraph tests are misused

“Most are unfamiliar with how often polygraphs are misused and abused in our criminal justice system because they’re the dirty little secret that never makes it to the public. Why is that?” writes lawyer and ABA Journal columnist Adam Banner.

Mar 8, 2024 10:40 AM CST

NY law prof is calling on ‘Lawyer Nation’ to reform

Ray Brescia, a law professor at Albany Law School in New York, has taken a hard look at the country's legal system in his new book, Lawyer Nation: The Past, Present, and Future of the American Legal Profession.

Feb 28, 2024 8:44 AM CST

Longtime civil rights advocate Emmet Bondurant will receive this year’s ABA Medal

Longtime civil rights advocate Emmet Bondurant “has pursued justice with unwavering integrity” throughout his career, according to the ABA, which on Monday announced that he would receive this year’s ABA Medal.

Feb 27, 2024 10:11 AM CST

‘Police & the Empire City’ explores race and the origins of the NYPD

In Police & the Empire City: Race & the Origins of Modern Policing in New York, Matthew Guariglia looks at the New York City police from their founding in 1845 through the 1930s as "police transitioned from a more informal collection of pugilists clad in wool coats to what we can recognize today as a modern professionalized police department."

Feb 14, 2024 9:09 AM CST

Busting Out: A History Channel series focuses on great escapes

Like many other jurisdictions, Oklahoma has various security levels within its state prison system. Perhaps unlike many other states, multiple inmates escaped in the past year, and one has yet to be caught.

Feb 14, 2024 8:59 AM CST

‘Spirit of Aloha’ clashes with ‘federally mandated’ gun lifestyle, Hawaii Supreme Court says

The Hawaii Supreme Court has upheld state laws that generally ban carrying guns in public in an opinion that criticizes the U.S. Supreme Court’s historical approach to Second Amendment cases.

Feb 13, 2024 12:47 PM CST