ABA Journal

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Trump's 'big lie' defamation suit against CNN says he shouldn't have to show actual malice by network

Former President Donald Trump has filed a defamation lawsuit against CNN alleging that the network has undertaken a “smear campaign” that maligns him “with a barrage of negative associations and innuendos.”



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Claiming to have 4.3 trillion readers, the Onion supports parodist and its writers' paychecks in SCOTUS brief

Updated: The satirical website the Onion deems itself to be “the single most powerful and influential organization in human history” in an amicus brief urging the U.S. Supreme Court to hear the case of an Ohio man who was prosecuted for creating a parody Facebook page for the local police department.



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SCOTUS accepts case on scope of attorney-client privilege

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday agreed to decide when attorney-client privilege protects “dual-purpose” documents that gave legal advice and also discussed the preparation of tax documents.



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Minnesota group ships law books to Africa

A law book can change a life. Donations from 117 law libraries to 24 African countries have changed millions of lives and helped to establish the rule of law across the continent, says Lane Ayres, director of the Jack Mason Law & Democracy Initiative of Books for Africa.



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Chaplain's prayer before court isn't coercive, doesn't violate establishment clause, 5th Circuit rules

A federal appeals court has rejected an establishment clause challenge to chaplain-led prayer before court sessions at a justice of the peace court in Texas.



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Examining the Bar: Should law grads need to pass the bar to practice?

The profession often has a hard time with change, and some have said there’s a sense that keeping a bar exam will likely assure people in power that wealthy clients won’t be harmed by admissions alternatives. Nevertheless, lawyers interviewed by the ABA Journal say it’s important that states are even considering changes at all.



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Runaway Sentences: Truck driver's 110-year sentence sparks new focus on mandatory minimums

Standing in front of a judge, tears in his eyes, Rogel Aguilera-Mederos wanted to say something before being sentenced for killing four people and injuring six others after he lost control of his runaway truck on a Colorado highway. At 26 years old, he was facing the possibility of spending the rest of his life in prison.



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How social media hijacked the Depp v. Heard defamation trial

Law firms are wondering what steps they can take to prevent bias like this going forward. And if they can’t prevent it, how can they use social media apps like TikTok in their favor?



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Will mandatory arbitration be banned beyond in workplace sex assault and harassment complaints?

Forced arbitration has long been a controversial practice in the United States. At least one component of forced arbitration, however, has now ended.



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Tulsa Reckoning: An ongoing lawsuit seeks justice for massacre victims

With the clock ticking, the stakes are high. This case could be the “last best hope” for the survivors to see some form of justice before they die. “This massacre impacted Black people around this nation. This is a win that we need as a people.”



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