ABA

Defense Lawyers Give Terror Effort a D+

In an article that has sparked lively debate on the Internet, the ABA Journal discusses the results of a poll of 50 defense lawyers about the legal system’s response to the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. Their answers weren’t confidence-inspiring. Although the defense lawyers felt that the judicial branch has…

Sep 4, 2007 10:47 PM CDT

Accounting for Lives

The 9/11 victim compensation fund worked. But what about the next time?

Sep 1, 2007 5:30 AM CDT

Reaching Out to Curb Terrorism

World Justice Project will advance rule of law by creating international “town square”

Sep 1, 2007 5:20 AM CDT

Engaged from the Start

The ABA has shaped the debate over the legal war on terrorism since 9/11

Sep 1, 2007 5:10 AM CDT

Gov’t Report Pans Law School Affirmative Action

In a controversial report, the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights may not call for an outright ban on law school affirmative action. But by putting its weight behind a 2004 study that says racial preferences may help propel disadvantaged minorities into academic programs for which they are not qualified, the…

Aug 30, 2007 5:06 PM CDT

ABA Objects to Death Penalty Proposal

The ABA is objecting to proposed rules that would permit streamlined habeas review in capital cases. The rules implement a little-noticed provision in the Patriot Act that gives the attorney general the power to permit states to use fast-track death penalty procedures if they provide adequate legal counsel, ABAJournal.com noted…

Aug 30, 2007 3:47 PM CDT

Law Students Worried About FAMU

Concerned about perceived problems, law students at Florida A & M University are criticizing—and in some cases leaving—the five-year-old taxpayer-funded institution. Vilma Martinez, for instance, has transferred from FAMU, in the state’s center, to Stetson University College of Law, on Florida’s gulf coast near her native Tampa, starting classes there…

Aug 22, 2007 7:09 PM CDT

ABA Prez Calls Attempts to Sway US Attys a ‘Corruption of Justice’

For the past several months, as public debate swirled over the alleged political firings of nine U.S. attorneys, the ABA has remained fairly quiet. But this week, the association’s policy-making body spoke out, and so did its new president. At a news conference, newly installed ABA President William H. Neukom…

Aug 15, 2007 2:12 PM CDT

ABA Speaks Out on Status of U.S. Attorneys

The ABA remained largely silent as Congress and the Bush administration wrangled during the past several months over whether the firings of nine U.S. attorneys were politically motivated or simply internal personnel decisions by the Department of Justice. But today, the ABA’s policy-making House of Delegates weighed in on the…

Aug 14, 2007 8:30 PM CDT

ABA Critical of US Atty Firings

Updated: A watered-down resolution on the controversial firing of nine U.S. Attorneys by the Justice Department has passed the ABA’s policy-making House of Delegates, which wound up its final day of business today in San Francisco. Plus, Alabama lawyer Tommy Wells was picked to head the ABA in 2008. On…

Aug 14, 2007 5:21 PM CDT

ABA Urges Congress to Override Exec Order

The ABA’s policy-making House of Delegates adopted a policy urging Congress to pass legislation that would in effect reverse the interrogation policy for the CIA that is set forth in an executive order issued by President Bush on July 20. The ABA policy also says Congress should affirm that interrogations…

Aug 14, 2007 3:13 AM CDT

ABA: End Forced Retirement

The ABA House of Delegates decided Monday that the time has come for law firms to put mandatory age-based retirement policies out to pasture. In addition to recommending that law firms end those policies, the House of Delegates urged that law firms evaluate their older partners on the basis of…

Aug 14, 2007 2:10 AM CDT

Neukom Takes Office as ABA President

As William Neukom takes office today as the ABA’s new president, one of his main goals is promoting the rule of law in the U.S. and abroad. The gavel was officially passed from outgoing President Karen Mathis to President-Elect Neukom at about 4:40 p.m. today at the ABA Annual Meeting…

Aug 13, 2007 11:47 PM CDT

Experts Warn: Subprime ‘Train Wreck’ Coming

Lots of folks are complaining these days about the evils of subprime loans and their connection to the record wave of mortgage foreclosures sweeping the nation. Now, with humongous jumps in interest rates looming in the fall and winter for many borrowers who took out of the risky loans, federal…

Aug 13, 2007 12:33 AM CDT

Panelists Ask: Who Owns Your Genes?

Michael Crichton, who fills a rather unique niche in turning science into literary fiction, says the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office goofed in dealing with one of the most fundamental aspects of life. It let our individual genes be patented by drug companies and other enterprises. And that is thanks…

Aug 13, 2007 12:12 AM CDT