Joyce Hens Green, a pioneering woman on the federal bench, dies at 95

Joyce Hens Green, who helped blaze a trail for women in the law while serving as a Washington attorney and federal judge, presiding over high-profile cases involving the BCCI bank fraud scandal and the rights of detainees at Guantánamo Bay, has died. She was 95.

Oct 18, 2024 8:10 AM CDT

Sept. 11 defense lawyer, winner of ABA Journal’s 2024 Ross Writing Contest, recognizes humanity of reviled clients

Updated: A former public defender who represents a detainee at Guantanamo Bay is the winner of the 2024 ABA Journal/Ross Writing Contest for Legal Short Fiction.

Jul 9, 2024 11:08 AM CDT

Former lawyer will be retried for murder after top Georgia court overturns conviction

Prosecutors are planning to retry a former Atlanta lawyer after his murder conviction was overturned Tuesday by the Georgia Supreme Court.

May 6, 2024 9:26 AM CDT

‘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

Weekly Briefs: Another BigLaw merger; SCOTUS is ‘more of an advocacy group,’ Biden says

News Roundup

Oct 14, 2022 2:43 PM CDT

ABA policy summit yields recommendations for racial equity and social justice

“Since the 2020 presidential election, the Biden-Harris administration has offered policy correctives on a spectrum of civil rights and social justice issues. Still, we have more to accomplish,” writes ABA Journal columnist Engy Abdelkader.

Apr 4, 2022 9:50 AM CDT

Did Jackson call Bush and Rumsfeld war criminals? Sen. Durbin has an explanation

U.S. Supreme Court nominee Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson seemed puzzled when Republican senators accused her Tuesday of labeling former President George W. Bush and the late Donald Rumsfeld, a former secretary of the Department of Defense, as war criminals.

Mar 22, 2022 2:25 PM CDT

Sen. Graham questions Jackson about her advocacy for Guantanamo detainees

Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina asked U.S. Supreme Court Judge nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson on Tuesday whether she was bothered “as an American” by the release of Guantanamo detainees.

Mar 22, 2022 12:10 PM CDT

Sotomayor and Gorsuch dissent in SCOTUS decision blocking information about secret CIA jail

Mar 3, 2022 1:28 PM CST

Former prisoner at CIA black sites is first person to describe torture there in open court

An Al-Qaida courier testified Thursday about beatings, waterboarding and other abuses that he endured at former CIA black sites for three years beginning in 2003.

Oct 29, 2021 12:32 PM CDT

Afternoon Briefs: Webinar considers legal profession’s caregiving bias; animal rights lawyer pleads guilty

Webinar will consider caregiving bias in legal profession The ABA Commission on Women in the Profession will examine how the legal profession can ensure the success of mothers and caregivers in a July 28 webinar titled “Motherhood and Caregiving Bias in the Legal Profession: Dismantling the Systemic Barriers to Equity.”…

Jul 19, 2021 4:26 PM CDT

ABA files amicus brief in Guantanamo detainee’s case

A Yemeni citizen who allegedly maintained contact with several affiliates of Al Qaeda and two associated terrorist organizations until he was brought to Guantanamo Bay in 2004 is entitled to due process in the hearing challenging his detention, the ABA told the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit on Friday.

Jul 6, 2021 12:00 PM CDT

SCOTUS will hear case involving FBI surveillance of Muslim community and state secrets privilege

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday agreed to consider the government’s ability to invoke the state secrets privilege to defeat a lawsuit accusing the FBI of illegally spying on the Muslim community.

Jun 7, 2021 12:06 PM CDT

Afternoon Briefs: Legal industry jobs jump again; Boies Schiller emails admissible at former CEO’s trial

Legal industry gains 1,700 jobs in May The legal services industry gained 1,700 jobs in May, according to seasonally adjusted numbers released Friday by U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The industry had a total 1,138,500 jobs, which is 40,600 more jobs than in May 2020, a period when the industry…

Jun 4, 2021 4:02 PM CDT

Detainee’s quest for information on secret CIA interrogation site will get Supreme Court review

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday agreed to decide whether the state-secrets privilege protects information about a secret CIA jail in Poland in a lawsuit by a suspected terrorist.

Apr 26, 2021 3:10 PM CDT