‘United We Stand’: Lawyers must play crucial role in bringing our nation together

Unity is strength. The wisdom of that truth has been known since ancient times as reflected in Greek fables, such as Aesop's tales about The Four Oxen and the Lion and The Bundle of Sticks, and Chinese stories, such as The Five Chinese Brothers.

Jul 2, 2024 2:04 PM CDT

BigLaw firm was key in launching historic Stonewall project

Over the past few years, lawyers from international law firm Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner have devoted thousands of pro bono hours to helping create the Stonewall National Monument Visitor Center, set to open June 28 in New York City. It will be the first LGBTQIA+ visitor center within the National Park Service.

Jun 20, 2024 9:44 AM CDT

Want to understand the logic behind a Supreme Court opinion? Focus on footnotes, says professor

Numerous books have been written about the U.S. Supreme Court, including some by justices and former justices themselves. But a new book by Peter Charles Hoffer, a distinguished research professor at the University of Georgia, looks at historic rulings through a different lens in The Supreme Court Footnote: A Surprising History.

Jun 18, 2024 8:59 AM CDT

Survivors of Tulsa Race Massacre can’t get reparations under nuisance law, top Oklahoma court says

Updated: The Oklahoma Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld the dismissal of a lawsuit seeking reparations for the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre on behalf of two survivors who are 109 and 110 years old.

Jun 13, 2024 8:57 AM CDT

Public middle school can ban ‘There are only two genders’ T-shirt, 1st Circuit rules

A federal appeals court ruled Sunday that a middle school in Middleborough, Massachusetts, can prevent a student from wearing a “There are only two genders” T-shirt.

Jun 11, 2024 11:11 AM CDT

‘The Originalism Trap’ author wants to see originalism dead, dead, dead

Originalism is the ascendant legal theory espoused by conservative legal thinkers, including the majority of U.S. Supreme Court justices. But far from being an objective framework for constitutional interpretation, says author and attorney Madiba K. Dennie, its true purpose is to achieve conservative political aims regardless of the historical record.

Jun 5, 2024 9:04 AM CDT

June 20, 1981: Guilty verdicts in ‘Bayou of Pigs’ plot

Jun 1, 2024 12:10 AM CDT

No president has been convicted before, but this one was arrested

On Thursday, former president Donald Trump was convicted on 34 felony counts by a New York jury. This was the first time a former president was convicted of a crime. But a sitting president was arrested once.

May 31, 2024 12:30 PM CDT

Artificial intelligence used to replicate Brown v. Board of Education oral arguments

The retired law professor who founded the Oyez multimedia archive of U.S. Supreme Court materials has taken on a new project—creating an audio of the Brown v. Board of Education oral arguments using artificial intelligence.

May 21, 2024 2:32 PM CDT

Lawyer’s new book traces today’s true-crime fascination to salacious 1800s murder trial

The case of Polly Bodine is the subject of Alex Hortis’ new book, The Witch of New York. But a whodunnit is only part of the story that Hortis, the associate university counsel at the University of Maryland Baltimore, sets out to tell. The book’s subtitle shares the rest: “The cursed birth of tabloid justice.”

May 2, 2024 2:16 PM 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

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