Legal History

Has constitutional-convention threshold already been met? It happened in 1979, GOP lawmaker says

The 34-state threshold for calling a constitutional convention has already been reached, if the U.S. Constitution’s Article V counts any state request for a convention, no matter what the topic, according to a professor at the Georgetown University Law Center.

Dec 17, 2024 2:15 PM CST

When judges turn to Christmas movies for help

’Tis the season for the staple of classic Christmas movies. They leave lasting memories for everyone—and for some judges, that includes calling them back for assistance when deciding cases.

Dec 17, 2024 11:31 AM CST

Biden should pardon Trump, as well as Trump’s enemies, says Watergate figure John Dean

Former lawyer and Nixon White House counsel John Dean is suggesting that President Joe Biden should go further with his pardons.

Dec 5, 2024 9:19 AM CST

Dec. 22, 1984: ‘Subway Vigilante’ Bernhard Goetz wounds 4 in NYC

Three days before Christmas 1984, New Yorker Bernhard Goetz was riding south on a subway train in lower Manhattan when he was approached by four teens. After one asked him for $5, the 37-year-old self-employed engineer pulled a .38-caliber Smith & Wesson revolver from a waistband holster and fired five times, leaving each of them wounded.

Dec 1, 2024 12:10 AM CST

What went wrong—and right—with 10 famous trials

In How Would You Decide? 10 Famous Trials That Changed History, J. Craig Williams examines cases and trials from history through the lens of a modern trial lawyer.

Nov 25, 2024 10:25 AM CST

Theodore B. Olson, conservative lawyer who backed marriage equality, dies at 84

Theodore B. Olson, a conservative constitutional lawyer who argued the 2000 Florida vote-recount case that helped George W. Bush secure the presidency and later helped lead the case that overturned California’s 2008 ban on same-sex marriage, has died. He was 84.

Nov 13, 2024 9:30 AM CST

Meet the sheriffs who believe they are ‘The Highest Law in the Land’

In The Highest Law in the Land: How the Unchecked Power of Sheriffs Threatens Democracy, lawyer and journalist Jessica Pishko takes a deep dive into the history of this position in American life and at a far-right movement hoping to co-opt it.

Oct 24, 2024 1:30 PM CDT

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

Law professor Jonathan Turley discusses free speech at ABA Crossroads Caucus event

In a scoop any journalist would envy, the ABA Crossroads Caucus welcomed professor Jonathan Turley to the first-ever public event to discuss his new book, The Indispensable Right: Free Speech in an Age of Rage, just ahead of its planned release by Simon & Schuster. The program, held Aug. 3 at the ABA Annual Meeting, drew a broad audience, including then-ABA President Mary Smith, past ABA President Deborah Enix-Ross, numerous members of the ABA Board of Governors and at least one retired judge.

Oct 9, 2024 10:23 AM CDT

SCOTUS immunity decision may have protected crimes in Nixon White House, 9th Circuit judge says

White House “plumbers” who broke into the office of the psychiatrist treating the man who leaked the Pentagon Papers may have had immunity for their crimes if the U.S. Supreme Court’s July immunity decision had governed the cases, according to an op-ed by a federal appeals judge.

Oct 8, 2024 3:54 PM CDT

Formidable Foe

Lawyers who know Roberta Kaplan say they weren’t surprised when she agreed to represent writer E. Jean Carroll in her litigation against former President Donald Trump, even though it meant being the subject of intense media scrutiny. Kaplan, her friends say, isn’t the type of person to be intimidated.

Oct 1, 2024 3:30 AM CDT

Justice for Survivors: ABA Commission on Domestic & Sexual Violence marks 30 years of advocacy

The ABA Commission on Domestic & Sexual Violence celebrates its 30th anniversary this year. Over the past three decades, the commission has become a nationally recognized leader, committed to equipping lawyers, judges and advocates with technical assistance and comprehensive training on survivors’ complex legal issues.

Oct 1, 2024 12:20 AM CDT

Oct. 26-31, 1948: A deadly fog kills 20 in a Pennsylvania company town

On Tuesday, Oct. 26, 1948, a peculiarly dirty mist settled over Donora. Smog was a fact of industrial life. And in Donora, seated low in the Monongahela River Valley, heavy smog sometimes required streetlamps at midday. But this fog, stalled by a stubborn cold front, grew viscous and increasingly toxic as the week wore on.

Oct 1, 2024 12:10 AM CDT

ABA will bring lawyers to the UK to celebrate historic 1924 visit

In 1924, J. Carroll Hayes penned a detailed account of “a most unique occurrence in the legal world”—the first ABA visit to the United Kingdom. This fall, the International Law Section will commemorate this historic meeting of the minds with “100 Years of the ABA in the United Kingdom: Tradition, Innovation and Influence.”

Sep 26, 2024 12:22 PM CDT

Multitalented lawyer turns passion for Hawaiian history into new film

By day, Lance Collins is a lawyer. By night, (and sometimes day) he’s also a filmmaker, book editor and music producer. Now, he can add another title to his eclectic resumé: screenwriter for a feature-length film now playing on a streaming service near you. “When it comes to my time,” Collins says, “every minute is accounted for.”

Sep 24, 2024 8:48 AM CDT