Germany Charges Ex-SS Member, 90, in 58 Murders in 1945

Research by an Austrian student and a check of the telephone book led to a murder case against a 90-year-old former SS member. Adolf Storms, a former member of the 5th SS Panzer Division, is accused of playing a role in the March 29, 1945 murder of 57 Jewish forced…

Nov 17, 2009 11:30 PM CST

Attorney Charged With Attempted Murder in Bizarre Attack on Lawmaker

Watching his father fight a gut-wrenching legal battle motivated Augustus Mendenhall to go to law school. But the decades-old property dispute still festered, resulting in a bizarre incident this past weekend that left the 38-year-old attorney jailed in an attempted murder case and a 66-year-old Indiana state lawmaker battered and…

Nov 2, 2009 10:05 PM CST

Court Jester

Nov 2, 2009 3:40 AM CST

One of Clarence Darrow’s Letters to His Granddaughter Jessie

See the related article, “Court Jester.”

Nov 2, 2009 3:30 AM CST

A Closer Look

Long before Leopold and Loeb, long before O.J. and long before Michael, there was Leo Frank.

Nov 2, 2009 3:30 AM CST

November 16, 1939

Al Capone Released

Nov 2, 2009 12:00 AM CST

Paralegal Fights Search of His Home Over Tweets About Police Activities

While at least arguably participating in the protests of the G-20 meeting in Pittsburgh in September, Elliott Madison was arrested and spent some time in a local jail. But that wasn’t the worst of it. On Oct. 1, federal authorities raided his home in the Queens borough of New York…

Oct 26, 2009 5:13 PM CDT

Retired Justice O’Connor’s Family Home Is Moved to Museum

Retired Justice Sandra Day O’Connor’s family home was moved to Tempe, Ariz., as part of a museum exhibit opening this week that chronicles her achievements. O’Connor and her husband raised three sons in the 1,700-square-foot adobe house from 1958 to 1981, the Arizona Republic reports. The home’s 2,883 bricks were…

Oct 23, 2009 12:49 PM CDT

40 Years Later, ‘Chicago 7’ Trial Still an Iconic Event

A perfect storm of political unrest, generational conflict and a biased judge set the stage for a 1969 trial that is still memorable 40 years later for its drama and iconic import, participants in an American Bar Association panel told a standing-room-only audience Tuesday. Although the months-long Chicago Seven conspiracy…

Oct 21, 2009 10:00 AM CDT

Great Depression Chronicled in Diary of Lawyer Who Lived Through It

The diary of Ohio lawyer Benjamin Roth shines a light on the history of the Depression through the eyes of a man who lived through it. The short diary entries, written in the 1930s, “brim with the frustration of a man trying to save his failing law practice,” the Washington…

Oct 19, 2009 1:10 PM CDT

Novel About Wily 16th-Century Lawyer & Adviser to Henry VIII Wins Rave Reviews

It may not be the best choice for those seeking winter resort reading. But a challenging novel about a 16th-century lawyer who served as a top advisor to Henry VIII is winning rave reviews both in the United Kingdom and the United States. Hilary Mantel’s Wolf Hall brings Thomas Cromwell…

Oct 9, 2009 11:10 PM CDT

Identical Twin Doctors in Related Pedophilia Cases Get Separate Trials

In a criminal case that sounds like a law school exam hypothetical, two identical twin pediatricians in Ohio are both accused of having sex with underage males, including some patients, and are expected to go to trial at roughly the same time. But the 53-year-old physicians will be tried separately,…

Oct 9, 2009 9:29 PM CDT

Record ‘Phish Phry’ Bank Cybercrime Bust Nets 100 in US & Egypt

Authorities have announced charges against 100 individuals in the United States and Egypt in what they say is the largest such case ever pursued in the U.S. Operation Phish Phry netted 53 defendants in the U.S. and 47 in Egypt. They are accused of stealing money from thousands of Bank…

Oct 7, 2009 9:46 PM CDT

Retirement of Justice Stevens Would Allow Release of Potter Stewart Papers

Last month, court watchers noted that Justice John Paul Stevens has hired only one law clerk for 2010, leading to speculation he would announce his retirement at the end of the Supreme Court term. If that happens, a new window will open, former Supreme Court reporter Linda Greenhouse writes in…

Oct 2, 2009 12:01 PM CDT

No More Kabuki Confirmations

There are better ways to vet a Supreme Court nominee

Oct 2, 2009 4:50 AM CDT