Legal History

Finding Accurate Law Text Online Nearly Impossible, Panelists Say #ABAChicago

It sounded easy. Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s counsel, Denley Chew, slapped down some $2 bills and challenged a room of lawyers and legal researchers with laptops and iPhones to find the authoritative text of the landmark Fugitive Slave Act online. “Authoritative” was the catch. The money remained untouched.…

Jul 31, 2009 6:38 PM CDT

Sotomayor a Shoo-In, WaPo’s Broder Says, as Experts Debate Value of Hearings

Updated: As careful in her judicial opinions as she has been in the confirmation hearings, Sonia Sotomayor has provided little drama to this week’s confirmation hearings for her historic elevation to a seat on the U.S. Supreme Court, writes David Broder in a Washington Post opinion column. She is a…

Jul 15, 2009 9:15 PM CDT

Would-Be Law Student Disappeared After 1938 Supreme Court Win

Lloyd Gaines achieved an important victory in 1938 when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled the black man had to be admitted to the University of Missouri School of Law if he couldn’t get a comparable education elsewhere in the state. But Gaines never became a law student, the New York…

Jul 13, 2009 4:39 PM CDT

July 11, 1921

Taft Becomes Chief Justice

Jul 1, 2009 11:50 PM CDT

Fearless Media Lawyer Mellows in HBO Documentary Filmed by Daughter

A documentary that highlights milestones in First Amendment history during the past century premieres tonight on HBO. Directed and produced by Liz Garbus, the movie, Shouting Fire: Stories from the Edge of Free Speech, also offers an unusually intimate view of her father, attorney Martin Garbus of Eaton & Van…

Jun 29, 2009 10:09 PM CDT

Mass. State Bar Admits 1st Graduate of Online Law School

For the first time ever, a graduate of an Internet-based law school has been admitted to practice in Massachusetts. Ross Mitchell was sworn in June 22, reports the National Law Journal. He earned his juris doctor degree at Concord Law School, which offers law classes online rather than in a…

Jun 26, 2009 4:29 PM CDT

Federal Judge Samuel Kent Resigns, as Senate Impeachment Trial Looms

After the Senate began gearing up yesterday for a historic impeachment trial of an imprisoned U.S. District Court judge, he had apparently already decided to throw in the towel. In a letter that he hand-delivered yesterday to two Senate officials who had come to serve him with a subpoena in…

Jun 25, 2009 10:05 PM CDT

US Senate Gears Up for Judge Kent’s Impeachment Trial

In a rarely seen legal ritual, the Senate received articles of impeachment from the House of Representatives today for the trial of U.S. District Judge Samuel Kent. The judge, who has been convicted of obstruction of justice concerning his initial testimony about nonconsensual sexual conduct with two female court employees…

Jun 24, 2009 7:13 PM CDT

DOJ Enters Fray Over Geronimo Skull Possibly Held By Yale Secret Society

In a filing on behalf of three high-level government officials—including President Barack Obama—who are named as defendants, the U.S. Department of Justice seeks to dismiss a federal lawsuit by descendants of the Apache warrior chieftan Geronimo that also names Yale University and a longtime secret society as defendants. The plaintiffs…

Jun 22, 2009 11:35 PM CDT

House Impeaches Judge Kent; Speedy Senate Trial Is Expected

Making legal history, the U.S. House of Representatives overwhelmingly voted today to impeach U.S. District Judge Samuel Kent. Not a single representative spoke on the imprisoned jurist’s behalf, and the vote on the first of four articles of impeachment was 389-0, reports the Houston Chronicle. All four were swiftly approved…

Jun 19, 2009 8:43 PM CDT

Justice Thomas’ Book Royalties Now Total $1.5M

Justice Clarence Thomas earned more last year in book royalties than he earned for his work on the U.S. Supreme Court. Thomas earned $300,000 last year in sales of his book, My Grandfather’s Son, boosting his total earnings from the memoir to $1.5 million, the Associated Press reports. Yet he…

Jun 8, 2009 2:24 PM CDT

5 Justices Quit Private Clubs; ‘Very Cool Graphic’ Shows Their Political Leanings

On a scale of deep blue (liberal) to dark red (conservative), U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas is the reddest of the red and Justice John Paul Stevens is as blue as it gets. At least, that’s what a color-coded timeline described by the Washington Post as a “very cool…

Jun 5, 2009 10:51 PM CDT

Sotomayor’s Nomination: Today’s News

ABAJournal.com: “Anita Hill Talks About Sotomayor and Her Own Clarence Thomas Testimony” ABAJournal.com: “Sotomayor Used ‘Wise Latina’ Line More than Once” Associated Press: “GOP Leader Not Ruling Out Blocking Sotomayor” Blog of Legal Times: “GW Prof to Advise Cornyn on Sotomayor Nomination” Christian Science Monitor: “Sotomayor a racist? Hardly, South…

Jun 5, 2009 10:26 PM CDT

Anita Hill Talks About Sotomayor and Her Own Clarence Thomas Testimony

Seventeen years after she became a household name by testifying about alleged sexual harassment by then-U.S. Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas, Anita Hill says she believes Obama administration nominee Sonia Sotomayor is a great choice because of her intellect, breadth of experience and respect for the rule of law. Hill,…

Jun 5, 2009 6:00 PM CDT

Pro Se Lawyer Wins Order to Depose Ex-President Bush in Property Dispute

Representing himself in a property dispute over the George W. Bush presidential library at Southern Methodist University, a Texas lawyer has won a highly unusual court order requiring a former president of the United States to appear for deposition. Lawyers for ex-president George W. Bush say they expect the order…

Jun 3, 2009 11:55 PM CDT