Legal History

How Pop Culture Defines Abe Lincoln

Do you know the real Abe Lincoln, or have film, television and advertising implanted a myth of America’s 16th president in your mind? Marking the bicentennial year of Lincoln’s birth, the American Bar Association will be examining that thesis in a free public program from 5 to 6:30 p.m. on…

Feb 19, 2009 6:16 PM CST

Lincoln’s Legacy as a Lawyer Is Remembered on His 200th Birthday

Although best-remembered as a U.S. president at a time of national turmoil, Abraham Lincoln was also a skilled trial lawyer who at one point argued before the U.S. Supreme Court. Today, on the 200th anniversary of his birth, his advice and approach to practice are still timely, reports the Southeast…

Feb 12, 2009 11:00 AM CST

Before Rosa Parks, Alabama Teen Protested Bus Segregation

Claudette Colvin got little support in 1955 when she refused to give up her seat on a Montgomery, Ala., bus for a white woman. Colvin was only 15 when she refused to budge from her seat, and many classmates shunned her after her arrest, the Associated Press reports. Black leaders…

Feb 11, 2009 5:39 PM CST

Timothy Cole, Who Died in Prison in 1999, Exonerated Today in Texas Rape

In what is apparently the first posthumous DNA exoneration in the history of Texas, a state court judge today ordered that Timothy Cole’s rape conviction should be reversed and removed from his record. Convicted in 1986 of raping a student at Texas Tech University the previous year, he died in…

Feb 7, 2009 12:36 AM CST

Mammoth Discovery Delays Work on New Thomas Jefferson Site in Calif.

A significant discovery of fossilized mammoth bones—including the first skull ever found in San Diego County—will delay the construction of the new downtown San Diego building of Thomas Jefferson School of Law for several weeks. A law school press release includes photos of the find, and says it was immediately…

Feb 5, 2009 6:30 PM CST

NY Times: ‘Most-Wanted Nazi War Criminal’ Died in 1992

A physician accused of atrocities while working as a concentration camp doctor at a during World War II was believed to be still alive and in hiding in South America. But it is now clear that Aribert Heim died in Egypt in 1992, reports the New York Times. Known as…

Feb 4, 2009 11:01 PM CST

Rehnquist Led ‘Seismic Shift’ on Supreme Court, Chief Justice Roberts Says

The late William H. Rehnquist was one of the most important leaders the U.S. Supreme Court has ever had, the former Rehnquist clerk who followed in his footsteps and became the nation’s chief justice said in a lecture at the University of Arizona’s law school today. After Rehnquist, who was…

Feb 4, 2009 10:03 PM CST

Justices with Power or Ideological Mission Less Likely to Retire

There are two kinds of U.S. Supreme Court justices who are less likely to retire: those who have power, and those who don’t have it but retain a strong sense of ideological mission. That’s the conclusion of two Santa Clara University political science professors, Terri Peretti and Alan Rozzi, the…

Feb 3, 2009 3:23 PM CST

‘Broad Doctrinal Shift’ Expected at DOJ as Eric Holder is OK’d as AG

In an expected confirmation, the U.S. Senate has confirmed Eric H. Holder Jr. as the nation’s first African-American attorney general. “Though debate quickly turned partisan when his chief supporter denounced Republicans who sought a pledge not to prosecute intelligence agents who participated in harsh interrogations, the Senate still confirmed Holder…

Feb 2, 2009 11:57 PM CST

Abraham Lincoln, Esq.

The work of lawyers today has much in common with the law practice of our 16th president

Feb 2, 2009 5:49 AM CST

A Docket That Reflects Then And Now

Few lawyers today have a practice as diverse as Abraham Lincoln’s was in the years before the Civil War. But it was a caseload that still should sound familiar to lawyers practicing today.

Feb 2, 2009 5:40 AM CST

Eloquence in One Draft

Abraham Lincoln usually went through several drafts when he prepared speeches or wrote letters for publication in newspapers.

Feb 2, 2009 5:29 AM CST

The Common Touch at Trial

Much of Abraham Lincoln’s law practice unfolded in the 8th Judicial Circuit in central Illinois.

Feb 2, 2009 5:20 AM CST

Training Ground for the Presidency

When Lincoln was elected president in 1860, he had less experience in public office than almost every president who had preceded him. His career in government amounted to eight years in the Illinois General Assembly and another two in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Feb 2, 2009 5:10 AM CST

More Than Just a Bill of Lading

The signing of the Emancipation Proclamation is one of the great moments in American history. At the time, even President Lincoln had to calm himself down. He was so nervous and excited that his hands were shaking, but he didn’t want that to show in his signature for fear someone…

Feb 2, 2009 5:00 AM CST