Legal History

SCOTUS justices who look to ‘advocacy history’ find reasons to undermine precedent

Does the weight and meaning of a U.S. Supreme Court decision turn on the arguments presented beforehand? Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. appeared to suggest that the answer was yes during oral arguments on the constitutionality of a Mississippi abortion law that bans abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy.

Dec 15, 2021 2:33 PM CST

Weekly Briefs: Emmett Till probe closed; Black couple’s suit says appraisal changed with pretend white homeowner

DOJ closes Emmett Till investigation The U.S. Department of Justice has closed its reopened investigation into the 1955 murder of Emmett Till, the 14-year-old Black youth tortured and shot in Mississippi after he was accused of making sexual advances toward a white woman in her store. The woman had testified…

Dec 10, 2021 3:17 PM CST

Dec. 13, 1920: The Bisbee deportations are upheld

On the morning of July 12, 1917, Mrs. H.R. McLellan was startled by the sight of hundreds of men marching just below her Bisbee, Arizona, home. From her house on Chihuahua Hill, she could see them filing down Naco Road, escorted by men carrying rifles. Her husband immediately surmised what was happening: a roundup of the mining town’s striking smelter workers.

Dec 1, 2021 12:10 AM CST

America’s fights over medical treatment choices didn’t start with COVID-19 and ivermectin

Like the legal profession, the practice of medicine in the United States is highly regulated. But it hasn't always been, and the idea that a person has the right to try the medical therapies of their choice has a much longer history. In Choose Your Medicine: Freedom of Therapeutic Choice in America, law professor Lewis A. Grossman introduces readers to a fractious history with some unexpected combatants—and comrades.

Nov 24, 2021 8:48 AM CST

Convictions of 2 men for murdering Malcolm X are tossed after new investigation

Updated: A New York judge tossed the convictions of two men in the murder of Malcolm X on Thursday following a 22-month investigation finding that key evidence had been withheld from the defense.

Nov 18, 2021 3:55 PM CST

Discover the man behind ‘12 Angry Men’ and the real-life case that inspired him

Whenever the ABA Journal has conducted a survey to find the best legal movies or the best legal plays, 12 Angry Men has made the list. But the path to becoming a classic was not a simple one, and the man behind the script was not a simple man.

Nov 10, 2021 8:58 AM CST

UC Hastings law school will advocate for name change because of namesake’s role in massacres

The University of California's Hastings College of the Law in San Francisco will press California lawmakers to change the school’s name because of its founder’s role in the massacres of hundreds of Native Americans.

Nov 3, 2021 11:48 AM CDT

‘Groveland Four’ were wrongly accused in 1949, prosecutor says in motion to clear their names

A Florida prosecutor has filed a motion to clear the names of four young Black men known as "the Groveland Four," who were wrongly accused of raping a 17-year-old white woman in Lake County, Florida, in 1949.

Oct 28, 2021 12:03 PM CDT

Founder’s role in massacres leads to reckoning for Hastings law school

Corrected: The chancellor and dean of the University of California's Hastings College of the Law in San Francisco is grappling with calls for a school name change after revelations that its namesake, Serranus Clinton Hastings, helped organize the massacres of hundreds of Native Americans.

Oct 28, 2021 9:25 AM CDT

When most of law school faculty were straight white men, how did those who were not bring change?

This month’s Asked and Answered podcast looks at how work environments have changed for female law school faculty.

Oct 25, 2021 9:04 AM CDT

Typo in 1928 Supreme Court opinion created ‘reign of error,’ law prof says

A tiny typographical error in a 1928 U.S. Supreme Court opinion had a big impact after it was picked up in subsequent opinions and used to bolster arguments for property rights, a law professor has found.

Oct 19, 2021 1:18 PM CDT

Trump suit says executive privilege can’t be waived by Biden in Capitol records fight

Former President Donald Trump filed a lawsuit Monday that calls the U.S. House of Representative's Jan. 6 committee’s request for records in connection with the U.S. Capitol riot “a vexatious, illegal fishing expedition.”

Oct 19, 2021 12:25 PM CDT

How SCOTUS enabled police abuses of civil rights⁠—and what we can do about it

Much has been said about police officers and departments who violate civil rights or enforce the law in discriminatory ways. But not as much attention has been paid to the ways in which the U.S. Supreme Court has enabled police excesses and insulated police from civil or criminal responsibility, says Erwin Chemerinsky, the dean of the University of California at Berkeley School of Law and author of the new book Presumed Guilty: How the Supreme Court Empowered the Police and Subverted Civil Rights.

Oct 13, 2021 8:56 AM CDT

Does executive privilege still protect Trump after his term ends? Fight brews over congressional subpoenas

Former President Donald Trump is asserting executive privilege to fight a request for presidential records sought by the House Select Committee investigating the Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol riot. Can he do that after his presidential term ends?

Oct 12, 2021 12:28 PM CDT

Nov. 30, 1920: Charlie Ponzi pleads guilty to larceny

By the time he reached his third stretch in prison, Carlo “Charlie” Ponzi was an American celebrity. In a single remarkable year, 1920, the smooth-talking Italian immigrant made money as fast as anyone, ever. In a matter of months, he took in more than $15 million ($200 million today); but by year’s end he had also been arrested, indicted and convicted for a scheme that came to bear his name.

Oct 1, 2021 12:10 AM CDT