Legal History

A tale of two silver markets—and two disasters

Rivalry between gold and silver touched off the Panic of 1893. Speculation roared back in 1980, when the billionaire Hunt brothers nearly cornered the silver market.

Jan 1, 2019 3:10 AM CST

Chemerinsky: Why 2018 was a pivotal year for the Supreme Court

The past year is sure to be regarded as pivotal in the history of the U.S. Supreme Court. The retirement of Anthony Kennedy and his replacement with Brett Kavanaugh likely will shape the court for decades.

Dec 21, 2018 6:00 AM CST

Dec. 2, 1892: Grand jury indicts Lizzie Borden

In November 1892, Fall River, Massachusetts, was an unremarkable New England mill town with a very remarkable problem: What to do with Lizzie Borden?

Dec 1, 2018 12:45 AM CST

Book about Jewish lawyers targeted in Nazi Germany resonates today

Lawyers Without Rights: The Fate of Jewish Lawyers in Berlin after 1933, by Simone Ladwig-Winters, is a chilling portrait through photos and narratives of how Jewish lawyers and jurists were degraded and debarred as the Holocaust began. Attorneys were arrested, imprisoned or forced to flee the country.

Nov 1, 2018 2:10 AM CDT

Nov. 22, 1926: The first Teapot Dome criminal trial begins

Albert B. Fall, secretary of the Interior under Warren G. Harding, was acquitted on charges of conspiracy to defraud the government, along with oilman Edward Doheny and his son, Edward Doheny Jr.

Nov 1, 2018 12:45 AM CDT

Caselaw Access Project gives free access to 360 years of American court cases

A major project digitizing court cases launched Monday, making available 6.4 million American cases dating back to 1658. The Caselaw Access Project—a partnership between Harvard Law School’s Library Innovation Lab and the legal research company Ravel Law—spent the last three years digitizing 627 reporters for a total of 40 million…

Oct 30, 2018 7:10 AM CDT

Oct. 6, 1949: ‘Tokyo Rose’ convicted of treason

Wartime radio propagandist Iva D’Aquino was pardoned by President Gerald Ford in 1977. She died in 2006 at age 90.

Oct 1, 2018 12:20 AM CDT

Sept. 19, 1952: US pushes Charlie Chaplin into exile

Charlie Chaplin was the subject of intense FBI scrutiny, public attacks by influential politicians, defamatory press accounts, national boycotts by citizenship groups, and criminal charges tied to his relationship with a young actress.

Sep 1, 2018 1:15 AM CDT

What would it mean to impeach a president? (podcast)

The authority to impeach and remove a U.S. president is one of the legislative branch's most powerful weapons. But in the country's history, despite many periods of open hostility between Congress and the executive branch, no president has been removed from office through the impeachment procedure. Why is that?

Jul 25, 2018 6:00 AM CDT

July 13, 1863: Draft lottery sparks NYC riots

The Enrollment Act of 1863 required male citizens between ages 20 and 45 to register for conscription. In New York, 119 died after a mob halted a conscription lottery that exempted black men and wealthy whites.

Jul 1, 2018 12:35 AM CDT

June 19, 1972: Curt Flood loses ‘reserve clause’ challenge

Baseball’s reserve clause allowed total team control of a player’s career. Baseball’s hold on the American imagination and control of player contracts allowed it to survive the 1919 Black Sox scandal, the Great Depression, segregation, franchise relocations and two major U.S. Supreme Court decisions.

Jun 1, 2018 12:35 AM CDT

The organized bar must address attacks on the judiciary

It is a critical time for all citizens, and especially lawyers, to remain vigilant to protect the independence of the judiciary.

In recent years, and in recent days, attacks on the judiciary have increased, while public understanding of the essential role of the judiciary has diminished.

May 31, 2018 7:15 AM CDT

Trump pardons late boxer Jack Johnson, convicted for transporting white woman across state lines

President Donald Trump granted a rare posthumous pardon to the first black heavyweight boxing champion, Jack Johnson, in a case in which he was convicted of transporting a white woman across state lines more than 100 years ago. Trump pardoned Johnson on Thursday, report the Associated Press, the New York…

May 24, 2018 12:39 PM CDT

First female justice of the peace gets obit after 116 years

The New York Times has published a belated obituary for a woman who became the country’s first female justice nearly 150 years ago. The trailblazing woman, Esther Morris, died in 1902 at 87. The Times published her obituary as part of its Overlooked series that makes amends for a history…

May 24, 2018 11:10 AM CDT

How Nixon used a law firm stint to resurrect his political career and win the presidency (podcast)

After losing both the 1960 presidential election and the 1962 California governor’s race, Richard Milhous Nixon vowed at a press conference: “You won’t have Nixon to kick around anymore” and seemed to have written the epitaph to his political career. He left for New York and became a partner in a white shoe law firm. Yet six years later, he would win the White House, in no small part because of that firm.

May 23, 2018 8:00 AM CDT