Martin Luther King Jr. offers insight into ‘justice for all’

"In a real sense all life is interrelated. All men are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly." —Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Mar 1, 2016 2:20 AM CST

March 14, 1984: The savings and loan crisis begins

On the morning of March 14, 1984, a team of federal regulators arrived at an inconspicuous strip mall in the eastern Dallas suburb of Mesquite to seize control of what had been one of the nation's fastest-growing thrift institutions, Empire Savings and Loan.

Mar 1, 2016 12:30 AM CST

Widow, son and daughter of courthouse shooter get life terms in cyberstalking case

The widow, son and daughter of a man who fatally shot two women at a Delaware courthouse in 2013 have been sentenced to life terms in a first-of-its-kind federal cyberstalking case. Lenore Matusiewicz, David Matusiewicz and Amy Gonzalez were convicted by a Wilmington jury last year of cyberstalking causing death.…

Feb 19, 2016 10:15 AM CST

Trial begins in 10 ‘Grim Sleeper’ slayings

More than 30 years after the first death in the case, a 63-year-old California man accused of being a serial killer is facing trial. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty if Lonnie David Franklin Jr. is convicted in the Los Angeles case. In addition to 10 murder counts for slayings…

Feb 16, 2016 1:20 PM CST

Sirhan denied parole in 1968 slaying of Robert Kennedy, for 15th time

For the 15th time, the convicted slayer of Robert F. Kennedy was denied parole on Wednesday by California’s Board of Parole Hearings. Pressed to express remorse, Sirhan Sirhan, 71, told the board he didn’t remember shooting Kennedy in 1968, just after the Democratic presidential candidate had delivered a victory speech…

Feb 11, 2016 2:05 PM CST

OJ Simpson: Ads for TV series about my murder trial are too hard on Johnnie Cochran

More than 20 years after O.J. Simpson was acquitted of murdering his ex-wife and a male friend in what was billed as the trial of the century, a critically acclaimed cable television series about the Los Angeles courtroom drama is premiering. Based on a book by former prosecutor Jeffrey Toobin,…

Feb 3, 2016 3:15 PM CST

After years of legal battle, Mexican immigrant becomes a New York lawyer

Cesar Vargas, brought to this country from Mexico as a 5-year-old, has lived in the U.S. without documentation for most of his life. Nonetheless, he graduated from college and law school and, in 2011, passed the New York bar exam. And, on Wednesday, after years of legal battle, largely because…

Feb 3, 2016 2:05 PM CST

Oregon occupiers were charged under law originally aimed at Civil War secessionists

Oregon militants who occupied a national wildlife refuge were charged under a law originally enacted 154 years ago to target Confederate sympathizers. Police arrested the group’s leader, Ammon Bundy, and four others on Tuesday as they traveled to a community meeting where Bundy was slated to speak. Other arrests followed.…

Feb 1, 2016 6:45 AM CST

Meet the father of the landmark lawsuit that secured basic rights for immigrant minors

At first, Carlos Holguín was skeptical. A well-known actor in Hollywood called seeking help for his housekeeper's daughter after immigration authorities arrested and detained the girl for being in the country illegally.

Feb 1, 2016 5:00 AM CST

NYC law firm buries a time capsule to celebrate its 125th birthday

The law firm of Seward & Kissel found a unique way to commemorate a rare milestone: In celebration of its 125th birthday, the firm buried a time capsule in Battery Park outside the firm's New York office.

Feb 1, 2016 3:40 AM CST

After his first decade, Alito is ‘every bit as conservative as conservatives could have dreamed’

A crowd of several hundred people gathered in the auditorium of the National Archives building in Washington, D.C., last fall to hear a conversation with a member of the U.S. Supreme Court who usually remains far from the limelight. Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr., who was approaching his 10th anniversary…

Feb 1, 2016 2:40 AM CST

Feb. 26, 1993: The World Trade Center is bombed

Long before they became a symbol of national grief and anger, the twin towers of the World Trade Center in south Manhattan were tourist landmarks in New York City's skyline—the most conspicuous two buildings of seven that composed a colossal hive of capitalism dwarfing the surrounding neighborhood.

Feb 1, 2016 12:30 AM CST

Scalia: God has been good to US because ‘we have done him honor’

Our country’s constitutional traditions do not require government to be neutral between religion and nonreligion, Justice Antonin Scalia said on Saturday in a speech to Catholic high school students. Scalia said government can’t favor one religion over another, but government has been allowed to support religion over nonreligion for hundreds…

Jan 4, 2016 8:51 AM CST

Jan. 17, 1893: Hawaii’s monarchy ends

Jan 1, 2016 12:30 AM CST

10 most important legal stories of 2015

As the ABA Journal staff looked back over the past year, these were the 10 legal stories which seemed the most important and prominent. ABA Journal legal affairs writer Victor Li provides a summary of each below. 1. Love wins. Proponents of marriage equality couldn’t have asked for a better…

Dec 29, 2015 8:15 AM CST