Constitutional Law

Book detailing 5 fights for democracy is among 2025 Silver Gavel Award winners

A new book about assaults on democracy by past American presidents is among the recipients of this year’s Silver Gavel Awards for Media and the Arts. The Presidents and the People: Five Leaders Who Threatened Democracy and the Citizens Who Fought to Defend It, written by Brown University professor Corey Brettschneider, took home the top prize in the books category.

May 14, 2025 11:00 AM CDT

Is lawyer advertising a good thing?

While snowbirding in Florida, I find I cannot escape the tsunami of lawyers’ billboard ads inundating the state’s roads and highways, trying to attract motorist related business.

May 14, 2025 10:49 AM CDT

The Next Day

Today is the next day I never imagined we would see. Attacks on the rule of law, judges, lawyers and the profession. The apparent disregard of due process. And now attacks on the ABA. All of this from our own government. The frequency and intensity show no sign of lessening.

May 14, 2025 10:00 AM CDT

Does Qatar’s gift of a luxury plane to US violate the emoluments clause?

Some Democratic lawmakers and ethics experts are raising concerns that a plan by Qatar, a country in the Middle East, to give a Boeing 747 jumbo jet worth about $400 million to the U.S. Department of Defense could be illegal and unconstitutional.

May 13, 2025 3:24 PM CDT

Court’s religious training order for attorneys ‘plainly exceeded remedial bounds,’ 5th Circuit says

A federal appeals court ruled last week that a federal judge erred when he required lawyers for Southwest Airlines to attend “religious liberty training” for failing to comply with a court order.

May 12, 2025 12:45 PM CDT

Federal judge orders release of detained Tufts student Rümeysa Öztürk

A federal judge ordered the government to release a Tufts University graduate student who was grabbed off the street in late March and detained for co-writing an opinion piece in a student newspaper criticizing the war in Gaza.

May 9, 2025 2:45 PM CDT

$2.6M settlement approved in suit claiming meditation program violated public school students’ religious rights

A federal judge in Chicago has approved a $2.6 million settlement in a class action lawsuit alleging that the Chicago Public Schools violated the establishment clause when it required students to participate in transcendental meditation or observe a half hour of silence.

May 8, 2025 12:53 PM CDT

Supreme Court allows ban on transgender troops to take effect

The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday allowed the Trump administration to enforce a ban on transgender troops while a legal challenge continues.

May 6, 2025 3:14 PM CDT

‘Let’s kill the lawyers I don’t like’ is Shakespearean approach of Trump order against Perkins Coie, judge says

A federal judge has granted a permanent injunction barring the Trump administration from enforcing a punitive executive order against Perkins Coie.

May 5, 2025 10:38 AM CDT

Law grad settles First Amendment suit against town that objected to her repurposed skeleton displays

A Tennessee woman who repurposed her outdoor Halloween skeletons for other holidays has settled her First Amendment lawsuit against a Memphis, Tennessee, suburb that gave her a citation for refusing to take them down.

May 1, 2025 11:58 AM CDT

Chief justice appears to be ‘pivotal vote’ in challenge to state-funded religious school in Oklahoma

Does the First Amendment allow or require Oklahoma to fund a Catholic charter school? Chief Justice John Roberts emerged as “a pivotal vote" on that question during oral arguments Wednesday, Bloomberg Law reports.

Apr 30, 2025 3:44 PM CDT

Lawyer disbarred for ‘shocking and outrageous’ conduct files $20M suit against ethics committee

A lawyer disbarred last year for using “unacceptably bigoted language” doesn’t give up easily.

Apr 30, 2025 9:23 AM CDT

9 in 10 Americans think government branches should be equal, ABA poll finds

Most Americans believe in the U.S. Constitution’s balance of powers, but a significant percentage of Americans want one branch of government to have more power than the others, according to the seventh ABA Survey of Civic Literacy.

Apr 29, 2025 11:17 AM CDT

Long-running Law Day program brings students to Yosemite National Park

For the past 12 years, students in east central California have come together to celebrate Law Day in Yosemite National Park. “It’s really cool to bring them in, show them they’re important, teach them something about civics and let them see the beautiful park,” Douglas Gordon, the co-chair of Yosemite Law Day, says.

Apr 23, 2025 10:00 AM CDT

Supreme Court majority appears to side with parents who object to instruction using LGBTQ storybooks

The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday appeared ready to rule for parents who argue that they have a right to exclude their children from school lessons involving storybooks with LGBTQ characters and themes, according to publications that covered the oral arguments.

Apr 22, 2025 3:19 PM CDT