Constitutional Law

Big-Firm Alumni Have Van, Will Practice

Three former big-firm attorneys in Atlanta have made a name for themselves in a way that would have been hard to predict years ago. Jamie Hernan, Christopher Taylor and Jerome Lee have not only left King & Spalding and formed their own firm but bought a van in which they…

Sep 11, 2007 11:47 PM CDT

Rape Victim Sues Judge Over R-Word Ban

An alleged acquaintance-rape victim has sued the Nebraska judge who banned her from using the word “rape” in testimony, in what her lawyer describes as a troubling trend. A federal lawsuit filed in Lincoln contends Lancaster County District Judge Jeffre Cheuvront violated Tory Bowen’s rights of due process and free…

Sep 10, 2007 4:39 PM CDT

1940s Justice Influences Terrorism Cases

A justice of the U.S. Supreme Court in the 1940s has had a major influence in several recent opinions, thanks to one of his former clerks—U.S. Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens. Stevens has relied on World War II-era opinions written by Justice Wiley B. Rutledge, who served on the…

Sep 8, 2007 1:53 PM CDT

Explicit Web Site Justifies Cop Firing, Court Rules

The First Amendment does not protect an Arizona police officer fired for posting sexually explicit videos on a Web site, a federal appeals court has ruled. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals held that the city of Chandler was not liable for firing policeman Ronald Dible, the Arizona Daily…

Sep 7, 2007 1:58 PM CDT

Patriot Act Ruling Could Curtail FBI Technique

A federal judge’s decision yesterday striking down parts of the USA Patriot Act could cut the FBI’s use of national security letters to gather customer information from telecommunications companies for terrorism investigations. The decision said the revisions violated the First Amendment by giving the FBI wide discretion to make case-by-case…

Sep 7, 2007 1:23 PM CDT

Terrorism Trial Scorecard

A little over a year ago, the U.S. Department of Justice issued a 68-page report that listed what the DOJ considers the country’s major terrorism cases. In an article that is part of a special terrorism issue, the ABA Journal now uses the report as a basis for a scorecard…

Sep 7, 2007 10:40 AM CDT

No Courtroom Jihad in Moussaoui Trial

The judge and the lawyers wanted a fair trial. Terrorism defendant Zacarias Moussaoui wanted something different: a courtroom jihad against the United States. “He fought with the judge. He fought with his lawyers. Eventually, he fought with the prosecutors in a riveting cross-examination. But all of those battles were in…

Sep 7, 2007 9:59 AM CDT

Judge: Patriot Act Threatens Constitutional System

Warning of “potential dire effects to individual freedoms,” a federal judge in New York has struck down revisions to the USA Patriot Act for violating the First Amendment and restricting the power of the courts to rule on the constitutional issue. The decision was a victory for the American Civil…

Sep 6, 2007 6:26 PM CDT

Law Prof Battled Bush at the White House

What many contend was an excessive use of executive power by President George W. Bush is suddenly the topic of the month. An insider who happens to be a law professor has written something of a tell-all book on the subject, and major publications are vying to offer the most…

Sep 6, 2007 12:29 AM CDT

Philippines Abortions: Illegal, Yet Done

Abortions are illegal in the Philippines, but that doesn’t prevent women from having an estimated 500,000 annually. Some 80,000 reportedly are treated in hospitals each year for complications from induced abortions, and another 800 die. Methods commonly used include a “massage” by a midwife or ingesting a concoction of drugs,…

Sep 5, 2007 3:29 PM CDT

Trial of Millennium: Osama Bin Laden

It’s not a real trial, of course. But some of the country’s best-known lawyers are talking about how they would defend the nation’s most-wanted terrorism suspect, if they were lucky—or unlucky—enough to draw the job of representing Osama bin Laden, were he to be captured. The case would probably start…

Sep 5, 2007 10:09 AM CDT

ACLJ is Key Contender in Religious Cases

Most lawyers are probably familiar with the ACLU. Far fewer attorneys may have heard of the ACLJ. However, the two civil rights organizations—sometimes fighting together and sometimes on opposing sides—are both key players in ongoing efforts to protect religious rights. The ACLJ—American Center for Law and Justice—is a leading Christian…

Sep 5, 2007 12:44 AM CDT

Counsel Waiver Before En Banc Court

A federal appeals court has granted en banc review in the case of a man who fired his lawyer and represented himself at trial, resulting in a conviction for making bomb threats. The full Atlanta-based 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals will consider what constitutes a valid waiver of a…

Sep 4, 2007 2:12 PM CDT

But Is It War?

Conservatives debate the limits of executive power post-9/11

Sep 1, 2007 7:30 AM CDT

The Architects

The Bush administration lawyers who created the blueprint for the legal war on terror

Sep 1, 2007 7:15 AM CDT