Law in Popular Culture

Harper Lee will release sequel to ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’

Legendary author Harper Lee, whose only published novel To Kill a Mockingbird is a classic in both general and legal genres, is finally coming out with another book 55 years later, the Associated Press and New York Times report. The new work, Go Set a Watchman, will be released July…

Feb 3, 2015 12:15 PM CST

2014’s Blawg 100 top vote getters

After ABA Journal editors chose their 100 favorite law blogs for 2014, polls were open to the public. More than 10,000 votes later, the following blogs can claim bragging rights for winning the popular vote: Careers/Law School Best Practices for Legal Education bestpracticeslegaled.albanylawblogs.org Criminal Justice Defrosting Cold Cases defrostingcoldcases.com For…

Feb 1, 2015 3:20 AM CST

Sedgwick ex-chair writes about what he knows in new novel

Former Sedgwick chairman Kevin Dunne is coy about how much of his debut novel, The Chairman, is autobiographical. Case in point: The main character’s name is Boxer Tate, a former bouncer who beats up a patron one night, gets locked up, becomes a lawyer and works his way up to…

Feb 1, 2015 1:30 AM CST

Remove that ice cream cone from your pocket! Photographer depicts bizarre laws across the country

In Ohio, it’s illegal to disrobe in front of a man’s portrait. In Alabama, it is illegal to have an ice cream cone in your back pocket. In Georgia, picnics in cemeteries are prohibited. In Connecticut, a pickle isn’t really a pickle unless it bounces. Those are some of the…

Jan 23, 2015 2:05 PM CST

‘Serial’ podcasts downplayed info supporting murder conviction, prosecutor says; DNA testing sought

A popular podcast series raised doubts about the evidence used to convict Adnan Syed of murder without any significant basis for doing so, the Intercept says, relying on information from the prosecutor in the case. Nonetheless, inspired by the podcast Serial, the Maryland Innocence Project at the University of Virginia…

Jan 15, 2015 11:15 AM CST

‘Notorious RBG’ biography in the works will be co-authored by blog creator

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who has forthrightly and humorously embraced her blog-given, hip-hop-based alias “Nortorious R.B.G.,” is the subject of an upcoming biography based on that meme. The Tumblr blog Notorious R.B.G regularly publishes updates like one on Tuesday linking to a Washington Post story that informs…

Jan 7, 2015 2:40 PM CST

What lawyer, past or present, do you think would be a good subject for a feature film biopic?

For the 10th straight year, The Black List (PDF) was released on the second Friday of December. It is a survey that asks hundreds of film executives to put forth their 10 favorite not-in-production scripts of that year.

Jan 7, 2015 2:05 PM CST

How lawyers can craft a case narrative to spark jurists’ and jurors’ interest

Peter Brooks, the esteemed narrative theorist, tells an anecdote about a brilliant graduate student in his advanced narrative theory seminar at Yale.

Jan 1, 2015 2:30 AM CST

Cartoon Poll: Vote for your favorite clown-court caption

No clowning around: The ABA Journal staffers had a hard time picking three favorites from more than 200 submissions. Now it’s your turn to pick the caption that you think fits best. Simply vote in the cartoon poll for one of these captions before Dec. 29: • “Sorry for the…

Dec 16, 2014 4:33 PM CST

Acclaimed film on ‘Dinosaur 13’ legal battle airs on CNN

An acclaimed documentary about a legal battle related to the ownership of a 67 million-year-old Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton known as Sue aired on CNN on Thursday. Eventually purchased by the Field Museum, the famous set of fossilized T. rex bones was named in honor of Sue Hendrickson, a paleontologist who…

Dec 11, 2014 3:55 PM CST

ABA publishing kicks off new trade imprint with a novel by ATL founder David Lat

The ABA is planning to publish 35 books next year with a broader appeal than handbooks packed with legal information or offering law practice advice. Kicking off the ABA’s new trade imprint is a novel by Above the Law founder David Lat called Supreme Ambitions, the New York Times reports.…

Dec 9, 2014 5:45 AM CST

Rolling Stone backs away from UVa gang-rape story that resulted in fraternity sanctions

Rolling Stone ignited a firestorm last month by publishing a story about a young woman who said she had been gang-raped at a fraternity event at the University of Virginia in 2012. Students at U.Va. protested, the fraternity named in the story was vandalized and all fraternity activities at the…

Dec 5, 2014 2:32 PM CST

Judge says investigative files for ‘In Cold Blood’ murders can be published by investigator’s son

In 2012, a Kansas judge ruled that records kept by a man who investigated the murder of four family members portrayed in a famous Truman Capote book could not be published, sold or used as the basis for a book. But Shawnee County District Court Judge Larry Hendricks has since…

Dec 1, 2014 5:20 PM CST

‘Neurotic November’ is retired judge’s latest mystery novel

Barbara Levenson defied naysayers, including her own mother, by becoming the first woman to hold public office—as a school board member—in her then-hometown of Columbus, Ohio, in the 1960s; returning to college in the 1970s, after she moved with her family to Florida; and, once she earned her law degree…

Nov 5, 2014 9:30 AM CST

‘Bad Judge’ TV show is canceled after lawyer group protests

NBC has decided to cancel the TV show Bad Judge after it garnered unimpressive ratings and a letter of protest from the Miami-Dade chapter of the Florida Association for Women Lawyers. The show, which first aired Oct. 6, depicted a party-loving but tough judge whose car sported a bumper sticker…

Nov 4, 2014 12:08 PM CST