Legal History

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

‘Loving v. Virginia’ goes from the highest court to grand opera

This month, Virginia Opera and Richmond Symphony will present the world premiere of composer Damien Geter and librettist Jessica Murphy Moo’s Loving v. Virginia, an operatic retelling of the events leading to the landmark 1967 Supreme Court decision that declared laws against interracial marriage unconstitutional and set the stage for decades of subsequent advances in civil rights.

Apr 18, 2025 9:52 AM CDT

40 years of ABA Techshow: Past chairs reflect on evolution of technology

As the landmark 40th annual ABA Techshow wrapped up in Chicago on Saturday morning, 14 former Techshow chairs reflected on how much technology has changed and evolved over the years—and what’s stayed the same.

Apr 5, 2025 2:15 PM CDT

April 13, 2005: Olympic Park bomber pleads guilty

Eric Rudolph had been on the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list since May 1998, identified as a prime suspect in a string of bombings that began in July 1996 at the Atlanta Olympics with a blast that killed one person and injured 100 others.

Apr 1, 2025 12:05 AM CDT

This Harvard Law prof thinks constitutional theory is a terrible way to pick a judge

What if we are asking the wrong questions when selecting American judges? Mark Tushnet thinks our current criteria might be off.

Mar 5, 2025 9:04 AM CST

Forget originalism; some conservatives back ‘common-good constitutionalism,’ its embrace of strong rule

Adrian Vermeule, a professor at Harvard Law School, is an “ideological lodestar” among conservatives who are impatient with originalism—the idea that the Constitution’s meaning can be determined by its text and the founders’ intent, according to a story by the New York Times.

Feb 19, 2025 11:37 AM CST

Abraham Lincoln: A model for ethical leadership

Abraham Lincoln had two careers; one as a lawyer and one as a politician—professions known for severe moral and ethical dilemmas. Given the events of the time, Lincoln faced new levels of dilemmas as he made decisions that helped start the Civil War and those that would finally end the conflict—and slavery with it.

Feb 13, 2025 11:31 AM CST

5th Circuit overrules itself, finds law banning handgun sales to adults younger than age 21 unconstitutional

After reexamining its precedent, a federal appeals court has ruled that a federal ban on handgun sales to youths ages 18 to 20 violates the Second Amendment.

Feb 4, 2025 11:23 AM CST

ABA and its members have shaped the Violence Against Women Act for 30 years

The ABA Commission on Domestic & Sexual Violence and VAWA both celebrated their 30th anniversary last fall.

Feb 1, 2025 12:55 AM CST

March 1, 1828: Sojourner Truth goes to court

Before she became Sojourner Truth—and a symbol of feminism and abolition—she was Isabella Baumfree, born into slavery in New York’s Hudson Valley around 1797.

Feb 1, 2025 12:40 AM CST

Trump’s firing of NLRB member could lead to reconsideration of 1935 Supreme Court precedent

A challenge to a 1935 U.S. Supreme Court precedent could be brewing, after President Donald Trump fired a Democratic member of the National Labor Relations Board.

Jan 30, 2025 12:09 PM CST

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the cornerstones of democracy

As we examine the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., we can see Dr. King employing these three cornerstones of democracy as he challenged our nation to live up to its ideals.

Jan 23, 2025 9:18 AM CST

Justice Jackson wore cowrie shell collar to inauguration; was it ‘a sartorial expression of her dissent’?

Was there a deeper meaning behind U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson’s neckwear choice at the inauguration for President Donald Trump? Atop her judicial robe, Jackson wore a large, distinctive collar made of rows of cowrie shells.

Jan 22, 2025 12:03 PM CST

Justice Dept. corrects legal record on ‘systematic’ Tulsa Race Massacre

A coordinated attack by thousands of White people in 1921 that led to the slaughter of hundreds of Black residents in the Greenwood District of Tulsa was the result of systematic, racially motivated violence, the Justice Department said Friday in a new report that sought to correct the federal government’s legal record after more than a century.

Jan 14, 2025 2:35 PM CST

Remembering President James Earl ‘Jimmy’ Carter, ever the teacher

Educators and students preparing to begin a new semester can make good use of lessons about leadership and purposeful service that can be gleaned from the beautiful life of former President James Earl “Jimmy” Carter. That is especially so for law school communities for at least two reasons.

Jan 7, 2025 8:51 AM CST