ABA Journal

Legal History

1246 ABA Journal Legal History articles.

Gonzales Unfazed, Still “Sprinting” on Job

Embattled U.S. Attorney Alberto Gonzales appeared unfazed at a lunchtime lecture in Miami, despite a pending Senate no-confidence vote scheduled for later in the day.

The vote would have no…

June 21, 1788

U.S. Constitution Is Ratified

Today in Legal History: Jamestown Settlement, Constitutional Convention, Israel Reborn

On this day in 1607, the first permanent British settlement in North America was established as men landed by the Virginia Charter Company on Jamestown Island, in what is now…

Today in Legal History: Ellsberg Acquitted in Pentagon Case, Barbie Nazi War Crimes Trial Begins

On this day in 1973, charges against Daniel Ellsberg in the Pentagon Papers case were dismissed, due to government misconduct. (The administration of President Richard M. Nixon was implicated in…

Holtzman: Axing AG Would Put Bush on Hot Seat

In all the arguing over whether U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales should be asked to resign, several important facts seem to have been forgotten, a former member of Congress says.

Today in Legal History: Demonstrators Shot by Authorities at Haymarket, Kent State

On this day in 1886, someone among 200 or so workers at a labor rally near Chicago’s Haymarket Square threw a bomb into a group of 176 police officers. Police…

The Play Reigns Supreme

New York lawyer jay Harris knows a good play when he sees one–and he’s got the brass to back it up, including a Tony Award for his production of Side…

May 25, 1925

Evolution Teacher John Scopes Indicted

Today in Legal History: Parliament Passes Tea Act, Ehrlichman Released

On this day in 1773, the British Parliament passed the Tea Act. Enormously unpopular in America, where colonials considered its grant of a virtual tea monopoly to the East India…

Today in Legal History: Guillotine First Used, Vt. Civil Unions First in U.S.

On this day in 1792, the guillotine reportedly was first used in France to execute a highwayman, Nicolas-Jacques Pelletier. At the time, despite its subsequent notoriety as a means of…

Today in Legal History: U.S. Declares War on Spain, NY Mandates Car Plates, ‘Dixie’ Flag Retired

On this day in 1898, the U.S. declared war against Spain, involving America in Cuba’s struggle for independence. For details, see this Library of Congress Web…

Today in Legal History: Library of Congress, War Prisoner Code, Forensic Evidence Misused

On this day in 1800, President John Adams approved a then-hefty $5,000 appropriation to establish the Library of Congress, 20 percent of which went for law books (mainly on British…

Author Dead in Crash, Wrote ‘Best & Brightest’

David Halberstam, a Pulitzer-prize-winning journalist whose well-known book, The Best and the Brightest, was a fascinating window for many on the elite lawyers and others wielding political power in Washington,…

DNA Evidence Frees 200th Innocent Person

It’s official—DNA evidence today has cleared a 200th wrongfully convicted person, according to The Innocence Project, a New York City-based advocacy group.

The 200th person to be released, Jerry Miller,…

First African-American Federal Judge in Ark. Dies

Putting an end to a long career of “firsts,” Arkansas federal judge George Howard Jr. died April 21. He was 82.

The first African-American judge to sit on a federal…

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