Legal History

White House Admits Erasing Pre-2003 E-Mail Backups

Last week, a federal magistrate gave White House officials a five-day deadline to answer a question at the center of two consolidated lawsuits: Had they, or had they not, retained backup copies of some 5 million missing official e-mails transmitted between 2003 and 2005? The answer to that question, it…

Jan 16, 2008 11:20 PM CST

Ore. Claims .72 Blood Alcohol Test in DUI—Nine Times Legal Limit

An Oregon drunken driving case has made international news after authorities said they arrested a woman for driving under the influence whose blood alcohol level registered at .72. That is nine times the legal limit in the state and substantially higher than the level ordinarily considered to be lethal. Terri…

Jan 11, 2008 7:31 PM CST

After 17 Years, 1st Sexual Predator to Graduate from Wash. Program

For the first time in its 17-year history, a Washington state treatment program for convicted sex offenders deemed to pose a serious risk of repeating their crimes if released is recommending the unconditional discharge of one of its patients. Gary Cherry, 49, could be released as early as next month…

Jan 10, 2008 12:32 AM CST

Folsom Prison Cancels Johnny Cash Tribute Concert

A 40-year anniversary tribute to the Jan. 13, 1968 concert that made both Johnny Cash and Folsom State Prison in California famous has been canceled. The event was to have taken place Sunday in the same prison cafeteria as his 2 million-selling Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison live album, and…

Jan 9, 2008 8:00 PM CST

January 17, 1977

Gary Gilmore Executed

Jan 1, 2008 7:52 PM CST

Lawyer Pays $21.3M for Magna Carta

A lawyer has paid $21.3 million at auction for a 710-year-old copy of the Magna Carta. David Rubenstein, a lawyer and founder of The Carlyle Group, a private equities firm, told reporters he bought the document so it can remain on display at the National Archives, Reuters reports. The Magna…

Dec 19, 2007 4:19 PM CST

Judge Sentences Priest to Say Psalms

Echoing a sentence famously given to a world-renowned scientist by the Catholic Church in a heresy case centuries ago, a Chilean judge has ordered a priest who says he can’t afford either to park his car legally or to pay a $100 parking fine to say seven psalms daily for…

Dec 12, 2007 11:14 PM CST

December 5, 1933

Prohibition Repealed

Dec 1, 2007 8:50 PM CST

Black Sox Trial Docs on Auction Block

A box containing trial documents, letters and memos related to the 1919 White Sox World Series scandal is set to be sold this week in the Chicago area. Collectors happened upon the documents, though details about their origins remains unclear, according to the Chicago Tribune. Among the collection are thousands…

Nov 26, 2007 6:05 PM CST

O.J. Will Go to Trial in Armed Robbery Case

Unlike O.J. Simpson’s murder trial in the mid-1990s, it presumably won’t be billed as the trial of the century or become famous for related sideshow features such as a troupe of televised look-alike black-robed dancing trial “judges.” But the armed robbery case against the former football hero for an alleged…

Nov 15, 2007 1:15 AM CST

Ginsburg: If Male, I’d Be a Retired Partner

It wasn’t only former Justice Sandra Day O’Connor who, famously, had trouble finding work as a lawyer after graduating at the top of her class from a renowned law school back in the day when law practice was almost exclusively a male domain. Her female colleague on the U.S. Supreme…

Nov 12, 2007 10:59 PM CST

Death Detective Extraordinaire Aids South Florida Researchers

Those who need details about a little-known death long ago in or around Miami, Florida, may be some of the luckiest information-seekers in the country. A local volunteer has compiled an extraordinary 4,000-page record of virtually all deaths listed in the local newspapers for more than a century. And, as…

Nov 12, 2007 6:25 PM CST

Pakistan Fires Top Court, Lawyers Protest There and Elsewhere

The protesters wore conservative business suits today as thousands of lawyers throughout Pakistan clashed with authorities over the suspension of the constitution and the firing of the country’s chief judge, along with numerous other supreme court and appellate judges. Many of the 17 supreme court judges, including fired Chief Judge…

Nov 5, 2007 10:07 PM CST

November 20, 1945

Nuremberg War Crimes Trial Begins

Nov 1, 2007 5:26 PM CDT

Noose Use Up Nationwide Since Jena March

Displaying a hangman’s noose has become an increasingly common practice throughout the country since a civil rights march in Jena, La., last month over a racially charged schoolyard attack that reportedly occurred after a noose was hung in a tree near the tiny town’s high school. Since then, nooses have…

Oct 30, 2007 7:10 PM CDT