Why some civil rights movement heroes were relegated to the shadows

I decided I wanted to be a lawyer at the age 9. As I grew older and advanced in my academic career, the harsh reality became clearer that one’s appearance, speech, background or lifestyle choice can greatly impact their opportunities and how others perceive their abilities and intelligence.

Feb 24, 2022 1:07 PM CST

4 Black bar association leaders reflect on historic moment

For the first time, African Americans are leading four major national bar associations at once. “It’s important when there is a spotlight on Black history to show that the four of us have achieved this unique thing,” says Douglas K. Burrell, who heads the Defense Research Institute. “It is incredible for each of us to be president of our organizations. It is even more incredible for four of us to be presidents at the same time.”

Feb 23, 2022 10:41 AM CST

A few ‘begats’ and ‘thou shalts’: An abbreviated history of lawyers

Where are the lawyers? As a retired one, I recently wondered about this, querying where in history we see lawyers mentioned and in what light? Actually, after thinking about it, I see little or no sign of lawyers for millennia.

Feb 15, 2022 11:31 AM CST

Troubled Waters

As interest in outdoor recreation has surged, more people are clashing with property owners over the right to be on the waterways. The conflict over the uses of—and even the definitions of—public and private space is a legal conundrum bedeviling locales across the country.

Feb 1, 2022 4:00 AM CST

Nonexistent ‘Critical Race Theory’ curriculum is caught in the crosshairs

More than 30 years ago, law professor Richard Delgado began writing law review articles emphasizing the pervasive and pernicious role of race in law and society. Delgado and other pioneering law professors called for a fundamental reorientation of legal studies on race. Concepts of how race impacts society and the legal system were at the forefront of the discussion, often through telling stories of those impacted by race and societal discrimination. These scholars became known as critical race theorists and their approach known as critical race theory.

Feb 1, 2022 2:00 AM CST

Feb. 29, 1984: Guilty plea in Three Mile Island disaster

Feb 1, 2022 12:10 AM CST

Roberts’ reference to memos of Blackmun on Roe v. Wade raises questions about SCOTUS justices’ private papers

The collected papers of late U.S. Supreme Court justices are typically of interest primarily to judicial biographers, legal researchers and a few journalists. On Dec. 1, during oral arguments in one of the most consequential cases of the term, a new aficionado of the genre revealed himself: Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr.

Dec 23, 2021 8:58 AM CST

SCOTUS justices who look to ‘advocacy history’ find reasons to undermine precedent

Does the weight and meaning of a U.S. Supreme Court decision turn on the arguments presented beforehand? Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. appeared to suggest that the answer was yes during oral arguments on the constitutionality of a Mississippi abortion law that bans abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy.

Dec 15, 2021 2:33 PM CST

Weekly Briefs: Emmett Till probe closed; Black couple’s suit says appraisal changed with pretend white homeowner

DOJ closes Emmett Till investigation The U.S. Department of Justice has closed its reopened investigation into the 1955 murder of Emmett Till, the 14-year-old Black youth tortured and shot in Mississippi after he was accused of making sexual advances toward a white woman in her store. The woman had testified…

Dec 10, 2021 3:17 PM CST

Dec. 13, 1920: The Bisbee deportations are upheld

On the morning of July 12, 1917, Mrs. H.R. McLellan was startled by the sight of hundreds of men marching just below her Bisbee, Arizona, home. From her house on Chihuahua Hill, she could see them filing down Naco Road, escorted by men carrying rifles. Her husband immediately surmised what was happening: a roundup of the mining town’s striking smelter workers.

Dec 1, 2021 12:10 AM CST

America’s fights over medical treatment choices didn’t start with COVID-19 and ivermectin

Like the legal profession, the practice of medicine in the United States is highly regulated. But it hasn't always been, and the idea that a person has the right to try the medical therapies of their choice has a much longer history. In Choose Your Medicine: Freedom of Therapeutic Choice in America, law professor Lewis A. Grossman introduces readers to a fractious history with some unexpected combatants—and comrades.

Nov 24, 2021 8:48 AM CST

Convictions of 2 men for murdering Malcolm X are tossed after new investigation

Updated: A New York judge tossed the convictions of two men in the murder of Malcolm X on Thursday following a 22-month investigation finding that key evidence had been withheld from the defense.

Nov 18, 2021 3:55 PM CST

Discover the man behind ‘12 Angry Men’ and the real-life case that inspired him

Whenever the ABA Journal has conducted a survey to find the best legal movies or the best legal plays, 12 Angry Men has made the list. But the path to becoming a classic was not a simple one, and the man behind the script was not a simple man.

Nov 10, 2021 8:58 AM CST

UC Hastings law school will advocate for name change because of namesake’s role in massacres

The University of California's Hastings College of the Law in San Francisco will press California lawmakers to change the school’s name because of its founder’s role in the massacres of hundreds of Native Americans.

Nov 3, 2021 11:48 AM CDT

‘Groveland Four’ were wrongly accused in 1949, prosecutor says in motion to clear their names

A Florida prosecutor has filed a motion to clear the names of four young Black men known as "the Groveland Four," who were wrongly accused of raping a 17-year-old white woman in Lake County, Florida, in 1949.

Oct 28, 2021 12:03 PM CDT