Legal History

March 9, 1964: New York Times Co. v. Sullivan Decided

By the spring of 1964, in an effort to curtail what they regarded as meddlesome and hypocritical coverage of the civil rights struggle, Southern officials had brought nearly $300 million in libel actions against national media outlets. One such case was filed by Montgomery, Ala., city commissioner L.B. Sullivan, who…

Mar 1, 2012 6:20 AM CST

Feds Announce Record $375M Medicare Fraud Case Against Texas Doctor

Federal officials have announced the indictment of a Texas physician in what they are calling the largest Medicare fraud case in the nation’s history. Dr. Jacques Roy, 54, who practices in the Dallas area, is accused of bilking taxpayers of nearly $375 million in nonexistent home health care services, the…

Feb 28, 2012 11:14 PM CST

4th Inquest Starts re 1980 Baby Death in Australia; Meryl Streep Movie Told Story of Unsolved Case

It now appears that Lindy Chamberlain was speaking the truth when she told authorities in 1980 that her 9-week-old baby had been taken, and presumably killed, by a wild Australian dog as her family was on a camping trip in the country’s outback. But at the time she was suspected…

Feb 24, 2012 9:20 PM CST

Law Prof Remembers His Nana’s Key Role in Securing Conviction of Lucky Luciano

Yale Law School professor Stephen Carter remembers his grandma as “Nana from New York,” a woman who loved books and emphasized good table manners. “Nana” was Eunice Hunton Carter, the first black female prosecutor in the New York District Attorney’s Office, according to a Chicago Tribune column by John Kass.…

Feb 23, 2012 5:23 PM CST

Being Abe Lincoln (Video)

It’s not easy looking like Abraham Lincoln, says Michael Krebs, and he has the beard to prove it. The Chicago man makes his living appearing as the country lawyer who went on to become the nation’s 16th president, and says that one of his most interesting jobs was appearing in…

Feb 16, 2012 9:46 PM CST

Chinese Restaurant Owner Surprised to Learn Justice Jackson Lived and Studied There

A building housing a Chinese restaurant in Albany, N.Y., may soon be sporting a plaque noting a famous onetime tenant: the late U.S. Supreme Court Justice Robert H. Jackson. The former chief U.S. prosecutor of Nazi war criminals at Nuremberg was a struggling 19-year-old law student in 1911 when he…

Feb 14, 2012 2:09 PM CST

Documentary on Loving v. Virginia Looks at Couple Behind Famous Civil Rights Case

For most lawyers, the U.S. Supreme Court case Loving v. Virginia is a familiar one. The 1967 decision struck down Virginia’s antimiscegenation statute, which prohibited and criminalized interracial marriage. Now a documentary film is bringing to light the story of the people behind the seminal civil rights decision. Filmmaker Nancy…

Feb 10, 2012 8:50 PM CST

Magna Carta to Return to Public View After Pricey Conservation Effort

The public will soon have a chance again to view a 715-year-old copy of Magna Carta at the National Archives following a conservation effort to remove old patches and repair weak spots. The medieval declaration of human rights, which inspired the United States’ founding documents, is owned by Carlyle Group…

Feb 3, 2012 12:07 PM CST

Constitutional Dilemma: The Power to Declare War Is Deeply Rooted in American History

Commanding the American warship the USS Constitution in the waning days of the 18th century, Capt. Silas Talbot steered the massive 44-gun frigate into the path of a little vessel called the Amelia. Talbot knew what he was after. An experienced naval officer since the American Revolution whose prowess prompted…

Feb 1, 2012 11:35 AM CST

War Powers Belong to the President

In ordering the U.S. Air Force to attack Libyan targets on the ground and impose a no-fly zone in the air, President Barack Obama sent the U.S. military into combat without Congress’ blessing. This was not always President Obama’s view. Anti-war Democrats vigorously challenged President George W. Bush’s conduct of…

Feb 1, 2012 11:30 AM CST

Only Congress Can Declare War

John Yoo and I agree that the framers rejected the British system of royal prerogative. In his Commentaries, William Blackstone placed all of foreign policy and the war power with the executive. Clearly the framers repudiated that model, which is obvious simply by looking at the text of the U.S.…

Feb 1, 2012 11:20 AM CST

The High Bench vs. the Ivory Tower

Searching for the proper understanding of a refined issue of bankruptcy law, Judge Thomas L. Ambro discovered his saving grace in a 1998 law review article. “I felt I had found my Rosetta Stone,” wrote Ambro of the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals at Philadelphia, referring to an article…

Feb 1, 2012 11:00 AM CST

A True Love Story: Documentary Looks at Couple Behind Famous Civil Rights Case

For most lawyers, the U.S. Supreme Court case Loving v. Virginia is a familiar one. The 1967 decision struck down Virginia’s antimiscegenation statute, which prohibited and criminalized interracial marriage. Now a documentary film is bringing to light the story of the people behind the seminal civil rights decision. Filmmaker Nancy…

Feb 1, 2012 10:30 AM CST

February 12, 1909: The Birth of the NAACP

On Aug. 16, 1908, Southern journalist William English Walling arrived in Springfield, Ill., where an uneasy peace prevailed after two days of rioting, during which scores of black homes and businesses were destroyed, two black men were lynched, and hundreds of others fled the city. The grim historical irony—a vicious…

Feb 1, 2012 7:00 AM CST

Surprising Observers, Aga Khan Fights Record $75M French Divorce Court Award

To many, a divorce award of $75 million or so might seem astronomical. But it’s practically small change to a man worth between $5 and $10 billion. And so observers expected the Aga Khan to ante up when a French court ruled in September he should pay that amount to…

Jan 11, 2012 8:34 PM CST