ABA Journal

Science & Engineering

39 ABA Journal Science & Engineering articles.

Weekly Briefs: Cardozo Law will fight junk science with $15M; sheriff convicted for restraint-chair misuse

Cardozo Law will use $15M gift to fight junk science convictions

Yeshiva University’s Cardozo School of Law plans to use a $15 million donation to create a justice clinic that…

Did pandemic make jurors more skeptical of scientific evidence? Some see a change

Jurors appear more skeptical of scientific and medical testimony following the COVID-19 pandemic, according to some lawyers and experts interviewed by Law.com.

Relax with our favorite long reads of 2020

Throughout the year, the ABA Journal publishes in-depth features on the business of the legal profession, developments in the law, lives that have been impacted by the justice system and the ways society influences—and is influenced by—the law. What follows are some of our favorite features from 2020.

Macy’s uses facial recognition software to identify customers on security cameras, lawsuit claims

A would-be class action lawsuit alleges that the Macy’s department store chain violates Illinois law when it identifies customers recorded on its surveillance cameras by using facial recognition software.

Millions have been invested in the emerging field of neurolaw. Where is it leading?

How do courts determine a person’s mental state and apply that in deciding guilt or innocence? How do judges and juries weigh evidence related to brain functioning? And what do lawyers and judges need to know to effectively evaluate such questions?

Could you be replaced by a robot lawyer?

Do you really need a human for the so-called human touch in lawyering, particularly when a big part of the job is convincing the client to be reasonable? Maybe not, according to some people who created apps that they claim help people accomplish tasks traditionally carried out by lawyers.

When it comes to unconscious bias, are judges at risk?

If a business school was designing a case study of unconscious bias in the courtroom, a recent series of events in Massachusetts might offer the perfect scenario for analysis. The topic: how the defense of a protester responding to a “straight pride” parade resulted in the arrest and shackling of a female defense lawyer for speaking in court.

As facial recognition software becomes more ubiquitous, some governments slam on the brakes

This year, the cities of San Francisco, Somerville, Massachusetts, and Oakland, California, all banned the government’s use of facial recognition technology as a larger legislative package overseeing police surveillance technology. Now, a few other states are looking to, at a minimum, press pause on the police use of this technology.

Judge says parents may use frozen sperm of deceased cadet son to produce child

The parents of a West Point, New York, cadet who died in a skiing incident can use his preserved sperm as they see fit, including for “procreative purposes,” a New…

May 9, 1960: FDA approves first birth control pill

When the U.S. Food and Drug Administration was asked to approve Enovid for contraception, the “birth control pill” had already proved highly effective. But with legal and moral objections, a regulatory storm was gathering.

Parents obtain order to preserve sperm of cadet killed in skiing incident

The parents of a West Point, New York, cadet who died in a skiing incident have obtained an order for the preservation of his sperm.

A New York judge, John…

Your phone (and everybody else) knows where you are

You may not know it, but you are broadcasting your location to the world every time you use your smartphone, tablet or other mobile device.

That can be a good…

E-Discovery Malpractice Is More Common Than Perceived, LeClairRyan Partner Says

Lawyers beware: the pitfalls of e-discovery may be more complicated than many litigators—even experienced partners—expect or are prepared to handle.

“In short, this is a complex, high-risk task that requires…

Hackers Breached 90% of US Companies Surveyed in Past 12 Months

Electronic data breaches have become ubiquitous among U.S. companies, according to a recent poll. Ponemon Research reports that 90 percent of 583 U.S. companies surveyed said their companies’ computers were…

ABA Techshow Presentations with Tips, Sites for Lawyers Are Online

Last month, we reported some of the digital tricks and interesting websites that lawyers should know, ones shared by panelists at the popular ABA Techshow sessions titled May 23, 2011 9:34 PM CDT

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