The National Pulse

Show Me Your ID: Cops, Courts Re-evaluate Their Use of Eyewitnesses

After more than three decades of laboratory studies, experts have found that a few simple changes in police lineup procedures improve the accuracy of eyewitness identifications. For example, having someone administer the lineup who doesn’t know who the real suspect is can prevent inadvertently influencing the witness’s pick. And telling…

May 1, 2012 8:10 AM CDT

Life from Death Row: Inmates Want to Donate Organs, But State Disagrees

“I am 37 years old and healthy,” Oregon death row inmate Christian Longo wrote in the New York Times in March 2011, and “throwing my organs away after I am executed is nothing but a waste.” Longo, convicted of the 2001 killings of his wife and three children, wrote in…

Apr 1, 2012 9:00 AM CDT

A Smokin’ Body: Cancer Images Are Lighting up a First Amendment Blaze

It’s a burning controversy that continues to smolder—and use any other smoking puns you prefer—as the dispute over requiring graphic anti-cancer images on cigarette packs lights up a First Amendment fire. The battle over the constitutionality of new warnings mandated by the Food and Drug Administration to appear on cigarette…

Apr 1, 2012 8:50 AM CDT

Good Cop, Bad Citizen? As Cellphone Recording Increases, Officers Are Uneasy

Walking past Boston Common, the city’s august park, in 2007, attorney Simon Glik noticed several police officers arresting a young man. Glik heard another bystander say he thought the police were using excessive force. So he pulled out his cellphone and began shooting video of the incident. After arresting the…

Mar 1, 2012 9:40 AM CST

Playing on Home Court: New York and Delaware May Lose Their Grip on Bankruptcy Cases

Dynegy, a Houston-based energy company, and American Airlines, headquartered in Dallas, are two multibillion-dollar corporations that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in November. Their restructurings are predicted to be lengthy and complex, meaning that legal fees could approach $100 million each. But for Texas-based law firms, the big payday…

Mar 1, 2012 9:30 AM CST

Unknown Knowns: Torture Suits Against Rumsfeld May Revive a 40-Year-Old Liability Case

Asked in 2002 whether there was any evidence that Iraq had supplied terrorists with weapons of mass destruction, then-Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld famously opined: “As we know, there are known knowns; there are things we know we know. We also know there are known unknowns; that is to say, we…

Feb 1, 2012 9:40 AM CST

Alimony Arithmetic: More States Are Looking at Formulas to Regulate Spousal Support

If workers’ compensation law “can put the value on a [human] toe, how do you quantify how much the loss of a marriage means to somebody?” asks Atlanta lawyer Randall Kessler. “Divorce law is one of the most discretion-filled areas of law there is,” says Kessler, chair of the Family…

Feb 1, 2012 9:30 AM CST

Amazon Warriors: Local Businesses, States and the Senate Take Aim at Online Retailers

Rozman Bros., a long-standing family-owned appliance and furniture retailer, is often treated like a wallflower at the big dance. Price-conscious shoppers come in to check out merchandise in the 55,000-square-foot showroom of the Harrisburg, Pa., store, putting sales associates through the paces as they kick the tires on flat-screen TVs…

Jan 1, 2012 9:30 AM CST

An Arresting Development: Courts Split Over DNA Testing for Those Merely Charged with a Crime

DNA “fingerprinting” has become so crucial to linking individuals to crimes that many wonder how far law enforcement will push it. Criminals who raped and murdered years—even decades—earlier have been caught and convicted based on DNA collection, analysis and matching. Courts, meanwhile, have generally upheld DNA collection and testing of…

Jan 1, 2012 9:20 AM CST

With Charity to All—Except for Scammers: Tougher Laws Seek to Nail Bogus Nonprofits

For a boiler room operation, the U.S. Navy Veterans Association was particularly successful. Since launching in 2002, the group raised an estimated $100 million from donors throughout the country. Its leader, supposedly a retired lieutenant commander going by the name Bobby Thompson, made contributions to the campaigns of several Republican…

Dec 1, 2011 9:50 AM CST

A New Mother of Invention: After Years of Setbacks, Patent Reform Finally Makes It Through

It was a long time coming. But after six years of struggle and stalemate on Capitol Hill, patent reform finally made it through Congress. The America Invents Act, which President Barack Obama signed into law Sept. 16, dramatically alters the nation’s patent system. Among its legislative changes, the statute: adopts…

Dec 1, 2011 9:39 AM CST

Thrown for a Loss: Retired Players Sue, Claim NFL Hid Brain Damage Info

Legendary Baltimore Colts tight end John Mackey left a mark on football as few players have. Before Mackey came to the National Football League in 1963, tight ends generally were big oafs who blocked and caught short passes over the middle. But the Colts had something else in the 6-foot-2-inch,…

Nov 1, 2011 8:40 AM CDT

Patchwork Partnering: States Can’t Agree on the Legal Status of Same-Sex Couples

While same-sex couples are gaining recognition, the variety of such relationships—marriages, civil unions or domestic partnerships—and each one’s rights are creating a mishmash of legal problems. States differ among themselves and with the federal government over what properties each relationship has, forcing lawyers to keep track of which jurisdictions allow…

Nov 1, 2011 8:30 AM CDT

Our Pleasure to Serve You: More Lawyers Look to Social Networking Sites to Notify Defendants

Although Jessica Mpafe had not seen her husband in years, she assumed he moved back to West Africa’s Ivory Coast. Mpafe of Minnesota had no physical address to serve him with divorce papers. So she asked the court whether she could send the notice by general delivery, where the post…

Oct 1, 2011 8:49 AM CDT

Red-Flagging China: Regulators Eye Chinese Companies Using Reverse Mergers to Enter US

Illustration by Viktor Koen There’s more than one way for a company to get listed on U.S. public exchanges. The most traditional is the initial public offering, where a private company works with an underwriter to determine what type of security to issue, the best offering price and when to…

Oct 1, 2011 8:40 AM CDT