When unmarried partners, relatives or roommates separate or move on, deciding who takes the couch or gaming system can be fairly straightforward. But who gets the puggle? Though there are many states where pets are included in separation and divorce agreements, there had been no legislation guiding what happens to the companion animals when unmarried partners, roommates or family members split up.
Michelle Arcari Rose is a historic preservation lawyer who currently works as a member of the Fairfax County History Commission in Fairfax, Virginia. Rose, who previously worked as an associate general counsel for the National Trust for Historic Preservation, says what’s at stake in preservation law is our ability to protect and accurately understand our past.
Not long before his debut at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in August, death row lawyer-turned-comic Josh Pickar spoke with one of his former clients. The man, who remains incarcerated and awaiting execution, knew the attorney was performing his stand-up show, Getting Off, at the festival and asked him to include one of his jokes. Pickar thought it would fit because his show was about the death penalty.
The Law School Admission Council has notified Iranian students that they are prohibited from taking the LSAT after the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control imposed the suspension of several general licenses in its Iran Sanctions program.
The U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division and the Department of Education is accusing the University of California at Berkeley School of Law of discriminating against white and Asian applicants while prioritizing Black applicants.
In the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, President George W. Bush and Congress quickly turned to boosting national security through executive orders and a speedy turnaround in passing laws intended to help fight terrorist threats and streamline intelligence-gathering. The USA Patriot Act, passed in October 2001, allowed intelligence and law enforcement agencies, including the U.S. Justice Department, to share information that had previously been siloed. The DOJ and the FBI, the entities responsible for enforcing federal law and ensuring public safety, shifted their resources and priorities to national security and terrorism prevention.
Historically, torture scenes in pop culture signaled villainy. James Bond villains devised elaborate death traps, Big Brother tried to break Winston Smith in 1984, and the bad guys in Star Wars and Star Trek tormented heroes like Han Solo and Captain Picard. Torture was a bright line only evildoers crossed. Even when torture scenes were parodied in Monty Python skits or in movies such as Dude, Where’s My Car? or Shrek, it was typically the antagonists doing it. Then 9/11 happened.
Twenty-five years after the 9/11 terrorist attacks shook the nation, cases brought by the victims’ families are still working their way through federal courts. But there have been some notable victories for plaintiffs, especially since Congress passed the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act in 2016 to significantly narrow foreign sovereign immunity.
The council for the ABA Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar voted Tuesday to repeal its contentious standard regarding diversity and inclusion, effective immediately.
Former Colorado Supreme Court justice Melissa Hart takes the helm of the ABA’s legal education council as it faces unprecedented challenges to its role as the nation’s law school accreditor.
