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American Bar Association
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I'm writing this blog from Washington, DC, where our Division will be hosting a summer teacher institute with the Federal Judicial Center. Now in its third year, the "Federal Trials and Great Debates in U.S. History" summer institute engages teachers in study of landmark trials from the lower federal courts. This year's cases include the Aaron Burr treason trial, In re Debs and the Pullman Strike,... [Read More]
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In United States v. Williams , a solid majority of the Court found that key provisions of the unfortunately named “ Prosecutorial Remedies and Other Tools to end the Exploitation of Children Today Act of 2003” are a model of clarity when compared to past federal efforts to stop the proliferation of child pornography on the Internet. Unlike Congress’s previous attempts (including the ill-fated federal... [Read More]
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I’ve been talking back to my television and radio a lot these days. Truth be told, I’ve been yelling at my television and radio a lot these days. My frustration level has risen and my tolerance level is spiraling downward. As the primaries drag on, much of the information provided about the candidates is so inane, I am forced to respond vituperatively to an inanimate object. In examining my visceral... [Read More]
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This year’s Law Day theme is “The Rule of Law: Foundation for Communities of Opportunity and Equity.” Among the resources included in the planning guide is a classroom lesson called “No Vehicles in the Park.” As it turns out, “No Vehicles” has quite an interesting history – and, in effect, is also celebrating its golden anniversary this year.... [Read More]
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Next month, the Supreme Court will be wading into one of our nation’s deepest cultural divides, which runs through the Second Amendment’s right “to keep and bear arms.” Head scarves and firearms might seem like apples and oranges, but the cultural divides that commentators have perceived along the head scarf issue in Turkey are remarkably similar to cultural divides that are perceived along the firearms... [Read More]
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Your (possible) Second Amendment right to “bear arms,” your Eighth Amendment right to be free from cruel and unusual punishment, your Sixth Amendment right to confront the witnesses against you … Interesting issues all, and all are embodied in unusual cases still awaiting the Supreme Court’s review this term. The Court hasn't heard a pure Second Amendment case since 1939 when the justices unanimously... [Read More]
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For decades, educators and activists have been working to improve the educational system in the United States. The federal No Child Left Behind (NCLB) legislation was enacted in 2001 in response to disparities in student achievement. Going back to the old school approach, the focus was on reading, writing, mathematics, and science, and NCLB directed states to design a system in which their students... [Read More]
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“Lawyers” practice law, but they also seem to have often found their way into other professions and fields of endeavor—whether through calculation or happenstance. This is even the case in the seemingly unrelated fields of entertainment and the arts. It’s interesting to consider if—and how—their legal background might have affected their other pursuits. How did their legal training influence their... [Read More]
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Not too many years ago, many of us would have been surprised to hear a nominee for Attorney General of the United States being questioned about his views on torture. Today, not so much. The question of torture—how we define it, whether we engage in it, whether we “render” suspects to other nations for torture abroad—has become a regular topic of speculation and conversation.... [Read More]
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Even though t he Supreme Court so far has granted certiorari in only 28 new cases, there is no shortage of important issues awaiting the opening of the new October term. For one thing , a long and robust conversation between the three branches of government may have set the stage for the Court to finally determine what rights are actually possessed by the suspected terrorists and enemy combatants now... [Read More]
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Immigration was in the news again this week as Elvira Arellano was deported to Mexico by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement while her eight-year-old son, a U.S. citizen, remained behind, being cared for by the church that was providing Arellano refuge in Chicago. Mother and son were shortly reunited but the plan is for him to return to Chicago to continue school in the third grade. One has to... [Read More]
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This week American Bar Association President Karen J. Mathis is presenting the Association’s 50th annual Silver Gavel Awards for Media and the Arts. In 1958 ABA President Charles S. Rhyne presented the first Silver Gavels “to recognize outstanding contributions to public information and understanding of the roles of law and courts in our society.” In this post, I’m taking a selective look back at 50... [Read More]
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According to Chief Justice Roberts, the biggest problem with decisions that are loaded with multiple dissents (and concurrences that sometimes overlap and sometimes don’t) is not that they are difficult to read and understand – although they are. No, the biggest problem, he says, is that “it’s bad, long-term, if people identify the rule of law with how individual justices vote.” Therefore it would... [Read More]
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“We always joked that Jimmy Stewart’s going to play him in the movie. He’s the picture of rectitude – a charming, engaging, funny guy, but one who set a tone for the office about doing the right thing, not necessarily about winning every case.” So said Steven R. Peiken, describing former U.S. deputy attorney general James B. Comey, with whom Mr. Peiken worked in the U.S. Attorney’s office in Manhattan,... [Read More]
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We’ll be celebrating the national observance of Law Day ( www.lawday.org ) on May 1. Issuing the first presidential proclamation in 1958, Dwight Eisenhower characterized Law Day as a “day of national dedication to the principle of government under laws.” Looking ahead, next year will be the 50 th anniversary of the first Law Day. In preparation for this milestone, we have been trying to gather a half... [Read More]
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On March 19 the Supreme Court heard arguments in what will forever be known as “The Bong Hits Case.” Officially captioned Morse v. Frederick , No. 06-278, this case pits high school principal Deborah Morse and her school board against high school senior Joseph Frederick’s free-speech claim. We’d love to hear how you think this case should be decided. If you’re already familiar with the facts and issues,... [Read More]
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Last month, New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof published a column arguing that the policies of the Bush administration have “made the classics powerfully resonant today” (“Et Tu, George?”, New York Times , January 23, 2007). Drawing from three examples—the Athenians’ disastrous Sicilian expedition described in the histories of Thucydides, the allegory about the cost of obsession in Melville’s... [Read More]
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