Understanding the Law
Explaining court cases, statutes, and executive actions across the country, providing valuable analysis of the facts and legal impact on the public.
On the morning of June 24, 2013, the Supreme Court of the United States was set to announce its decision in Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin. Many Americans believed the opinion would be landmark, a definitive ruling on the long-debated issue of affirmative action in college admissions policies. The Court, instead, announced what arguably could be described as a non-decision (pdf). No definition was provided for “critical mass” and other affirmative action buzzwords. No hard
[...]
When vocal advocates are on the losing side of a judicial decision, a common reaction has been to demand an end to lifetime tenure. But this “solution” may cause more problems than it would solve.
[...]
Leading questions ordinarily allowed on cross-examination can be entirely inappropriate on direct-examination, but this does not mean only non-leading questions are permitted on direct.
[...]
Travelers on board disaster-stricken cruise ships seek legal remedies, and one politician urges the enactment of new legislation to protect passengers’ rights.
[...]
July 20, 2012. Just after midnight. A dark movie theater in Aurora, Colorado. Audience members are seated to watch the highly anticipated Dark Knight Rises, the final film in the acclaimed Batman series. But what begins as a theater buzzing with excitement over the on-screen entertainment quickly turns into a theater filled with cries of terror over the real-life nightmare occurring in the theater. No longer is the audience captivated by Bane, the movie’s villain with his
[...]
Updated June 17, 2013: The Supreme Court, in a plurality opinion (pdf) written by Justice Alito, ruled that the right to remain silent must be expressly invoked in order for that silence to be protected at trial, even if that silence is pre-arrest. We have all heard it before, some of us through personal experience and others through fictional television shows such as Law & Order: “You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of
[...]
As a law professor, I’m always looking for interesting cases from which to create exam questions, both multiple choice and essay. Sometimes the cases are rather straightforward and illustrate the application of a rule of evidence quite well. These usually make great cases for multiple choice questions. Other times they are complicated and nuanced and are much closer calls on the outcome. These make great essay questions. Then there are those that simply get the law wrong. They,
[...]
I doubt there’s a prosecutor or plaintiff’s lawyer in the state who would give up the opportunity to be the last lawyer to address the jury in a contested case. Getting the last word is important. The principle of recency tells us the people tend to remember what they hear last. What better way to send the jury into the deliberation room that with your powerful closing argument ringing in their ears? But there’s another principle of persuasion that seems to get overlooked in many
[...]
It was a Thursday afternoon, and I was contemplating a difficult and nuanced issue of evidence law. My eyes were closed in deep concentration… OK, so I was napping after a big lunch. My “contemplation” was interrupted by a third-year student who had done quite well in Evidence the previous semester and was interning in the District Attorney’s office under the third-year practice rule. He was visibly upset and needed to talk. The District Court judge before whom he was trying a
[...]
Over the past 20 years, stop-and-frisk policing has risen to unprecedented levels in New York City. Studies have shown that from 1990 to 1995, the New York Police Department (NYPD) subjected about 40,000 people a year to these searches. In 2011, that number climbed to over 684,000. What is most alarming is that according to a New York Civil Liberties Union report, blacks and Latinos together make up 52 percent of the city’s population but 87 percent of those were stopped and frisked.
[...]
The Arrest Around 11 p.m. on July 12, 2010, a truck pulled into the parking lot of a Winston Salem gas station,with Kevin Deon Wilson in the driver’s seat. Although Wilson later denied driving the truck, whose owner was also in the vehicle, he was arrested and charged with misdemeanor driving while intoxicated (DWI) and driving with a revoked license. Despite the relatively commonplace nature of the charges against Wilson, what followed his arrest was far from expected. The officer on the
[...]
A president’s wartime power has been a subject of both interest and tension since this county was founded. The United States has seen President Adams’ infamous Alien and Sedition Acts, which punished any American citizen who spoke out against the government and legalized deportation of illegal aliens. Then President Roosevelt authorized the internment of Japanese individuals living in the United States in 1942. For both Adams and Roosevelt, preserving national security was more
[...]
We’re all familiar with them, those classic cross-examination tips that, if applied correctly, will win your case and make you famous. Irving Younger gave us “The 10 Commandments of Cross-Examination.” Who can forget how Roy Black destroyed the State’s witness in the Robert Kennedy Smith rape trial? Of course, there’s Tom Cruise from “A Few Good Men.” For the more senior members of the audience, we all remember how Perry Mason won every case on cross-examination. In
[...]
On November 21, Orange County Commissioners voted 6-1 to ban smoking in most public places. Prior to the vote, the commissioners were presented with two gallon jars that contained more than 6,000 cigarette butts collected on Franklin Street in 2010. Commissioner Earl McKee cast the only vote against the ban because he believes the ordinance is too broad and represents government overreach. The ban applies to all town or county-owned property, including sidewalks and parks, and also
[...]
On August 13, 2012, the Wake County Public School System offered parents the opportunity to have their children educated in a single-sex learning environment. The boys-only Wake Young Men’s Leadership Academy and the girls-only Wake Young Women’s Leadership Academy would join the ranks of more than 500 similar single-sex programs throughout the United States. According to the News and Observer, “[d]emand was high from families attracted by old-fashioned staples such as single-sex
[...]
«
1
…
8
9
10
11
12
»
