Recently in People and Events Category

Habeas corpus. It seemed so important in law school — those halcyon days when you thought you would spend your career fighting for civil liberties — but years of bankruptcy/M&A/insurance defense/family law hearings make habeas irrelevant to most lawyers. For many of us, habeas corpus remains a lofty principle rather than a part of practice.

(Because the U.S. government doesn’t just lock an American up for months without due process, right?)

After 9/11, lawyers and policy makers began debating whether the standard rights of the accused, including habeas, should apply to suspected terrorists. An increasingly vocal segment of the population championed the idea that national security trumped civil liberties. Anthony Gregory, a Research Fellow at the Independent Institute, was troubled by post 9/11 detention policy — particularly the 2006 Military Commissions Act and activity at Guantanamo — so he set out to write a policy paper on habeas corpus.

Lewis and Clark Law School Dean Robert Klonoff has an impressive résumé. According to the school’s website, he graduated from Yale Law School, clerked for the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, and worked as an Assistant to the Solicitor General. He’s even argued before the Supreme Court eight times.

But he clearly doesn’t know that first thing about Supreme Court press policies.

Chief Justice John Roberts announced on Facebook this morning that the Supreme Court has shifted its position on cameras in the Court.

"In light of the overwhelming response to the same-day audio recordings in the same-sex marriage cases last week, we are moving forward with a new plan to introduce the Court into multimedia platforms including television and social media," the Chief Justice wrote in a post that has already received over six million "likes."

Anyone who has watched 'Law & Order' can recite the Miranda rights.

You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say or do can be held against you. You have a right to an attorney. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be provided for you...

Attorneys may get second-billing on television dramas, but the right to an attorney is pretty damn important. And Gideon v. Wainwright -- the case that established that right in state non-capital trials -- turns 50 today.

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg turns 80 on Friday, and we’re ready to celebrate her graceful transition from septuagenarian to octogenarian.

Here are 8 reasons to celebrate Justice Ginsburg:

Naturally, we love the trial scene in "Scent of Woman." Lovable Charlie's future is on the line, and crotchety Lt. Col. Slade (Al Pacino) walks in, gives a riveting speech, and saves the day. The best part is when the headmaster tells Col. Slade he's out of order. Pacino yells back, "Out of order? I'll show you out of order."

What attorney hasn't dreamed of pulling a Pacino in court?

This week, "Out of Order" takes on a decidedly more orderly form: It's the name of Justice Sandra Day O'Connor's latest book. After reflections on life out West in "Lazy B" and the Court in "The Majesty of the Law," Justice O'Connor is on her way back to the bestseller list with "Out of Order."

Three years ago, Justice Samuel Alito was spotted shaking his head during the State of the Union, and denouncing President Obama's explanation of the Court's Citizens United decision as "not true."

He hasn't returned since.

Justice Alito once described a justice's role in attending the State of the Union as sitting there "like the proverbial potted plant." It's a role he doesn't particularly enjoy. Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas similarly abhor the SOTU. Thomas cannot abide "the catcalls, the whooping and hollering and under-the-breath comments," reports The New York Times. Scalia calls it a "juvenile spectacle."

Justice Sonia Sotomayor's new book, "My Beloved World," is a hit.

Reviewers have embraced her "refreshing conversational style" and "fascinating life story." NPR's Nina Totenberg predicts that her "beautifully written and novelistic" "page-turner" will become a best-seller.

That light at the end of the tunnel isn't the Star of Bethlehem, it's the last installment of our 12 Days of SCOTUS.

So let's jump into the final four connections between the most annoying holiday song ever written and the Supreme Court.

On Monday, we started wondering what the 12 days of Christmas would look like viewed through the Supreme Court's jurisprudentially-colored glasses. The problem with starting down that rabbit hole is that we can't turn back now.

(No, really. Our editor won't let us.)

Let's keep moving down the countdown, folks. It's our only way out.