American Bar Association

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American Bar Association Calls for Delay on Kavanaugh

Confirmation will depend on 8 senators

(Newser) - Republicans say they're going ahead with a Senate Judiciary Committee vote on Brett Kavanaugh on Friday—but the American Bar Association thinks they should wait. In a letter released late Thursday, the ABA, which previously declared the nominee "well-qualified" for the court, said the process should be halted...

'Libel Bully' Report on Trump Is Maybe a Bit Too Convincing

ABA decides not to publish it, fearing a lawsuit

(Newser) - "It is more than a little ironic," one lawyer involved tells the New York Times . He's got a point: The irony refers to a decision by the American Bar Association not to publish a report concluding that Donald Trump is a "libel bully." Higher-ups at...

It's Currently Fine for Lawyers to Sexually, Racially Harass Each Other

But that could change Monday

(Newser) - Rules against discrimination and harassment in the workplace are pretty much the norm. Except for one rather unlikely profession: lawyers. The New York Times shares accounts of female lawyers being called "honey" or "darling" in court, black lawyers being called racial slurs, demeaning physical contact ("I got...

Court Allows Undocumented Immigrant to Join Bar

Legal battle took longer than law school

(Newser) - You don't have to be an American citizen to be a lawyer in America, the California Supreme Court ruled today, in a case that NBC News believes could set a national precedent. The court ruled that Sergio Garcia (no, not that Sergio Garcia) must be admitted to the State...

Law School Enrollment Dives to 36-Year Low

Debt, job market keeping students away

(Newser) - Is America going to face a future shortage of lawyers? First-year law school enrollment dropped this year to 39,675—some 5,000 less than last year and the lowest level since 1977, the Wall Street Journal reports. This is the third year in a row that law school numbers...

Are Jail Strip Searches Unconstitutional?

 Are Jail Strip Searches 
 Unconstitutional? 
supreme court to ponder
Sep 13, 2011 9:06 AM CDT

Are Jail Strip Searches Unconstitutional?

NJ strip-search case reaches Supreme Court

(Newser) - Is it unconstitutional to strip-search every new inmate entering a jail? The Supreme Court will consider that question next month when it hears the case of Albert Florence, a 35-year-old New Jersey man who spent a week in jail because of a warrant that wrongfully said he was wanted for...

Groups Move to Disbar Bush Lawyers Over Torture

Target Mukasey, Gonzalez, Ashcroft

(Newser) - A coalition of mostly left-leaning organizations is attempting to get a gaggle of Bush officials disbarred for sanctioning torture, the Legal Times reports. In complaints filed with five state bar associations today, the groups accuse ex-attorneys general Michael Mukasey, Alberto Gonzalez, and John Ashcroft—along with nine others—of violating...

Judge Draws Ire for Shelving Capital Trial

Six other states can't fund them; issue may be bigger than injection

(Newser) - Judge Hilton Fuller has drawn ire for shelving a Georgia death penalty case, but other states are hitting the same snag: low funds for capital court costs, the New York Times reports. Georgia can’t afford the $1.2 million to defend Brian Nichols, charged with killing four in a...

Bar Association Seeks to Halt Executions

Rampant inequities & sloppy cases demand moratorium, says group

(Newser) - After a three-year study of the death penalty in eight states, the American Bar Association is calling for a nationwide moratorium on executions until prevalent problems in the system are rectified. Defense attorneys nationwide are under-qualified and underfunded, cases are plagued by sloppy evidence gathering, and race influences sentencing, the...

9 Stories