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FCC Regulation TV: Four-letter Words, Nudity, Sam Alito!

In January, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral argument in a case involving the FCC’s right to regulate the presence of fleeting four-letter words and scripted nudity in broadcast TV programs. Under a...

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Social Host Liability–Who’s Responsible for Drunk Guests?

Massachusetts’ highest court recently declined to expand the scope of the state’s “social host liability” law to include a 19-year-old girl who (without the knowledge or permission of her absent...

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Race Matters–Affirmative Action at the University of Texas

In February, the US Supreme Court announced that it will grant further appellate review to a case concerning the constitutionality of race-based affirmative action in the admissions process at the...

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You Tricked Me: Unhappy Lawyers Cry Fraud at Law Schools

In ten years we’re gonna have one million lawyers. How much can a poor nation stand?” –Tom Paxton (“One Million Lawyers” -1985) In the past year, more than a dozen class action lawsuits have been filed...

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Is the Jury Still Out on Trial by Jury?

Among the list of colonial grievances against King George III in the Declaration of Independence was the charge that he was responsible “For depriving us in many cases, of the benefit of Trial by...

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Psychiatrist’s Duty to Warn in Cases of Patients Posing Threats

Following the recent shootings at a Colorado movie theater, various media outlets have reported that shortly before the shootings, the suspect’s treating psychiatrist had taken steps to warn officials...

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Abolish the Electoral College? Framers Say No, States Say?

The prospect (or fact) of a candidate winning the Presidential election despite receiving less nationwide votes than an opponent causes some to call for the abolition of the current Electoral College...

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Should Judges Be Elected?

Calls for judicial term limits or for election of judges are heard from both liberals and conservatives.  Common triggers include criminal sentencing that is perceived to be too lenient and the...

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Do We Need Lawyers?

Every state regulates the practice of law within its jurisdiction, and, with some exceptions for small claims courts or landlord-tenant matters, for instance, restricts the commercial practice of law...

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Why is the Supreme Court Camera Shy?

Interest in the “historic” 3-day oral arguments in the recent Supreme Court case addressing the constitutionality of the Individual Mandate of the 2010 health care legislation was immense.  Yet, except...

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Supreme Court: GPS Use Violates Privacy, Illegal Search Too

In January the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously ruled that police violated the U.S. Constitution when, without first obtaining a search warrant, they placed a GPS tracker on a suspect’s car and tracked...

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Can Rachel Sue Nick After “the Most Shocking Bachelor Pad Finale” Ever?

Monday night, in the culmination of Bachelor Pad 3 on ABC, a potential lawsuit was created.  On “Bachelor Pad,” specially selected losers from past seasons of “The Bachelor” and “The Bachelorette” are...

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Rights Watch: Tweeter’s IP, Words and Whereabouts Turned Over to Government

Can the state compel Twitter to produce a criminal defendant’s once (but no longer) public Twitter postings and Twitter log-in information (routinely collected and known only to Twitter) to bolster its...

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Zumba Hooker Scandal: Publishing the Names of Johns?

The Police Department of the small seaside town of Kennebunk, Maine has begun releasing the names of men it has charged with the misdemeanor crime of engaging in prostitution with a local Zumba...

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Very Free Speech: The Truth About Pink Slime, or Not

Years ago federal regulatory authorities concluded that “lean finely textured beef” a.k.a. “pink slime” was safe for human consumption. So they approved its use as a food additive or filler in ground...

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Another Armstrong Victim: DEMOCRACY

As the world knows, disgraced cyclist Lance Armstrong recently admitted to Oprah Winfrey that he had lied under oath in various legal proceedings about his use of banned performance-enhancing...

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Are We Legally Obligated To Be Heroes?

Amid the obvious horror of the recent Boston Marathon bombings are numerous uplifting and reassuring instances where runners’ and ordinary spectators’ immediate reactions were to move toward the...

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Can We Talk About The Right to Remain Silent?

The “constitutional” right to remain silent is so frequently referenced on television shows, in media reports, and in public and private discourse, that most people likely take it for granted as an...

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Can the Fifth Amendment Be Fixed?

Most citizens are aware of criminal defendants “taking the Fifth” at their trials, by refusing to testify against themselves. The privilege against self-incrimination–explicitly embedded in the Fifth...

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Motown Letdown

Detroit’s bankruptcy reflects an intergenerational debate that until recently has largely been one-sided. Thomas Jefferson–who’s exhortations against public debt are oft-cited by various Tea Party...

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The Legal Side: Can You Name Your Baby Anything?

A Tennessee court overturned a magistrate’s earlier order to change a newborn’s given name from “Messiah” to a more traditional name. The prior order was based on shaky legal grounds: “The word...

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Upskirt Photos: Why the Massachusetts Court Got the Decision Right

This week, Massachusetts’ highest court ruled that Michael Robertson, a 32-year-old male subway rider from Andover, Massachusetts who allegedly attempted to secretly take photographs of women riders...

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