The conservative Court’s favorite judicial philosophy requires a very, very firm grasp of history they don’t possess....
Law
Explore how societies created law to govern conduct and decide who holds power. These histories follow legal institutions across cultures while examining how courts and lawmakers negotiated the persistent conflict between authority and justice.
This constitutional theory is now a threat to modern life. Last week’s Supreme Court rulings on aborÂtion...
A precedent-based theory is far better than originalism. Originally published by Harvard Journal of Law and Public...
The Supreme Court has found protections for people’s privacy in several constitutional amendments. Introduction Almost all American...
Lingchi was reserved for crimes viewed as especially heinous, such as treason. Introduction Lingchi, translated variously as...
America’s criminal legal system is unduly harsh. Experts explain how we got here and solutions that will...
The survival time after being “wheeled” or “broken” could be extensive. Introduction The breaking wheel or execution wheel, also known...
How a man who never held elected office shaped one of America’s most punitive criminal justice systems....
Immurement was prominent in folklore as a type of capital punishment but also as human sacrifice. Introduction...
Teens held in solitary confinement around the clock, shackled with leg irons and deprived of an education....
Crimes were prosecuted by officials whose tasks were not exclusively judicial, but administrative as well. In ancient...
The ordeal ranked along with the oath and witness accounts as the central means by which to...
Public outrage is building: the Court’s approval rating is now around 40%. So now, as expected after decades...
Supreme Court justices are the only judges in the country without a binding ethics code. The facts...
Jackson has led a professional and personal life at once classic and unpredictable. Introduction President Biden has selected...
Ketanji Brown Jackson will be the first public defender to serve on the Supreme Court. Here’s why...
Affirmative action has been deliberately and maliciously recast over the years. The distorted misinformation about affirmative action...
The amendment ended slavery but also enabled a prison system of free labor and involuntary servitude. Introduction...
The immense powers of prosecutors throughout the US mean that the scales are tipped against defendants. Introduction...
Alternatives to incarceration often replicate the same problematic technologies that fostered mass incarceration. Fifty years ago, as...
The legal system makes it easy for big businesses that break the law to escape prosecution and...
Third-party service providers can be forced by courts to provide encryption keys. The Fifth Amendment It is...
His tenure on the Supreme Court reflects less partisan times. Introduction Stephen Breyer will leave a legacy...
Hammurabi’s punishments were far more severe than earlier law codes. Introduction The Code of Hammurabi was a set of...
Many believe the centuries-old custom, meant to protect judicial independence, no longer serves the public. Introduction Pressure...
The medieval county court eventually took on the task of selecting knights of the shire to sit...
Considering short-term and long-term prospects for major structural reform of the Supreme Court. Introduction For a brief...
FDR’s “court-packing plan” amounted to playing Russian Roulette with the constitutional balance of powers. By Dr. James...
The Commission concludes that the size of the Court has fluctuated over time due to both institutional...
Although it is not widely discussed, and the evening news might not broadcast about it very often,...