Celebrating 230 Years of the U.S. Courts

U.S. Courts News Release: "On [Sept. 24, 1789], President George Washington signed the Judiciary Act of 1789 establishing a federal court system separate from state courts. The 230-year-old act set forth a three-tier federal court structure of one Supreme Court and two levels of inferior courts."

Nation: 39 states show decreases in prison populations

ABC News: "The renewed interest in criminal justice reform is having an impact in a real way, experts say. A recent report shows that 39 states had decreases in their prison populations from 2009 to 2017."

Nation: 'FACT' teams aim to keep people with mental illness out of jail

MPR News: "When someone is experiencing a mental health crisis, often the only alternatives are jail or an emergency room. Neither of those alternatives is particularly helpful, and sometimes they can make a person’s condition worse."

The Constitution Annotated: The Constitution explained in plain English

To celebrate this year's Constitution Day, the Law Library of Congress is launching the Constitution Annotated, a website that provides online access to a massive Senate document that has served for more than a century as the official record of the U.S. Constitution.

U.S.: Court cuts jury award, warns Steinbeck family to end litigation

KTLA News: "A federal appeals court attempted to close the book on endless litigation between the relatives of author John Steinbeck in a ruling that upheld a $5 million verdict against his daughter-in-law, but threw out $8 million she faced in punitive damages."

Feds decline to adopt protections for Yellowstone bison

Courthouse News Service: "The federal government has decided there will be no review of the Yellowstone National Park bison to be considered for federal protection, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced on Thursday."

U.S.: Watched case on taxpayer access to courts won’t be reheard

Bloomberg News: "The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit won’t review the dismissal of a lawsuit against IRS efforts to combat micro-captive transactions, in a case raising major questions about when tax rules can be challenged in court."

Revered from left and right, she’ll soon be Canada’s longest-serving judge

Los Angeles Times: "Newspaper publisher Conrad Black, who disagrees with just about everything she does and believes, says, 'she would get my vote as an ecumenical saint.' Alan Dershowitz, who disagrees with only most of what she does and believes, says he would 'trade her for two American Supreme Court justices.'"

Seventh Circuit guts FTC’s powers -- Setting up Supreme Court showdown

Courthouse News Service: "Breaking with eight other circuits, the Seventh Circuit ruled Wednesday that the Federal Trade Commission lacks authority to seek restitution from companies that defraud consumers, and vacated a $5 million judgment against a credit-monitoring company."

Mary Murphy Schroeder: She broke barriers from the start

U.S. Courts: "In 1979, Mary Murphy Schroeder joined a historic class of women judges who transformed the federal judiciary, but her law career nearly ended before it began. The night before her first final law exam at the University of Chicago, Schroeder collapsed and was hospitalized with a severe kidney infection."

Nation: Welcome to the Olympics of court reporting

Denver Post: "A man poured baby powder on his hands to soak up the nervous sweat, a computer fan blowing a slight breeze on his face. Across the aisle, in a silent hotel conference room, a contestant rubbed her face, breathing deeply."

U.S.: 40 years later, pioneering women judges savor place in history

U.S. Courts: "Federal Judge Sylvia Rambo first thought of a legal career in the 1940s when her school bus drove by a local law school in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. 'It was like a voice came out of nowhere,' she recalled, 'saying, ‘You’re going to be a lawyer.'"

Nation: Law governing adoptions of Native American children upheld

Sioux City Journal: "A 1978 law giving preference to Native American families in foster care and adoption proceedings involving American Indian children is constitutional, a federal appeals court ruled Friday."

Arthur Lazarus, who represented Sioux Nation in landmark Supreme Court case, dies at 92

Boston Globe: "Arthur Lazarus Jr., a Washington lawyer who represented Native American tribes for more than four decades, notably securing a landmark $106 million award for the Sioux Nation as part of its long fight for the Black Hills of South Dakota, died July 27."

Federal executions brought back after 16-year limbo

Courthouse News Service: "Federal inmates on death row will be executed for the first time since 2003, Attorney General William Barr announced Thursday, championing the return to capital punishment as a way to bring 'justice to victims of the most horrific crimes.'"

Nation: Prisons resort to video for psychiatric care

MPR News: "As more and more people in prison need mental health care, more and more prison systems are turning to telepsychiatry. It’s basically a video psychiatry appointment, a doctor’s visit via Skype or FaceTime."

Nation: More than 3,000 prisoners released under First Step Act

CBS News: "Freedom came Friday for more than 3,000 people. They were released from prisons and halfway houses across the country under the First Step Act signed into law by the president last year."

Proposal would repeal US laws that hurt Native Americans

Sioux City Journal: "Leaders of Oklahoma-based Native American tribes are praising a proposal to repeal unenforced federal laws that discriminate against Native Americans."

Nation: Emojis are increasingly coming up in court cases

CNN: "Can a knife emoji double as a threat to kill someone? Does a heart emoji from a manager constitute sexual harassment? More emojis are showing up in court cases throughout the United States. Attorneys are having to argue for different interpretations of the small illustrated characters that are used to express emotions, activities or objects."

Nation: The fight over Native American adoptions is about more than just the children

Time: "Each time Elisia Manuel sees her daughter Precious rehearsing traditional basket dancing and humming tribal songs around their home in Casa Grande, Arizona, she’s overwhelmed with emotion. 'It’s beautiful to witness,' the mother of three says. 'She’s part of the community.'"

Wanted: Lawyers for rural America

Pew Charitable Trust: "In 2012, the American Bar Association called on federal, state and local governments to curb the decline of rural lawyers, and South Dakota responded. The following year, it became the first state to enact legislation to recruit lawyers to rural areas."

Nation: Judges reveal stress, scrutiny they face in their jobs

Courthouse News Service: "Former federal judge Jeremy Fogel started a firestorm when he ruled that California’s execution procedures were unconstitutionally harsh back in 2006. Despite the hundreds of angry emails and letters, he said he’s glad it happened before Twitter took off."

Iowa Supreme Court affirms Dakota Access pipeline project

WRAL News: "The Iowa Supreme Court said Friday that a crude oil pipeline running across Iowa was legally permitted to be built dashing the hopes of a group of farmer landowners who wanted the pipeline moved off their land and an environmental group that wanted it shut down."