JURIST - Commentary - Professional

Professional Commentary

Land as the Center of Social and Ethnic Conflict in Ethiopia

August 30, 2016 12:49:17 am

JURIST Guest Columnist Henok G. Gabisa of the Bekele Gerba et al International Legal Defense Project discusses the motivation behind Olympic marathoner Feyisa Lilesa's arm-crossed protest at the finish line at the 2016 Summer Games in Rio de Janiero, Brazil......

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Commentary

American Bar Association Attacks Attorney Speech Rights

Brad Abramson

August 17, 2016 08:08:11 pm

JURIST Guest Columnist Brad Abramson discusses the new ABA amendment...At its recent annual convention the American Bar Association (ABA) adopted a resolution amending Rule 8.4 of the ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct, the code of ethics that governs attorney...

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Commentary

On Human Rights, California is Better than Japan, Thailand, Taiwan, Singapore, and Texas!

Stephen Cooper

July 22, 2016 12:36:16 pm

JURIST Guest Columnist Stephen Cooper, a former DC public defender, addresses prosecutor Michele Hanisee's remarks concerning the death penalty in California... Speaking in favor of Proposition 66, the ballot initiative that seeks to speed up executions in California to Texas-like...

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Commentary

Justice Unblinded

Andreas Kuersten

July 16, 2016 09:54:34 am

JURIST Guest Columnist Andreas Kuersten, Law Clerk for the US Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces (CAAF), discusses racial bias' impact on black individuals, both in court and on the bench...The personification of justice is a blindfolded woman holding...

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Commentary

Proposition 66, The “Death Penalty Reform and Savings Act of 2016,” is Fool’s Gold for Californians

Stephen Cooper

July 4, 2016 10:02:17 pm

JURIST Guest Columnist Stephen Cooper, a former DC public defender discusses how California's Proposition 66 will fail to reform California's fractured death penalty system... "Californians for Death Penalty Savings and Reform"—an advocacy group spearheaded by district attorneys and several family...

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Commentary

Potential Legal Consequences of Mexico’s Initiative to Legalize Same-Sex Marriage

Graciela Jasa Silveira

July 2, 2016 05:25:09 am

JURIST Guest Colomnist Graciela Jasa Silveira discusses potential legal and constitutional consequences as a result of Mexican President Peña Nieto's initiatives to support same-sex family rights...Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto made public two bills to make-constitutional the...

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Commentary

When Prosecutors Parade, Criminal Justice Becomes a Circus

Stephen Cooper and Donnie W. Bethel

June 30, 2016 12:44:06 am

JURIST Guest Columnists Stephen Cooper and Donnie W. Bethel discuss the effect of the behavior of Prosecutors who parade their cases to the media has on the Criminal Justice system... Call us 'old school', but like the Honorable Scott Milne...

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Commentary

Overcriminalization & Mass Incarceration: SCOTUS’ Decision in the Hobbs Act Case Will Increase Both

Stephen Cooper and Donnie W. Bethel

June 26, 2016 03:48:16 pm

JURIST Guest Columnists Donnie W. Bethel and Stephen A. Cooper discuss how recent Supreme Court's decision related to the Hobbs Act only serves to further take up space and resources in the federal prisons... People of all persuasions, political parties...

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Commentary

Undisclosed Fraud Sinks Third-Party Benefits Lawsuit

David Christensen

June 26, 2016 02:39:24 pm

JURIST Guest Columnist David Christensen of Christensen Law discusses recent developments in Michigan auto law that affect third-party benefits... For the past 40 years, plaintiffs' attorneys seeking no-fault benefits for their clients have relied on the innocent third-party rule. This...

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Commentary

The Right to Choose: Trial by Jury, or Judge

Tim Lynch

June 20, 2016 11:13:27 am

JURIST Guest Columnist Tim Lynch of The Cato Institute discusses the right of defendants to choose between a trial by jury or trial by judge...Trial by jury is one of the most celebrated rights in the American Constitution, but what...

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Phillip III of Spain expels Muslim converts to Christianity

Phillip III of Spain began the expulsion of the country's "Morisco" (Muslims who converted to Christianity and their descendants) population on April 9, 1609, based on the Crown's fears that the Morisco population retained Muslim beliefs. Hundreds of thousands of Moriscos would be expelled from the country from 1609-1614. The expulsions took place just over 100 years after Spain's Jewish population was expelled in 1492. Learn more about the expulsion of the Moriscos.

Senate approves purchase of Alaska

On April 9, 1867, the U.S. Senate voted to ratify the Treaty with Russia for the Purchase of Alaska and thereby approve the purchase of the territory from Russia for $7.2 million. Initially, the purchase was made to keep Alaska away from the British. It was politically unpopular with many Americans who denounced it is "Seward's Folly", after U.S. Secretary of State William Seward, who had lobbied for the purchase. Seward was later vindicated by the discovery of gold and oil in Alaska.

Learn more about the Alaska Purchase from the U.S. State Department.

Last beheading in England

On April 9, 1747, Simon Fraser, Lord Lovat, became the last man to be beheaded in England when he was executed on Tower Hill for his part in the Jacobite rising of 1745. Learn more about the legal history and practice of beheading.