The law, lawyers, and the court.

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• Legal Fictions The Bush administration's dumbest legal arguments of the year.
  Dahlia Lithwick Dec. 28, 2007
  
• Capital Opportunity Democrats could safely champion death-penalty reform—why aren't they?
  Niko Karvounis Dec. 28, 2007
  
• Operation Refusal Giuliani's sorry crackdown on New York City's taxi drivers.
  Dan Ackman Dec. 19, 2007
  
• Foxes Only How not to investigate the destruction of the CIA tapes.
  Emily Bazelon Dec. 17, 2007
  
• Whose Prisoners Are They, Anyway? The Americans you've never heard of who are being held in Iraq.
  Justin Florence Dec. 14, 2007
  
• The Stinger Missile Sting Why the government should keep its promises to bad guys like Haji Noorzai.
  Bennett L. Gershman Dec. 12, 2007
  
• The CIA Tapes and the War on Terror A timeline.
  Dahlia Lithwick Dec. 11, 2007
  
• Ifs and Buts If the CIA hadn't destroyed those tapes, what would be different?
  Dahlia Lithwick Dec. 10, 2007
  
• On the Ground at Guantanamo While the Supreme Court ponders, a real trial begins.
  Neal Katyal Dec. 4, 2007
  
• Don't Know Much About History But in the Gitmo cases, that won't stop the Bush administration from claiming it's on their side.
  Emily Bazelon Dec. 4, 2007
  
• Writing Lessons The Supreme Court plays Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon.
  Doug Kendall Dec. 3, 2007
  
• Open Books Why Supreme Court justices' speeches are less important than oral arguments.
  Dahlia Lithwick Nov. 30, 2007
  
• Bad Ideas The law promoting outstanding excellence in fighting terrorism—and why you never heard about it.
  Dahlia Lithwick Nov. 27, 2007
  
• On the Advice of Counsel The campaigns build their legal brain trusts. Plus: What did all the lawyer-candidates get on their LSATs?
  Emily Bazelon Nov. 26, 2007
  
• They've Slept On It Sixty-eight years after last taking on a gun case, the Supreme Court awakens to a violent debate.
  Dahlia Lithwick Nov. 20, 2007
  
• Hear Me, Hear Me Sometimes, all a family court judge can do is listen.
  Dahlia Lithwick Nov. 15, 2007
  
• State Your Secrets The smart way around telecom immunity.
  Justin Florence Nov. 14, 2007
  
• Die Hardest Why the states are standing by their outdated, messy lethal-injection protocols.
  Dahlia Lithwick Nov. 13, 2007
  
• Independence Day How Michael Mukasey's squishiness on water-boarding became laudable intellectual independence.
  Dahlia Lithwick Nov. 6, 2007
  
• Diddy Could Save Sampling Why hasn't he or any other big-name rapper even tried?
  Anthony Falzone Nov. 1, 2007
  
• Attorney General Chess If Mukasey is knocked out, which party loses?
  Emily Bazelon Oct. 31, 2007
  
• What Lies Beneath Alberto Gonzales' legal troubles may just be beginning.
  Dahlia Lithwick Oct. 26, 2007
  
• Pyrrhic Acquittal The Holy Land Foundation defendants aren't off the hook.
  David Feige Oct. 24, 2007
  
• All Wet Why can't we renounce waterboarding once and for all?
  Dahlia Lithwick Oct. 22, 2007
  
• From Toady to True Believer How confirming Michael Mukasey will further cripple Congress.
  Frank Bowman Oct. 22, 2007
  
• Rebound Relationship The Senate runs into the arms of Michael Mukasey.
  Emily Bazelon Oct. 17, 2007
  
• No headline 
  Tim Wu Oct. 17, 2007
  
• The Dog Ate My Evidence What happens when the government can't re-create the case against you?
  Dahlia Lithwick Oct. 16, 2007
  
• Don't Hang the Ref The CIA's inspector general must be free to do his job.
  Patrick Radden Keefe Oct. 16, 2007
  
• American Lawbreaking Illegal immigration.
  Tim Wu Oct. 14, 2007
  
• With Him or Against Him The black-and-white world of Clarence Thomas has nothing to do with race.
  Dahlia Lithwick Oct. 5, 2007
  
• On the Waterfront A radical labor-green idea at the ports of Southern California.
  Emily Bazelon Oct. 5, 2007
  
• Not That Innocent But Britney still has a chance to show the court she's fit to be a mom.
  Emily Bazelon Oct. 2, 2007
  
• Express Yourselves Why all the silence around the breast-feeding test-taker?
  Dahlia Lithwick Sept. 28, 2007
  
• Crack Sentencing Is Wack But a fix may finally be on the way.
  Harlan J. Protass Sept. 28, 2007
  
• Deception at the Supreme Court The upcoming term will look like a move to the left. Don't be fooled.
  Thomas Goldstein Sept. 28, 2007
  
• Do Not Vote for This Guy He doesn't want Democrats to vote—unless it's to appoint him to the Federal Election Commission.
  Dahlia Lithwick Sept. 25, 2007
  
• The Wrong Poster Children Why the Jena 6 protests have gone awry.
  Richard Thompson Ford Sept. 24, 2007
  
• Going from B to A How to fix the No Child Left Behind Act.
  Robert Gordon Sept. 24, 2007
  
• Nine Ways To Read The Nine Jeffrey Toobin's new book as a referendum on Supreme Court reporting.
  Dahlia Lithwick Sept. 21, 2007
  
• Telling It Like It Isn't John Roberts speaks out. A little.
  Dahlia Lithwick Sept. 19, 2007
  
• Mukasey's Not the Man He'll be a weak attorney general.
  Bruce Fein Sept. 19, 2007
  
• Independence Daze The litmus tests for Michael Mukasey's conservative critics.
  Dahlia Lithwick Sept. 17, 2007
  
• Measuring Mukasey He's no pushover, but will Bush's pick for AG rein in the administration on executive power?
  Emily Bazelon Sept. 17, 2007
  
• The Legislature Thereof California voters can't change the 2008 election rules on their own.
  Doug Kendall Sept. 13, 2007
  
• A Model of a Modern Attorney General The limitations of legal judgment in the war on terror.
  Dahlia Lithwick Sept. 12, 2007
  
• Played Out What it would really take to make toys safer.
  E. Marla Felcher Sept. 11, 2007
  
• Rush to Judgment The fight to fill judicial vacancies grows ever weirder.
  Dahlia Lithwick Sept. 10, 2007
  
• The Terror Presidency Executive power dos and don'ts.
  Jack Goldsmith Sept. 7, 2007
  
• Carts Before Horses Impeachment inquiry first, ask questions later.
  Bruce Fein Aug. 31, 2007
  
• Picks for Attorney General The likely candidates and our own wacky ideas.
  Dahlia Lithwick Aug. 28, 2007
  
• Deformed Reform The cure for the Electoral College that is worse than what ails us.
  Jamin Raskin Aug. 24, 2007
  
• The Heart of Queens Can Nancy Pelosi single-handedly take impeachment off the table?
  Bruce Fein Aug. 21, 2007
  
• Sic 'em With the Rally Squad And other tips for dealing with demonstrators from the Presidential Advance Manual.
  Dahlia Lithwick Aug. 20, 2007
  
• Lawyers in Wonderland How good lawyers sprout whiskers and top hats after drinking too much national-security punch.
  Dahlia Lithwick Aug. 16, 2007
  
• Custody Dispute Why is the U.S. stashing detainees at Policharki prison in Afghanistan?
  Eric Lewis Aug. 16, 2007
  
• The Worst of Both Worlds The false choice between treating terrorists as criminals or soldiers.
  Dahlia Lithwick Aug. 14, 2007
  
• Secret Insecurity Self-serving hush-ups, in Canada and the United States.
  Bruce Fein Aug. 14, 2007
  
• Freer Speech The lower courts give, as the Supreme Court taketh away.
  Jamin Raskin Aug. 10, 2007
  
• In Gonzo We Trust They want to fire Alberto Gonzales and give him new eavesdropping powers?
  Dahlia Lithwick Aug. 7, 2007
  
• The Birth of a Torture Program Jane Mayer reveals how government torture programs come to be.
  Dahlia Lithwick Aug. 6, 2007
  
• Wiretap at Will Congressional Democrats redefine spinelessness with the new FISA law.
  Patrick Radden Keefe Aug. 6, 2007
  
• Originalist Sins The faux originalism of Justice Clarence Thomas.
  Doug Kendall Aug. 1, 2007
  
• The Pardon Pander Congress blatantly oversteps its powers for the sake of two Border Patrol agents.
  Bruce Fein July 26, 2007
  
• Throw Restraint to the Wind And other ways for the legal left to rein in the Roberts Court.
  Emily Bazelon July 25, 2007
  
• The Torture Two-Step Bush's new torture order and its loopholes.
  Phillip Carter July 23, 2007
  
• The G-Men and the G-Man The Justice Department's "historic" new oversight of the FBI is none of those things.
  Patrick Radden Keefe July 18, 2007
  
• Get Strong, Congress How to fix the executive-privilege logjam.
  Bruce Fein July 18, 2007
  
• Target Practice Justice Scalia sets his sights on New York Times Co. v. Sullivan.
  Dahlia Lithwick July 17, 2007
  
• In Defense of the 9th Circuit Why the federal appeals court from the Left Coast doesn't deserve its bad rap.
  Cullen Seltzer July 16, 2007
  
• Rocking the Hard Place Sara Taylor plays the Senate judiciary committee like a harp.
  Dahlia Lithwick July 11, 2007
  
• Executive Nonsense Bush's assertion of privilege is wildly misplaced—and could lead to another Watergate.
  Bruce Fein July 11, 2007
  
• Hardly Working How Alberto Gonzales' incompetence became a defense for his wrongdoing.
  Dahlia Lithwick July 10, 2007
  
• Bad Heir Day How Sandra Day O'Connor became the least powerful jurist in America.
  Dahlia Lithwick July 9, 2007
  
• O Lawyer, Where Art Thou? How law firms are failing New Orleans.
  Lisa Lerer July 6, 2007
  
• The Quality of Mercy Is Strained Bush commutes Libby's sentence, while his lawyers come down hard on everyone else.
  Harlan J. Protass July 3, 2007
  
• The Battle Over Brown How conservatives appropriated Brown v. Board of Education.
  Risa L. Goluboff July 2, 2007
  
• Marriage, Trademarked How to understand—and answer—the claim that same-sex marriage demeans the institution.
  Kenji Yoshino July 2, 2007
  
• How To Keep Brown Alive Use income level, instead of race, to integrate the schools.
  Richard Kahlenberg June 29, 2007
  
• Sorry Now? What do the liberal and moderate lawyers who supported John Roberts' nomination say today?
  Emily Bazelon June 28, 2007
  
• Mail Trail The RNC e-mails represent one more White House demerit.
  Bruce Fein June 21, 2007
  
• Gag Order A Nebraska judge bans the word rape from his courtroom.
  Dahlia Lithwick June 20, 2007
  
• One-Off Offing Why you won't see a disbarment like Mike Nifong's again.
  David Feige June 18, 2007
  
• Testimonial Two-Step Mastering the intricate dance of congressional testimony.
  Dahlia Lithwick June 16, 2007
  
• Crisis of Confidence The latest terror ruling suggests that the courts do pretty well in a crisis.
  Dahlia Lithwick June 12, 2007
  
• Law and Orders How should the president's lawyers advise a reluctant White House?
  Dawn Johnsen June 8, 2007
  
• Line in the Sand Have the Guantanamo judges soured on the president's war tribunals?
  Dahlia Lithwick June 5, 2007
  
• Headed Southwick? The case against Bush's latest controversial judicial nominee.
  Emily Bazelon June 4, 2007
  
• Partial-Birth Confusion The Supreme Court puts doctors in the hot seat.
  Emily Bazelon June 1, 2007
  
• Raging Caging What the heck is vote caging, and why should we care?
  Dahlia Lithwick May 31, 2007
  
• Bad Think The Supreme Court mixes up intending to screw over your employee and actually doing it.
  Richard Thompson Ford May 30, 2007
  
• The Goodling Girl How Monica Goodling played the gender card and won.
  Dahlia Lithwick May 25, 2007
  
• The Mouse That Roared Monica Goodling was at the center of the prosecutor purge and still has no clue.
  Dahlia Lithwick May 24, 2007
  
• The Fraudulent Fraud Squad The incredible, disappearing American Center for Voting Rights.
  Richard L. Hasen May 18, 2007
  
• Nixon Rides Again It's only illegal when the president agrees it's illegal.
  Dahlia Lithwick May 17, 2007
  
• The Icing Is Iglesias His firing is reason alone for Congress to impeach Gonzales.
  Frank Bowman May 17, 2007
  
• Pulling the Plug Alberto Gonzales browbeats the critically ill.
  Dahlia Lithwick May 15, 2007
  
• Big Brothers In Egypt, blogging can get you arrested—or worse.
  Wael Abbas May 14, 2007
  
• Alberto Gonzales, Zen Master The attorney general jiujitsus Congress with a smile.
  Dahlia Lithwick May 10, 2007
  
• Literary Battle Fatigue The Army can regulate soldiers' blogs and letters—but it shouldn't.
  Phillip Carter May 9, 2007
  
• Tracking Device How about using GPS monitoring to stop batterers?
  Maura Kelly May 4, 2007
  
• Straight Arrow James Comey takes aim at Alberto Gonzales.
  Emily Bazelon May 3, 2007
  
• The Right To Remain Silent Silence is about the only right the Guantanamo prisoners have left.
  Dahlia Lithwick May 1, 2007
  
• The Sphinx of Sacramento Will the real Anthony Kennedy please stand up?
  Dahlia Lithwick April 27, 2007
  
• The Secret Weapon of 2008 Felons are getting the vote back—and Republicans aren't stopping them.
  Emily Bazelon April 27, 2007
  
• House Arrest Congress, go get Condi, Karl, and Monica yourself!
  Josh Chafetz April 26, 2007
  
• Gonzo for Gonzo Maybe Alberto Gonzales was brilliant yesterday—and everybody missed it.
  Dahlia Lithwick April 20, 2007
  
• Al, the President's Man Alberto Gonzales is bloodied by his trip to the Senate.
  Dahlia Lithwick April 20, 2007
  
• Father Knows Best Dr. Kennedy's magic prescription for indecisive women.
  Dahlia Lithwick April 18, 2007
  
• The Gonzales Q&A So, what's Al got to say for himself before the Senate?
  Dahlia Lithwick April 18, 2007
  
• After Blacksburg The gun law that would make a real difference.
  John T. Casteen IV April 17, 2007
  
• Prosecuting the Prosecutor Did the DA in the Duke lacrosse case commit a crime?
  Joseph Kennedy April 13, 2007
  
• Mike Nifong, Meet Alberto What the rape case fiasco and the U.S. attorney scandal have in common.
  Dahlia Lithwick April 11, 2007
  
• Who's the Boss? How Pat Robertson's law school is changing America.
  Dahlia Lithwick April 7, 2007
  
• The Reluctant Executioner Kyle Sampson cuts down his ex-boss, Alberto Gonzales.
  Emily Bazelon March 29, 2007
  
• The YouTube Defense Human rights go viral.
  Andrew K. Woods March 28, 2007
  
• Who's Blaming Whom Where the fingers are pointing in the Bush administration meltdown.
  Dahlia Lithwick March 27, 2007
  
• What Congress Gets To Know How to end the standoff on executive privilege and the U.S. attorney scandal.
  Walter Dellinger March 26, 2007
  
• When Less Is More The nutty legal syllogism that powers the Bush administration.
  Dahlia Lithwick March 21, 2007
  
• The Gonzales Files Slate's complete coverage of the attorney general scandals.
  March 21, 2007
  
• Dispatches From the Conrad Black Trial The star witness for the prosecution.
  Scott Jacobs March 21, 2007
  
• Politics as Usual Why the Justice Department will never be apolitical.
  Dahlia Lithwick March 14, 2007
  
• Hyper Hacks What's really wrong with the Bush Justice Department.
  Lincoln Caplan March 14, 2007
  
• Bonus Round What to make of those astronomical Supreme Court signing bonuses?
  Dahlia Lithwick March 10, 2007
  
• Specter Detector U.S. attorney scandal update: Who's to blame for those alarming Patriot Act revisions?
  Dahlia Lithwick March 5, 2007
  
• The War Powers Showdown It's legal for Congress to manage the war.
  Emily Bazelon March 5, 2007
  
• Declarative Sentences Congress has the power to make and end war—not manage it.
  Noah Feldman March 5, 2007
  
• Royal Flush The purge of U.S. attorneys (partially) explained.
  Dahlia Lithwick March 2, 2007
  
• Timid Justice The ICJ should have been harder on Serbia.
  David Luban Feb. 28, 2007
  
• Abuseless The Padilla case proves the futility of mistreating prisoners.
  Dahlia Lithwick Feb. 27, 2007
  
• Up in Smoke The Supreme Court loses its unanimity.
  Douglas W. Kmiec  Feb. 21, 2007
  
• Human Like Me? The New Jersey Supreme Court case that could define the fetus.
  Emily Bazelon Feb. 20, 2007
  
• Shill Pill The winners of Slate's build-your-own-hack contest.
  Dahlia Lithwick Feb. 15, 2007
  
• Courting Cash Anthony Kennedy weighs in on the crisis in judicial pay.
  Dahlia Lithwick Feb. 14, 2007
  
• Hack Attack Please reinvent me as a right-wing blowhard.
  Dahlia Lithwick Feb. 12, 2007
  
• Sudden Death American support for the death penalty is diminishing—except on the Supreme Court.
  Dahlia Lithwick Feb. 10, 2007
  
• Prosecutor Protector The ethics charges against District Attorney Mike Nifong are a rarity.
  Emily Bazelon Feb. 7, 2007
  
• Justice Girls The female justices begin to reflect on feminism.
  Dahlia Lithwick Feb. 6, 2007
  
• Justice Fever The baloney in two new books about the Supreme Court.
  Edward Lazarus Feb. 5, 2007
  
• The Irrelevance of Soft Bigotry Why Joe Biden's foul-up doesn't matter.
  Richard Thompson Ford Feb. 2, 2007
  
• The Third Man The 4th Circuit does one more round on enemy combatants.
  Dahlia Lithwick Feb. 1, 2007
  
• Welcome Back to the Rule of Law Bush makes good on a terrorism case (finally).
  Dahlia Lithwick Jan. 30, 2007
  
• Talk of the Gown What the Supreme Court justices won't say speaks volumes.
  Dahlia Lithwick Jan. 27, 2007
  
• Diagramming Sentences The Supreme Court's war on sentencing guidelines.
  Emily Bazelon Jan. 23, 2007
  
• Gonzales' Trojan Horse FISA-approved surveillance may not be a civil-liberties coup.
  Patrick Radden Keefe Jan. 19, 2007
  
• Happy Birthday, Roe v. Wade On the ruling's anniversary, its fans should celebrate another case, too.
  Kenji Yoshino Jan. 18, 2007
  
• Absolute Power The real reason the Bush administration won't back down on Guantanamo.
  Dahlia Lithwick Jan. 13, 2007
  
• Four Ways To Stop the War What Congress could do—if it dared.
  Emily Bazelon Jan. 10, 2007
  
• The Brennan Memos Brennan dishes on his colleagues.
  Jim Newton Jan. 5, 2007
  
• Bellwether Ma Bell is back. Should you be afraid?
  Tim Wu Jan. 4, 2007
  
• O Mighty Crisis The "constitutional collapse" over judicial pay.
  Dahlia Lithwick Jan. 2, 2007