Aba Journal: Modern Law Library

From the earliest days of the U.S. Supreme Court, alcohol has been part of the work lives and social lives of the justices. In the book "Glass and Gavel: The U.S. Supreme Court and Alcohol," Nancy Maveety takes readers on a tour through the ways that SCOTUS and spirits have overlapped. In this episode of the Modern Law Library, she speaks with the ABA Journal's Lee Rawles about how she came to write this in-depth history. While the Prohibition Era would immediately spring to mind, the court faced a number of cases involving alcohol that impacted commerce, advertising, criminal justice and even gender discrimination laws. Maveety, who in addition to being a scholar of constitutional law also studies mixology, shares how she selected a signature cocktail for each chief justice's tenure. She also has a drink suggestion for readers which encorporates an ingredient that's known to be one of Justice Ginsburg's favorites–and a cautionary tale about a normally teetotaling chief justice who dropped dead after sipping

"Fake it 'till you make it." For Heidi K. Brown, trying to mimic her extroverted peers in litigation always felt forced. She pushed through law school and nearly two decades of practice acting the outgoing attorney before accepting her quiet, thoughtful self. Brown wrote her book—The Introverted Lawyer: A Seven-Step Journey Toward Authentically Empowered Advocacy—with introverted, shy and socially anxious lawyers and law students in mind. In this episode of the Modern Law Library, ABA Publishing's Ashley Alfirevic speaks to Brown about honoring yourself, affirming what's true and embracing the blush.

A new year, a new you? Stewart Levine has spent over three decades speaking to legal professionals after suffering from burnout as a lawyer himself. His new book—The Best Lawyer You Can Be: A Guide to Physical, Mental, Emotional, and Spiritual Wellness—combines personal experiences and impactful essays from industry leaders, meant to inspire far beyond January's best intentions. In this episode of the Modern Law Library, ABA Publishing's Ashley Alfirevic speaks to Levine about how to engage in self-reflection, and how to implement more positive habits, self-care and collaboration into the often-stressful lawyer lifestyle.

All judges have cases that stick with them and linger in their memories. Sometimes it was because of the high profile of the case, and sometimes an obscure case had personal resonance because of the people or issues involved. In this episode of the Modern Law Library, the ABA Journal's Lee Rawles speaks with Judges Russell F. Canan, Gregory E. Mize and Frederick H. Weisberg, who all sit on the Superior Court of the District of Columbia. The three judges were contributors to and the editors of "Tough Cases: Judges Tell the Stories of Some of the Hardest Decisions They've Ever Made." Canan, Mize and Weisberg share their own stories, including why Canan's well-meant gesture to avert an injustice in a gun case still troubles him. Mize explains why a child-custody case haunted him for decades, and what happened when he tracked down the now-grown child as he was deciding whether to write about it for "Tough Cases." Weisberg talks about dealing with the emotional fallout from overseeing a case where a mother had mur

After navigating the ups and downs of being an agent, Darren Heitner pursued another avenue that combined his love of negotiation and athletics: sports law. With his wealth of expertise and his deep knowledge of this niche practice area, Heitner packed his book—How to Play the Game: What Every Sports Attorney Needs to Know—full of real-life case studies and insights into the inner working of the games people love to watch. In this episode of the ABA Journal's Modern Law Library, ABA Publishing's Bryan Kay speaks to Heitner about the latest edition of his book, how to pursue a career in sports law and some of today's hot topics in college and professional athletics.

Ken Starr has been a D.C. Circuit Court judge, a law school dean and the U.S. solicitor general. But he is best known for his work in the Office of the Independent Counsel and the report that came to colloquially bear his name: the Starr Report, which unveiled the salacious details of President Bill Clinton's affair with former White House intern Monica Lewinsky. Twenty years after President Clinton's impeachment by the U.S. House of Representatives, Starr has written "Contempt: A Memoir of the Clinton Investigation." Starr spoke with the ABA Journal's Lee Rawles in late October about how he came to run the OIC; what the Whitewater scandal was really about; how he thinks we should evaluate conspiracy theories; and what impact being the focus of massive media coverage has had on his ideas about the importance of a free press. He also shares his thoughts on Justice Brett Kavanaugh, who served under him in the OIC, and why he advocated for an end to the Office of the Independent Counsel.

Data informs, and in some cases controls, every aspect of modern life. Well, almost every aspect. "If you look at finance or medicine or sports, almost every other thing in the world is using data to make better decisions," says Ed Walters. "Everything except law." In this episode of the Modern Law Library, the ABA Journal's Jason Tashea speaks with Walters, editor of "Data-Driven Law: Data Analytics and the New Legal Services." The book is a collection of articles by data scientists, lawyers and technologists on a breadth of topics, including data mining, the accuracy of technology-assisted review in e-discovery and quantifying the quality of legal services.

Three in 10 American women who are 45 or older have had an abortion, Katie Watson, author of "Scarlet A: The Ethics, Law & Politics of Ordinary Abortion," tells the ABA Journal's Lee Rawles. For women 44 and younger, one in four are projected to have an abortion in their lifetime. Yet for all the fiery rhetoric about the legality of abortion, Watson–who teaches bioethics, medical humanities and constitutional law at Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine–has found a reluctance by people to discuss their own personal experiences with abortion, or even the nuances of their views on its ethics. While the overwhelming majority of people feel comfortable claiming the labels of either "pro-life" or "pro-choice," when she polls people about the legality and the morality of abortion at different stages of development, there's a lot more nuance than those binary labels suggest. In this episode of the Modern Law Library, Watson talks about ways to have productive discussions about abortion; the emerg

Law school can be a lonely, stressful time, and it's easy to feel like you're failing to fit the model of the perfect law student. But there's no one right way to go to law school, says Professor Kathryne M. Young, author of How to Be Sort of Happy in Law School; you can craft your own experience. In this episode of the Modern Law Library, Young talks with the ABA Journal's Lee Rawles about tackling imposter syndrome; advice that alumni wish they could give their younger selves; and techniques for getting along with your fellow students. Young uses lessons from her own law school experience and a sociological study she conducted to give practical tips for keeping a mental balance; choosing which courses and activities to pursue; managing the practical aspects of your household and budget; forming relationships with mentors and peers–and even deciding when if it's time to leave law school altogether. Young's book offers a holistic approach to surviving–and thriving–under the social, academic and economic press

Many people promote a daily practice of meditation, spiritual contemplation and mindfulness as a way to improve your personal life and wellbeing. Attorney Jeremy Richter argues that creating a similar daily ritual to focus on developing your professional skills can be just as helpful to your clients, career and your law practice. In this episode of the Modern Law Library, the ABA Journal's Lee Rawles speaks with Richter, author of the new book "Building a Better Law Practice: Become a Better Lawyer in Five Minutes a Day." The book is structured to provide a daily reading on personal and professional development over a seven-week time period. Richter discusses why he decided to channel energy into blogging during the early years of his practice as an insurance litigator, and shares some lessons from that time that became inspirations for the book.

The authority to impeach and remove a U.S. president is one of the legislative branch's most powerful weapons. But in the country's history, despite many periods of open hostility between Congress and the executive branch, no president has been removed from office through the impeachment procedure. Why is that? In this episode of the Modern Law Library, constitutional litigator Joshua Matz discusses "To End a Presidency: The Power of Impeachment," a book he co-wrote with Laurence Tribe. Matz explains the debates the founders had over including impeachment in the Constitution; some of the lesser-known 19th-century impeachment controversies; and why he believes that the partisan use of impeachment rhetoric over the past 40 years has not been positive for U.S. democracy.

Lisa Scottoline, C.E. Tobisman and Scott Turow have at least three things in common: They're all novelists, attorneys and nominees for this year's Harper Lee Prize for Legal Fiction. In this special episode, the ABA Journal's Lee Rawles speaks with all three authors about their nominated books, their creative processes, and the role they believe lawyers play in society. To cast a vote for one of the three authors to win, go to http://www.abajournal.com/polls/HarperLeePrize2018 before midnight on June 30.

From 1873 until his death in 1915, Anthony Comstock was the most powerful shaper of American censorship and obscenity laws. Although he was neither an attorney nor an elected official, Comstock used an appointed position as a special agent of the U.S. Post Office Department and legislation known as the Comstock Laws to order the arrests and prosecutions of hundreds of artists, publishers, doctors and anyone else he felt was promoting vice. For decades, Comstock was the sole arbiter and definer in the United States of what was obscene–and his definition was expansive. In Lust on Trial: Censorship and the Rise of American Obscenity in the Age of Anthony Comstock, author Amy Werbel explains how Comstock's religious fervor and backing by wealthy New York society members led to a raft of harsh federal and state censorship laws–and how the backlash to Comstock's actions helped create a new civil liberties movement among defense lawyers.

After losing both the 1960 presidential election and the 1962 California governor's race, Richard Milhouse Nixon vowed at a press conference, "You won't have Nixon to kick around anymore" and seemed to have written the epitaph to his political career. He left for New York and became a partner in a white shoe law firm. Yet six years later, he would win the White House, in no small part because of that firm. In this episode of the Modern Law Library, Victor Li explains how Nixon leveraged his time at Nixon, Mudge, Rose, Guthrie & Alexander to resurrect both his political viability and the firm's financial standing. He discusses his new book, "Nixon in New York: How Wall Street Helped Richard Nixon Win the White House," and shares what it was like to have Nixon as a law partner, from piano/clarinet jam sessions to landing a huge client by getting Khrushchev to drink a Pepsi.

Studies have shown that implicit bias is something that affects everyone to some degree. So what steps can legal professionals at all ranks take to make the justice system fairer and more equitable? In this episode of the Modern Law Library, the ABA Journal's Lee Rawles speaks with Judge Bernice Donald of the Cincinnati-based 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and Prof. Sarah E. Redfield about Enhancing Justice: Reducing Bias, a book which Redfield edited and Donald contributed to. They discuss the latest research on bias, and give concrete tips for managing it.

As violent crime in New York City peaked from 1988-1991, policy makers were desperate for ways to combat and prevent it. In 1994, a new theory was embraced by the NYPD: that by controlling low-level "quality-of-life" violations like vandalism, noise complaints, traffic violations and aggressive panhandling, the police would ward off violent crime and more serious property crimes. Violent crime numbers had already begun to dip, but now misdemeanor arrests shot up, pulling in tens of thousands of people with no prior criminal record. In this episode of the Modern Law Library, Prof. Issa Kohler-Hausmann explains to the ABA Journal's Lee Rawles the impact this change in tactics had for New York City police, courts and residents, and discusses her new book, "Misdemeanorland: Criminal Courts and Social Control in an Age of Broken Windows Policing."

In the 45 years since Roe v. Wade was decided, it has been a focal point for both anti-abortion and pro-abortion rights groups. But the opinion in the 1973 case has also been used by activists of liberal, libertarian and conservative ideologies to develop privacy arguments for issues ranging from access to experimental drugs to euthanasia to personal data security to sex worker rights. In this episode of the Modern Law Library, the ABA Journal's Lee Rawles speaks with Mary Ziegler, author of the new book Beyond Abortion: Roe v. Wade and the Battle for Privacy. Ziegler discusses what Roe v. Wade's legacy has been, and how it advanced–or failed to advance–Americans' right to privacy.

When we think of civil rights movements, the first to spring to mind might be the battles against African-American segregation or for women's suffrage. But one of the longest, most successful–and least-known–of these movements in America has been made on behalf of corporations. In this episode of the Modern Law Library, Prof. Adam Winkler, author of We the Corporations: How American Businesses Won Their Civil Rights, shares what he learned from his investigation into how corporations have achieved constitutional protections ranging from the right to sue and be sued, to individual rights like religious liberty protections and freedom of speech.

For nearly two decades, Dr. Steven Hayne and Dr. Michael West were the go-to experts that Mississippi law enforcement and prosecutors relied on when there was a potential homicide. Haynes performed the bulk of the autopsies in the state, while West was a dentist who touted his skill in bite-mark analysis. But after years of investigations and countless testimonies from the men, their claims of expertise began to fall apart–and wrongful convictions began coming to light. In The Cadaver King and the Country Dentist: A True Story of Injustice in the American South, authors Radley Balko and Tucker Carrington lay out how the state's legal system aided and abetted the use of flawed forensic evidence; how systemic racism influenced Mississippi's coroner system; and the stories of some of the innocent people whose lives were derailed. Carrington, the founding director of the Mississippi Innocence Project and Clinic at the University of Mississippi School of Law, joins the ABA Journal's Lee Rawles for this episode of

Being trapped on an elevator leads to romance for the hero and heroine in The Wedding Date, written by attorney Jasmine Guillory. When a pediatric surgeon impulsively asks the mayor's chief of staff to be his date to his ex-girlfriend's wedding that weekend, sparks fly. But can the two make a long-distance relationship work? In this episode of the Modern Law Library, Guillory tells the ABA Journal's Lee Rawles that writing served as a stress release from her legal work and functioned as her creative outlet. She discusses the challenges of representation for women of color in the romance industry, and the issues she had to consider when writing about an interracial couple falling in love. Guillory also shares how her background in legal aid helped inspire a subplot of the book, as the heroine tries to win funding for a diversionary program for at-risk teens.