Vincent Mason aka P.A. Pasemaster Mase aka Maseo aka Plug Three, David Jude Jolicoeur aka Trugoy the Dove aka Dave aka Plug Two and Kevin Mercer aka Posdnuos aka Mercenary aka Plug Wonder Why aka Plug One of the hip hop trio De La Soul

Musicians Fought the Law, and the Law Won—Sometimes

De La Soul are known for the effect their use of samples had on their music sales and availability on streaming sites. They’re finally streaming. Why now?
A detail of an illustration depicting a husband and wife chained together and fighting in a courtroom

The Lost History of No-Fault Divorces

The regulation of divorce has changed a lot in the twentieth century. The National Association of Women Lawyers was instrumental in making that change happen.
Mary Ellen Wilson

Origins of Child Protection

Legend has it that the campaign to save abused children in New York was driven by the Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. The truth is more complicated.
Scuba diver passing by a wreckage of a large sunken ship in the Red Sea.

Wreckonomics: “Finders Keepers” in Maritime Law

Finding valuable treasure underwater is more complicated than “finders keepers, losers weepers.” Competing maritime laws govern the recovered riches.
Anita Bryant is hit in the face with a pie during a press conference on October 14, 1977

Proposition 6 (The Briggs Initiative): Annotated

Proposition 6, better known as the Briggs Initiative, was the first attempt to restrict the rights of lesbian and gay Americans by popular referendum.
Legal Corner

Search Warrants and Case Law, a Prison Primer

The laws around search and seizure as they apply to average people, explained by Rafael Torres, an incarcerated Inmate Counsel Substitute in Louisiana.
The figure on the left represents Roger Tichborne as he appears in a photograph in 1854. The figure on the right represents Tichborne as he appeared at the trial.

Body Double

Long before the imposture of Anna Delvey, the Tichborne Claimaint swept a nation’s imagination.
Former Theranos CEO Elizabeth Holmes in 2019

Court Trials: The Plot Drives the “Story”

Trials create narratives that are "plot-driven." When judges attempt to see them as "character-driven," real people can be denied justice.
A gavel against a black background

Fact-Based Courts, but What Facts?

US courts operate as "informationally disabled" institutions that may lack (or intentionally exclude) important facts when making complex legal decisions.
White bucks shoes

White Shoes, WASPs and Law Firms

Law firms founded on Protestant identity necessitated the creation of firms that would hire those shut out by WASP gatekeeping.