The Legal Eagle Lowdown

by Maria Wood In the old days, the public square referred to a colonial village square where people gathered to share ideas and pass out written material. Today’s public square is arguably the Internet and more specifically social media. With an 8-0 decision, the U....

by Michael Barbella The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS), established in 1789, is the highest court in the land and sets legal precedent for all lower courts, affecting decisions across the country. In the Court’s history, it has overturned approximately...

by Michael Barbella American education has traditionally focused on three basic skills: reading, writing, and arithmetic, known as the three “R’s.” Today, an effort is underway in the United States to add a fourth “R” to the mix—religion. Lawmakers in numerous states...

by Maria Wood Commercial DNA testing kits from such companies as 23andMe and AncestryDNA have helped millions of Americans uncover their genetic heritage and find long-lost relatives. In some cases, adoptees have even discovered their birth parents through DNA...

by Jodi L. Miller It’s 2020, an election year, so once again the nation’s attention turns to the way Americans vote and electoral reforms to make that vote count. One electoral reform that is usually front and center is the use of ranked choice voting (RCV), sometimes...

by Michael Barbella The debate on how the President of the United States should be elected is almost as old as the country itself. Contrary to popular belief, voters do not elect the president and vice president directly; instead, they choose electors to form an...

by Maria Wood Since our nation’s founding, who has the right to vote has changed dramatically. In the beginning, the franchise was limited to white, land-owning males. Today, the right can’t be denied to any citizen 18 years of age or older, regardless of gender or...

by Phyllis Raybin Emert Gerrymandering on a partisan basis is not new to politics. The term gerrymander dates back to the 1800s when it was used to mock Massachusetts Governor Elbridge Gerry, who manipulated congressional lines in the state until the map of one...

by Hanna Krueger Free speech is one of the most sacred rights guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution and nowhere has it been more revered than on college campuses, with sit-ins and student activists arrested fighting for the right to free speech and political action on...

by Maria Wood For more than a century, U.S. presidents have declared national monuments, which preserve land that protect endangered species, ecosystems or historical artifacts. Now, lawsuits waiting to be heard in Washington, DC federal court may ultimately decide...