(Encyclopedia) Scottsboro Case. In 1931 nine black youths were indicted at Scottsboro, Ala., on charges of having raped two white women in a freight car passing through Alabama. In a series of trials…
(Encyclopedia) Pentagon Papers, government study of U.S. involvement in Southeast Asia. Commissioned by Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara in June, 1967, the 47-volume, top secret study covered…
(Encyclopedia) bar, the, originally, the rail that enclosed the judge in a court; hence, a court or a system of courts. The persons qualified and authorized to conduct the trial of cases are also…
(Encyclopedia) Thurmond, Strom (James Strom Thurmond)Thurmond, Stromthûrˈmənd [key], 1902–2003, U.S. senator from South Carolina (1954–2003), b. Edgefield, S.C. He read law while teaching school (…
(Encyclopedia) Thomas, Clarence, 1948–, associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court (1991–), b. Pin Point (Savannah), Ga. Raised in a poor family, he graduated (1974) from the Yale Law School and…
(Encyclopedia) riot, rout, and unlawful assembly, in law, varying degrees of concerted disturbance of the peace. At common law, an unlawful assembly is a gathering of at least three persons whose…
(Encyclopedia) Norris, George William, 1861–1944, American legislator, b. Sandusky co., Ohio. After admission to the bar in 1883, he moved (1885) to Furnas co., Nebr., where he practiced law and was…
(Encyclopedia) Wallace, George Corley, 1919–98, governor of Alabama (1963–67, 1971–79, 1983–87), b. Clio, Ala. Admitted to the bar in 1942, he was active in the Alabama Democratic party, serving in…
(Encyclopedia) Blackstone, Sir William, 1723–80, English jurist. At first unsuccessful in legal practice, he turned to scholarship and teaching. He became (1758) the first Vinerian professor of law…
(Encyclopedia) West, Dame Rebecca, 1892–1983, English novelist and critic, b. Ireland as Cicily Isabel Fairfield. West began her career as a journalist for feminist and suffragist publications. At…
