We asked the Democratic and Republican presidential candidates how they stand on issues affecting the justice system. What type of judges would they select? Do they support a moratorium on the death penalty? Are the immigration laws too harsh? Before you vote, check out how their campaigns answered these and other questions.
The music industry is squaring off in court against the dot-corns that allow music fans to download their favorite songs. Some say old copyright law can’t be applied to new and fast-changing technology. But so far, judges have had no trouble finding infringement.
John Gibeaut
U.S. District Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson (at right) was quickly thrust into the digital age when the Microsoft case landed before him. Jackson, it turns out, was a quick study. As more high-tech cases flood the courts, there are growing questions about whether other judges will fare as well.
Debra Baker
Some 3,000 immigrants are lost in the legal limbo known as indefinite detention. They don’t qualify for entry into this country, but there is nowhere else to send them. Critics blame the Immigration and Naturalization Service and a 1996 law for the catch-22. Some legislators say it’s time to revisit the issue.
Margaret Graham Tebo
Robert Brock’s lawsuit seeking reparations for slavery never got anywhere. Now the Washington, D.C., legal activist (at right) heads a group that lobbies for legislative redress. He and others make the legal case that African-Americans deserve damages for wrongs endured by their ancestors. Theirs is a growing movement that may be key to the nation’s search for racial harmony.
Jeffrey Ghannam
The 10-year-old Americans With Disabilities Act is suffering from growing pains. Court decisions have narrowed its reach and aided employers, who win most ADA discrimination cases. Now a U.S. Supreme Court case and legislative proposals could further limit the act. But activists like John Kemp (right) say don’t tamper with it.
Margaret Graham Tebo
The battle to curb urban sprawl has made lawyers’ lives more difficult. Now development deals involve a cast of players, including environmental groups, politicians from neighboring communities and zoning officials. Lawyers will have to master negotiating skills as well as become familiar with a dizzying array of land-use requirements.
William C. Smith
Just days before hostilities erupted in the Middle East, an ABA Journal reporter accompanied three Palestinian refugees across the Israeli border to visit their ancestral village. like the Abu Laban family (right), they seek a right to return home. International law is on the refugees* side, but it may be ignored at the bargaining table. Without resolution, the refugee camps will likely remain flash points for unrest.
Jeffrey Ghannam
