Donald Trump's Most Recent Indictment

NPR's program, Consider This, interviewed legal experts about former president Trump's August 1st federal indictment and his right of free speech. This link is here. 13 min., transcript available.

Former President Trump's Legal Troubles

For those who are confused by the large number of lawsuits involving Donald Trump, NPR has a podcast to help you here. 12 min., transcript available.

Former President Trump's Federal Indictment in Florida

PBS Newshour has this interview with a former federal prosecutor about what the next steps are in the criminal case against Donald Trump concerning the classified documents he kept after leaving the presidency. 6 min. 22 sec., transcript available.

 Former President Trump Indicted

PBS Newshour, shortly after the indictment was announced, interviewed two former prosecutors about the case. You can find the video here, 6 min. 23 sec., transcript available.

 U.S. Capitol Riot Cases - Pro Se Defendants 

NPR's Morning Edition has a story here about those defendants charged in relation to the assault on the U.S. Capitol who choose to represent themselves (pro se), acting as their own attorneys, refusing the help of lawyers. 4 min. 53 sec., transcript available.

Justice Online

Last year Joshua Rozenberg QC (who presents Law in Action on BBC Radio 4) spoke on the subject of Justice Online -  Justice Online: Just as Good? - at Gresham College.
Recently he presented part two of a three part series -  Justice Online: Getting Better? - which begins with a detailed presentation of a Canadian programme, then goes on to a fairly critical presentation of reforms in progress in England and Wales. Next year will bring Rozenberg's final lecture in the series. The lectures are about one hour long, with a transcript and slides available.

Law in Action is Back

The BBC 4 radio programme, Law in Action, is back for another series. The first is about evidence withheld by the prosecution from the defense in criminal cases. Next week the journalist, Joshua Rosenberg, will examine sex discrimination law. There will probably be two more in this series. 30 min, no transcript.

The Death Penalty in the U.S.

C-Span’s Classroom Deliberations has recently produced an updated version of their analysis of the death penalty in the U.S. with many short « background video » clips, a lesson plan, vocabulary preview, etc.

Stop and Search at the U.S. Supreme Court

Nina Totenberg on NPR's All Things Considered reports on an end-of-term U.S. Supreme Court decision (about when evidence obtained by an otherwise illegal search can be used in court) with what she describes as a « barnburner » dissent by Justice Sonia Sotomayor. 4 min 16 sec, transcript available. Another description, in an article on Slate, of the dissent is an "atomic bomb of a dissent".

Does a Very Long Delay Make the Death Penalty Unconstitutional?

Professor Michael Dorf has posted a piece on the Verdict web site about delays in the application of the death penalty. You can find the article and hear him reading it here. 6 min 54 sec, transcript available.
More posts on constitutional law by Professor Dorf, all read by him, can be found here .

The comedian John Oliver on the U.S. Criminal Justice System

John Oliver’s satirical comedy program, Last Week Tonight, has just posted a program on YouTube about obstacles that former offenders face when they leave prison. 25 min, no transcript. Both funny and serious. In this program, Oliver mentions four other programs of his about criminal justice - mandatory minimum sentences, bail, public defenders, and municipal violations .
He also has a program about elected judges. While it's comedy (and not always easy to understand for non-Americans) it is sadly not fiction.

The Serial - a Podcast about a Real Murder

The Serial is a wildly popular podcast on American public radio which began October 3. The entire season is devoted to investigating a true story — the murder of a high school student in 1999. Is the man convicted of the crime really the killer? Why should lawyers care about this podcast? See what a FindLaw blog says here. 

Each episode is about one hour long, no transcript, but accompaning documents.

Law in Action is Back

BBC Radio 4's, Law in Action, is back for a new cycle of programs. The June 3 programme is entitled "Failing to Make Crime Pay". The June 10 one is "Cross-Examination in the Pistorius Trial".

A Very Funny Lawyer Commercial 

The online magazine Slate has an article about what it calls "either the best or the worst" lawyer commercial, made by a lawyer in Pittsburgh, with a link to the video itself. Very funny! Lots of good vocabulary too. 3 min 27 sec, no transcript but lots of words on the screen.

Unreliable Evidence

BBC Radio 4's Unreliable Evidence, with Clive Anderson, is back. The first programme in this new series is entitled "Cross-Examination in the Dock". The next will talk about whistleblowers, followed by a program me examining the right to take the government to court.