Written by: Brady Iandiorio
Researched by: Tracy Frazier and Steve Glista
Edited by: Jay D. Hall
Managing Editor: Kirk Strohman
Internet piracy doesn’t have the pedigree of the swashbucklers of old nor does it have the grimness of present day pirates. And soon it may lose one of its largest purveyors. The Pirate Bay is a website that has [...]

Written by: Steve Glista
Researched by: Jeff W. Richards
Edited by: Peter Fehrs
Managing Editor: Brady Iandiorio
Nobody wants to start their day by facing down a couple of knife-wielding thugs in the kitchen, but eventually it happens to everyone. On January 7, 2009 it was Michael Arcay’s turn. When Daniel Bartlett and Justin Campbell broke through his front [...]

Written by: Kimberly Brandt
Researched by: Steve Glista
Edited by: John Deininger
Managing Editor: Lauren E. Trent
Craig Buford’s problems began with a simple dispute between teenagers. When Buford went to pick up his girlfriend for lunch, a group of teenagers he’d gambled with approached and demanded their money back. Buford refused, and when he started to leave, the [...]

Sarah Palin has always been an attractive person: at one time she was a beauty pageant contestant. Still, when Senator John McCain tapped the governor of Alaska to be his partner in a different kind of contest, the Republican National Committee (RNC) went shopping. And shopping. And shopping. Over the last two months, the RNC has dropped over $150,000 to spruce up the Palin family’s wardrobe and accessories.

This spending frenzy raises a number of disturbing questions: What were they thinking? Will Joe the Plumber like this? Do suits from Neiman Marcus fit in with the governor’s “hockey mom” image? And, most importantly from the tax attorney’s perspective, are the Palins required to treat the wardrobe enhancements as taxable income?

Written by: Matthew A. Schroettnig
Researched by: Steve Glista
Edited by: Darci G. Van Duzer
Managing Editors: Stefanie Herrington and Lauren E. Trent

“Our liberty cannot be guarded but by the freedom of the press, nor that be limited without danger of losing it.” -Thomas Jefferson to John Jay, 1786
A press that is free to publish [...]

Written by: John Deininger
Researched by: Darci G. Van Duzer
Edited by: Steve Glista and Adam Gottlieb
Managing Editor: Amy E. Seely
This just in: “Patriots Lose Brady….” That’s it. “Aaron Rodgers added a….” Nope, sorry. “X-rays on Young’s knee….” Seeing a pattern to the quotes?  Anything more and the Associated Press (AP) may demand payment for quoting [...]

Written by: Steve Glista
Researched by: Darci G. Van Duzer
Edited by: Peter Fehrs, Lauren E. Trent
Global warming may be a fact of life, but fashion still changes with the seasons. Consumers of high-fashion clothing continuously demand new looks from designers like Armani, Chanel, and Christian Dior. A buyer who has spent thousands on a single item [...]

Written by: Nick CalebResearched by: Steve GlistaEdited by: Kimberly Brandt
Some documents are just too good to keep to yourself. Recently, the Department of Justice released sections of a second “torture memo” written in 2003 by John Yoo, formerly an attorney at the Department of Justice. This memo supplements the leaked 2002 memo written by Yoo [...]

Each week we select a legal term or phrase that’s commonly misunderstood, interesting, or a matter of life-and-death. This week’s word is the latter.
Written by: Steve Glista
Henry Brown was shot as he tried to break into an apartment in Columbus, Missouri. Joe Horn shot and killed two men as they were running away from a [...]

Written by Tom Lininger
Associate professor, University of Oregon School of Law (B.A., Yale; J.D., Harvard).

Professor Lininger has been a member of the Oregon faculty since 2003, where he teaches evidence, legal ethics, criminal procedure and alternative dispute resolution. Before he came to the U of O, Professor Lininger worked as a federal prosecutor, as [...]

Written by: Steve Glista
Researched by: Matthew A. Schroettnig
Edited by: Lauren E. Trent
When Michael Righi heard someone running up behind him, he thought he knew what would come next. He expected a difficult conversation, maybe even some shouting or threats. He certainly didn’t expect to get handcuffed — but that’s exactly what happened after Righi walked [...]

Written by: Jeff W. Richards
Researched by: Matthew A. Schroettnig
Edited by: Lauren E. Trent and Steve Glista
The current wiretapping debate in Congress, and the media circus surrounding it, has focused on the expiration of the Protect America Act of 2007 (initially passed last August). The more pressing and oft forgotten issue, however, is the administration’s [...]