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THE CHARGE | BLOG
The Charge is a blog that talks about the intersection of history and law. Please feel free to read, leave nice comments about how much you love it, share with your friends, colleagues, and people you don't even like who might appreciate it.
Unreasonable Searches
John Adams said the kernel of what would become art. 14 of the Massachusetts Declaration of Rights and ultimately the Fourth Amendment to...
Victoria L. Nadel
Dec 11, 20235 min read
Passing Justice
She has been off the Court for well over a decade and suffering from dementia, yet it seems fitting to mark the death of Justice Sandra...
Victoria L. Nadel
Dec 4, 20236 min read
Succession
Before there was a 25th Amendment to the United States Constitution, there were no set rules to follow in the event that a vice president...
Victoria L. Nadel
Nov 27, 20234 min read
Obiter Dictum Run Amok
Commonwealth v. Dickerson, 372 Mass. 783, 797 (1977) was a felony murder case in an armed robbery of a liquor store that went awry. At...
Victoria L. Nadel
Nov 20, 202310 min read
For the Love of Money
Martin Scorsese’s haunting true crime film, Killers of the Flower Moon, named for the book of the same title by David Grann, depicts the...
Victoria L. Nadel
Nov 13, 20238 min read
Faith and Consequences
There are, today as ever, those who seek to inhibit education. As throughout the history of people, there are those who wish to restrict...
Victoria L. Nadel
Nov 6, 20234 min read
Scare Tactics
It’s the time of year when things go bump in the night. Ghosts, goblins, ghouls, skeletons, zombies, mummies and, of course, witches...
Victoria L. Nadel
Oct 30, 20236 min read
Seems Like Yesterday
There are definite trends in cases reviewed by the highest courts. Fifty years ago, there were a ton of obscenity cases. One hundred...
Victoria L. Nadel
Oct 23, 20235 min read
Ill Gotten Gains
The Supreme Court of the United States views the privilege against forced self-incrimination – commonly referred to as the right to...
Victoria L. Nadel
Oct 16, 20235 min read
"Columbus" means Dove and "Roger" means Spear - Irony for the Holiday
In a way, the reimagining of Columbus Day into Indigenous People’s Day is a fitting memorial for Roger Williams. An English-born...
Victoria L. Nadel
Oct 9, 20234 min read
Good Counsel
Imagine that a horrendous crime occurs not far from where you live where several members of a family are murdered in cold blood on New...
Victoria L. Nadel
Oct 2, 20237 min read
Cut on a Bias
During the Summer of Love, when people were turning on, tuning in, and dropping out, Congress grew concerned about riots (okay, in...
Victoria L. Nadel
Sep 25, 20235 min read
The More Things Change - Insurrection Edition
Several states, including Massachusetts, are grappling with interpreting Sec. 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment. That is the one that says...
Victoria L. Nadel
Sep 18, 20235 min read
Oh Georgia - no peace I find
In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the state and...
Victoria L. Nadel
Sep 11, 20236 min read
Labor Pains
Organized labor has been a driving force in the American economy for well over a century. The labor movement has early bona fides right...
Victoria L. Nadel
Sep 4, 20234 min read
From Pillar to POST
The Massachusetts Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) Commission recently released data regarding officers who have faced...
Victoria L. Nadel
Aug 28, 20236 min read
Teach Your Children
The week of August 21 has significance in American history – it marks the anniversary of the arrival of perhaps the first enslaved...
Victoria L. Nadel
Aug 21, 20235 min read
Artful Dodger
With fewer than 300,000 men enlisted in the Army, the United States declared war on Germany in April, 1917. Recognizing this shortfall of...
Victoria L. Nadel
Aug 14, 20234 min read
Please continue...
Massachusetts prides itself on being a land of firsts – we claim the first free public school, first library, first abolitionist...
Victoria L. Nadel
Aug 7, 20234 min read
The Fourteenth Amendment Turns 155 - What Have We Learned?
All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of...
Victoria L. Nadel
Jul 31, 20235 min read
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