Hernandez Conviction Back in Place

​The Supreme Judicial Court has overturned the established principle that voided Aaron Hernandez’s murder conviction in the death of Odin Lloyd. Declaring the doctrine of “abatement ab initio” outmoded, the justices ruled that Massachusetts courts should no longer allow motions to nullify the convictions of defendants who die while their appeals are pending. Read Full Article

SJC OK’s Cell Phone Search ​

On March 6 the Supreme Judicial Court ruled in Commonwealth v. Dennis Jones that prosecutors can compel a defendant charged with human trafficking and pimping to produce his cell phone password. Read Full Article

Getting the Most out of HeinOnline

Your HeinOnline subscription through the Social Law Library gives you instant access to millions of legal documents. But because HeinOnline has such a wealth of material, it can be overwhelming to formulate and run a search—and no one has time to sift through thousands of results in the off chance that one of them is exactly on point. Read Full Article

Mealey’s Content on Demand From Social Law

​Social Law Members can now request articles and documents from the over eighty topical reporters and daily news updates published by Mealey’s. For many years, Mealey’s has covered federal and state court litigation over consumer products, pharmaceuticals, building materials such as asbestos, and many other subjects. Read Full Article

March Feasts Bring Ireland and Italy To Mind

​It’s March, time of feasts of St. Patrick of Ireland and St. Joseph of Italy. We’re celebrating with a parade of books from our collection about the legal systems of the two countries as well as some histories and biographies of Irish and Italian Americans in law and politics. Read Full Article