Presidential pardons have long been a source of controversy and intrigue in American politics. From acts of national reconciliation to decisions that sparked public outrage, here is a compilation of some of the most remarkable and debated presidential pardons in U.S. history. 1. Richard Nixon – Pardoned by Gerald Ford (1974) In a move that…
In 1974, President Richard Nixon resigned amid the Watergate scandal, a constitutional crisis that tested the resilience of American democracy. Fast forward to 2025, President Donald Trump’s administration is embroiled in a series of controversies that some legal scholars argue present even more profound challenges to the nation’s legal and constitutional frameworks. This essay examines…
Introduction Often described as a cornerstone of American constitutional law, Gibbons v. Ogden (1824) established the federal government’s broad authority over interstate commerce, shaping the balance of power between state and federal governments. Argued before the U.S. Supreme Court at a time when America was still in its infancy, the case pitted two steamboat operators—and,…
A man once revered as a trailblazer in cancer research, Dr. Cornelius Packard “Dusty” Rhoads, held a secret so dark it still casts a shadow over American medical history. In 1931, Rhoads — a celebrated pathologist and future director of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center — was sent to Puerto Rico under the auspices of…
In the ongoing federal trial against music mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs, what was expected to be a landmark RICO case—one that might expose a sprawling criminal enterprise—seems to be steadily narrowing in scope. At this point in the proceedings, the prosecution appears to be leaning heavily into allegations of domestic violence, as evidenced by the…
The brutal 1918 lynching of Mary Turner, a young Black woman in Lowndes County, Georgia, stands as one of the most egregious failures of the American legal system to protect its citizens or enforce justice. More than a century later, her murder remains a powerful symbol of how state and local authorities allowed racial violence…
In one of the most damning pharmaceutical scandals to come to light, newly surfaced documents reveal that Cutter Biological, a division of Bayer, knowingly sold HIV-contaminated blood-clotting medicine to Asia and Latin America during the 1980s — even after introducing a safer, heat-treated product in the United States and Europe. According to internal records obtained…
What began as flashy Instagram posts flaunting luxury cars, designer brands, and private jets ended in a sobering prison sentence for Nigerian influencer Ramon Abbas—better known to his millions of online followers as “Hushpuppi.” Abbas, 40, was sentenced to 11 years in federal prison in 2022 after pleading guilty to charges of money laundering tied…
The Boston Strangler case has haunted American criminal justice history for over half a century. Between 1962 and 1964, thirteen women in the Boston area were murdered in chillingly similar circumstances . They were all sexually assaulted, strangled, and often left posed in their homes. The city spiraled into fear. Women double-locked doors and carried…
A Florida jury has found 17-year-old Collin Griffith not guilty of first-degree murder and kidnapping in the 2024 stabbing death of his mother — a verdict that comes just 17 months after he fatally shot his father in Oklahoma under disputed circumstances. The highly publicized trial concluded Wednesday after days of emotional testimony and complex…