Legal News and Views

November 3, 2026

AALL eBriefing: Meet Newly Elected AALL Executive Board Members Beginning July 2027

The future of AALL is in great hands. Here are the results of this year’s Executive Board election and welcome the members who will help guide AALL in the coming year. Please join in congratulating our newly elected members, who will begin their terms in July 2027, and thanking all the candidates who stepped forward to serve our community. This year, 25% of members voted. Thank you for making your voices heard! The election results are
here

October 18, 2026

H.R. 5967 Strategic Task Force and on Scam Prevention ct

by David Badertscher

October 16, 2026 – Cost Estimate.

As ordered reported by the House Committee on Energy and Commerce on September 16, 2026

At a Glance

September 19, 2026

The Future of Social Security: Understanding the 2026 Long Term Projections

by David Badertscher

Introduction

Social Security’s long term financial outlook has again moved to the forefront with the release of the Congressional Budget Office’s 2026 long term projections and the Social Security Trustees’ latest annual assessment. Although the reports differ in methodology and some of their estimates, they point to the same fundamental challenge: under current law, the gap between Social Security’s scheduled benefits and the revenues available to finance them is projected to persist and generally widen over the decades ahead. This article examines the findings of CBO and the Trustees, supplemented by analysis from J.P. Morgan Asset Management, with particular attention to the projected depletion of trust fund reserves, the distinction between scheduled and payable benefits, the demographic and economic forces contributing to the financing gap, and what these projections actually mean, and do not mean, for the future of Social Security.

CBO’s 2026 Long Term Projections for Social Security

September 14, 2026

Legal AI Without Borders: Lexroom Takes on Europe

by David Badertscher

Europe’s legal artificial intelligence market may be entering a new stage of development. Italian legal AI provider Lexroom has made its first acquisitions, purchasing France based Query Juriste and Bulgaria based Praven Intelekt. The transactions extend Lexroom’s operations into five European countries and illustrate one possible strategy for building legal AI systems across jurisdictions whose laws, legal sources, languages, and professional practices differ substantially.

The acquisitions were announced on September 8, 2026. Artificial Lawyer characterized them as Lexroom’s first expansion through acquisitions, following its earlier organic entry into Germany and Spain. Together with its home market of Italy, the additions of France and Bulgaria give the company a presence in five European legal markets.

The developments also offer a useful window into the evolution of legal AI beyond the United States, particularly in a European market where technology increasingly crosses borders while law and authoritative legal information remain strongly jurisdiction specific.

September 6, 2026

No Unanimous Answer: Closing Arguments and Criminal Responsibility in the Lindsay Clancy Trial

by David Badertscher

Introduction

The closely watched Massachusetts murder trial of Lindsay Clancy ended on September 4, 2026, not with a verdict, but with a mistrial after jurors reported that they could not reach unanimous agreement. The result leaves unresolved one of the most difficult questions presented to a criminal jury: when severe mental illness is established, at what point does that illness eliminate criminal responsibility for otherwise intentional acts?

Clancy was charged in connection with the January 24, 2023 deaths of her three children, Cora, Dawson, and Callan Clancy, at the family’s home in Duxbury, Massachusetts. At trial, the central dispute was not whether Clancy had caused the children’s deaths. Instead, the case largely turned on her mental condition and whether the Commonwealth proved that she was criminally responsible when the killings occurred.

August 8, 2026

Confessions, Confidentiality, and Child Protection: Questions at the Intersection of Law and Religion

by David Badertscher

Opening Statement

This essay does not advocate a predetermined legal or religious outcome. Its purpose is to examine, as fairly and carefully as possible, the competing arguments surrounding proposals to create a child-abuse exception to the clergy-penitent privilege or sacramental seal of confession. The protection of children, the preservation of religious liberty, the responsibilities of clergy, and the practical consequences of mandatory-reporting laws all deserve serious consideration. After reviewing these perspectives, readers should be left to decide how, or whether, these important interests can be reconciled.¹

Introduction: A Difficult Intersection of Law, Religion, and Child Protection

July 27, 2026

ABA Criminal Justice Section Update: July 2026

by David Badertscher

CJS: Chair Melba Pearson’s celebration of the Criminal Justice Section

We started this term needing to make real choices about our budget. We made cuts. We didn’t get to do everything we wanted to do this year, and I won’t pretend otherwise. But we close this term with a balanced budget and a Section that is genuinely better off than the one that I inherited. Building off the hard work of past Chairs Tina Luongo and Sidney Butcher, that discipline is something I’m proud to hand to the next Chair. And even with those constraints, our programming grew, our resolutions grew; Committee participation is up across the board. That is the real health of this section.

MELBA’S VIDEO.

May 10, 2026

Why Kurt Godel’s Warning Should Matter Today

by David Badertscher

I have chosen to write about this remarkably rich topic because it sits at the intersection of constitutional law, political theory, logic, and history, precisely the kind of issue that invites thoughtful discussion among lawyers, judges, scholars, and legal information professionals.

Although Kurt Gödel never publicly explained the precise “proof” he believed he had discovered, scholars, constitutional theorists, historians, and legal commentators have spent decades trying to reconstruct what he meant when he warned that the U.S. Constitution could legally evolve into a dictatorship.

The story itself is well documented. While preparing for his U.S. citizenship examination in 1947, Gödel intensely studied American constitutional law. According to his friend Oskar Morgenstern, Gödel became alarmed after concluding that there was an “inner contradiction” in the Constitution that could permit a democratic republic to transform legally into an authoritarian regime.

May 6, 2026

From Bucket List to Agentic AI: Inside the April/May Issue of Experience Magazine

by David Badertscher

OVERVIEW:

The April/May 2026 issue of the American Bar Association Senior Lawyers Division’s Experience Magazine (Volume 36, Issue 3) centers on a unifying and reflective theme: the meaning of the “bucket list” at different stages of life and professional maturity. The issue combines personal essays, reflections on retirement and reinvention, practical professional guidance, and a timely discussion of artificial intelligence in legal practice.

A major theme running throughout the issue is that fulfillment in later life is not necessarily tied to grand adventures or dramatic achievements, but often to purpose, service, mentoring, and appreciation for experiences already gained. Several contributors challenge the traditional notion of a “bucket list” as merely a checklist of destinations or accomplishments. Instead, they encourage readers—particularly senior lawyers—to think about meaning, contribution, relationships, and continued intellectual engagement.

April 26, 2026

The Boundaries of Executive Clemency: Legal Limits on the Presidential Pardon Power

by David Badertscher

The President’s clemency authority is among the most expansive powers granted under the U.S. Constitution. Rooted directly in the constitutional text, the power to grant reprieves and pardons has long been understood as broad, flexible, and largely insulated from judicial or legislative interference. Yet, as both historical practice and Supreme Court precedent make clear, the pardon power is not without meaningful limits. For legal researchers, practitioners, and law librarians, understanding these boundaries is essential to placing executive clemency within its proper constitutional and institutional context.

At its core, the pardon power extends only to “offenses against the United States,” meaning federal crimes. This jurisdictional limitation is fundamental. A presidential pardon cannot reach state prosecutions or convictions, which remain within the authority of state governors or other state level clemency bodies. In an era where parallel federal and state investigations are increasingly common, this distinction has taken on renewed practical importance.

The Constitution also draws a clear textual boundary in cases of impeachment. While a president may pardon individuals for federal criminal offenses, that authority cannot be used to halt or undo impeachment proceedings initiated by the House of Representatives or judgments rendered by the Senate. This exception reflects the Framers’ intent to preserve Congress’s role as a check on executive misconduct, ensuring that the pardon power cannot be deployed as a shield against political accountability.