November/December

Carla Martin’s misconduct in United States v. Moussaoui serves as a cautionary tale for experienced and inexperienced trial lawyers alike and also provides an excellent basis for a primer on proper—and ethical—witness preparation, Federal Rule of Evidence 615, and how to stay on the right side of the sometimes murky line between zealously representing your client and improperly coaching him or her (or other witnesses) in your case.

By conferring on the President the title of "commander in chief," the Constitution created an awkward and undefined area of presidential prerogative. The first president to have to confront this ambiguity was Abraham Lincoln. But Lincoln’s use of such war powers is one demonstration of how a doctrine aimed at awarding the President unilateral powers to override civil liberties safeguards need not create a lethal threat to democratic and constitutional government

Justice Ginsburg's remarks were presented to the Memphis Bar Association/ Memphis Bar Foundation on Sept. 11, 2006. A sidebar to her remarks about the International Association of Women Judges—a nonprofit, nongovernmental organization founded in 1991—is found in this edition.