Nina Totenberg

NPR legal correspondent

Nina Totenberg appears in the following:

Supreme Court Case Could Change How You Watch TV

Tuesday, April 22, 2014

Bruce Springsteen may have been ahead of his times with his song "57 Channels (And Nothin' On)," released in 1992. These days there are hundreds of channels, and whether you like it or not, you get most of them in your basic cable package. On Tuesday, that economic model is ...

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Supreme Court Will Hear Challenge To Ohio Ban On Campaign Lies

Tuesday, April 22, 2014

The U.S. Supreme Court hears arguments Tuesday testing whether states can make it a crime to lie about candidates during an election campaign.

At issue is an Ohio law that imposes potential jail time or a fine for the first offense, and possibly loss of the right to vote for ...

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High Court To Consider Political Lies, Future Of Broadcasting

Tuesday, April 22, 2014

The Supreme Court on Tuesday hears arguments in two high-profile cases that could affect video sharing on the Internet, and the telling of untruths in the political marketplace.

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Group Goes Online To Find Affirmative Action Plaintiffs

Monday, April 07, 2014

A group opposed to affirmative action in higher education is taking the unprecedented step of looking for plaintiffs online.

The Project on Fair Representation is advertising for college applicants willing to challenge Harvard University, the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, and the University of Wisconsin, Madison.

When the Supreme ...

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High Court Strikes Down Overall Limits On Political Contributions

Thursday, April 03, 2014

The Supreme Court on Wednesday took out a major pillar of campaign finance limits. The justices ruled a donor may give the maximum amount to as many federal candidates or committees as they wish.

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Fort Hood Suffers Another Shooting Tragedy

Thursday, April 03, 2014

Military officials say a soldier opened fire at the base killing three people before taking his own life. A senior officer says the shooter was being assessed for post-traumatic stress disorder.

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Supreme Court Strikes Down Pillar Of Campaign Finance Limits

Wednesday, April 02, 2014

A divided Supreme Court eliminated the overall limits on a donor's contributions to federal candidates and campaigns, while leaving in place the limit on what a donor may give to one candidate.

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Onscreen But Out Of Sight, TV Preachers Avoid Tax Scrutiny

Wednesday, April 02, 2014

The IRS has not audited a church in five years. Some televangelists are taking advantage of that inaction to shield millions of dollars from public scrutiny.

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Supreme Court Strikes Down Key Part Of Campaign Finance Law

Wednesday, April 02, 2014

By a 5-4 vote, the justices eliminated the cap on the total amount donors can contribute in an election cycle. The aggregate limit had been $123,000.

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High Court Considers Definition Of Domestic Violence In Gun Case

Wednesday, March 26, 2014

Law enforcement, domestic violence organizations and gun control groups won an important victory in the U.S. Supreme Court Wednesday.

The justices ruled unanimously that people convicted of minor domestic violence offenses are barred under federal law from possessing a gun, even though some states do not require proof of ...

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Protesters Want To Sue Secret Service: Do They Have The Right?

Wednesday, March 26, 2014

The Supreme Court heard arguments Wednesday about whether the Secret Service can be sued for a 2004 incident in which agents ordered police to move demonstrators away from President George W. Bush.

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Justices Divide By Gender In Hobby Lobby Contraception Case

Tuesday, March 25, 2014

The company, citing religion, argued before the Supreme Court that it shouldn't have to provide contraception coverage in its health plan. The coverage is mandated by the Affordable Care Act.

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Hobby Lobby Contraceptive Case Goes Before Supreme Court

Tuesday, March 25, 2014

The craft store chain's conservative Christian owners object to the Affordable Care Act mandate to include coverage for birth control in company health insurance plans.

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Lawrence Walsh: His Judgment Came Not From Confidence But From Insecurity

Thursday, March 20, 2014

In 2003 the American Bar Association published Lawrence Walsh's autobiography, The Gift of Insecurity; A Lawyer's Life. Walsh died Wednesday at age 102. The following is the foreword NPR's Legal Affairs Correspondent Nina Totenberg wrote for the book.

In 1969 I was a very green, young reporter for ...

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Lawrence Walsh, Who Investigated Iran-Contra Scandal, Dies At 102

Thursday, March 20, 2014

When appointed by President Reagan, everyone thought Walsh, a well-known Republican commodity, would conduct a pro forma investigation. It was anything but.

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Iran-Contra Prosecutor Lawrence Walsh Dies At 102

Thursday, March 20, 2014

Lawrence Walsh, the chief prosecutor of the Iran-Contra affair, has died. After an already illustrious career, Walsh led a criminal investigation many considered the biggest scandal since Watergate.

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High Court Extends Whistleblower Protections

Tuesday, March 04, 2014

The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that a federal whistleblower law, enacted after the collapse of Enron Corporation, protects not just the employees of a public company, but also company contractors like lawyers, accountants, and investment funds.

Writing for the six-justice majority, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said that in enacting ...

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With Death Penalty, How Should States Define Mental Disability?

Monday, March 03, 2014

In 2002, the Supreme Court banned the execution of the "mentally retarded." Monday the court is looking at the case of a convicted man who says Florida's definition of mental disability is too strict.

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Supreme Court Allows Stanford Ponzi Scheme Suits To Go Forward

Wednesday, February 26, 2014

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled today that investor lawsuits may go forward against investment advisors and others for allegedly helping Texas tycoon Allen Stanford in a massive fraud.

Stanford was sentenced to 110 years in prison for bilking investors in a $7 billion Ponzi scheme. The investors who lost money ...

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Supreme Court Opens Door To Easier Police Searches

Tuesday, February 25, 2014

The justices ruled 6-3 that police can enter and search a home without a warrant, so long as just one of the residents consents, giving law enforcement more room to conduct warrantless searches.

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