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2024 | Fall Issue

Presumed Guilty

Everyone has the right to a fair trial. But if you're prosecuted by a federal agency—like the EPA, NLRB, or SEC—you could find yourself in a strange in-house tribunal where the deck is stacked against you.

There is no greater tyranny than that which is perpetrated under the shield of the law and in the name of justice.

– Montesquieu

what’s inside

illustration of revolutionary

John Adams and the Boston Massacre Trials

Nicole W.C. Yeatman

This was now Adams’ quandary: Would he—a patriot who railed against British oppression, and whose cousin Samuel Adams ran the Sons of Liberty—defend the British soldiers?
illustration of car

Frank Black Gets Fined—and Banned from Finance

Adi Dynar

There’s something quintessentially American about a lone man driving on an open road: the space, the freedom, the control. An airplane is the opposite—you’re a passenger in a flying can with tiny windows and no control at all. Frank Black loves to drive. Now in his 80s, Frank grew up poor in Rock Hill, South […]
Illustration of Windows

In Trouble with the EPA

Brittany Hunter

It can show up in your mail one day: an administrative complaint from the Environmental Protection Agency. Maybe you cleared weeds on your property; maybe your business is involved in construction or installations; maybe someone called the regional EPA office on you. Now you’re being threatened with a civil penalty: You could be on the […]
illustration of camera lens

A Movie Producer Finds Himself in a Strange Legal Drama

Kyle Griesinger

David Wulf was days away from starting production on a new movie—a romantic comedy set on a farm—when he got a voicemail from a Teamsters representative.
Illustration of Courtroom

Impossible Victory: Jamie Leach Wins Against the CPSC

Oliver J. Dunford

There are some statistics you force yourself to forget as soon as you hear them because the alternative is unbearable. This is one: Between 1,000 and 3,500 babies die in their sleep every year in the United States. Sometimes caretakers are blamed for these deaths. A mother who falls asleep breastfeeding is charged with reckless […]
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Stories of liberty and justice

Sword&Scales is a quarterly magazine with in-depth stories about liberty, equality, and justice. Published by Pacific Legal Foundation, a public interest law firm with a winning record at the Supreme Court, Sword&Scales features narratives from history, courtroom showdowns, and the real experiences of people fighting for their rights.

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