ArcaMax

The right of every citizen to an attorney during a criminal prosecution is one of America's most important democratic tenets, protected by the Sixth Amendment of the Constitution.

This holds for even the worst among us. Serial killers Ted Bundy and Charles Manson had attorneys. Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh did, too.

Alan Dershowitz has...Read more

In the span of just over a month, four mass shootings -- in Gilroy, California; Dayton, Ohio; El Paso, and Odessa, Texas -- have provoked varying words of comfort, condemnation and promised action from President Trump.

After the Gilroy shooting, he offered, "While families were spending time together at a local festival, a wicked murderer ...Read more

Years ago, I reached out to a group called the Log Cabin Republicans to help inform a chapter of a book I was writing dispelling liberal stereotypes about conservatives.

Having been a longtime supporter of gay rights myself, I was not only impressed but inspired by what then-president Patrick Sammon told me:

"I think it's increasingly ...Read more

Among the many consequences of Donald Trump's ascendancy in modern American politics is a renewed and deepened hostility for the press, not only among his far-right base, but within the general electorate.

In recent decades, trust in media has plummeted from a high of 72% who had a great deal or fair amount of trust in 1976, thanks in large ...Read more

It was arguably the line of the night. And in case you happened to miss it, Sen. Elizabeth Warren wanted to make sure she emphasized its significance, so she tweeted it after.

"I genuinely do not understand why anyone would go to all the trouble of running for president just to get up on this stage and talk about what's not possible." Warren ...Read more

To a journalist, there's no graver sin than censorship.

As playwright Eugene O'Neill once said, "Censorship of anything, at any time, in any place, on whatever pretense, has always been and will always be the last resort of the boob and the bigot."

This week, one of the largest owners and distributors of AM and FM radio is being accused of ...Read more

When we talk about people or a party being on the wrong side of history, it usually requires some hindsight, a position of informed advantage to see clearly missteps that were less clear at the time of events.

Not so now, with today's modern Republican Party and its utter cowardice and complacency. We will not need half a century or even a ...Read more

Politics and celebrity -- increasingly synonymous -- seem to corrupt everything these days. So it should come as no surprise that they are also infecting and trivializing one of the worst individual cases of alleged sexual abuse.

The details couldn't be more unsettling. Hundreds, maybe even thousands of photos of nude and partially nude women ...Read more

The first of the 2020 Democratic debates are upon us. With two installments over two nights, featuring some candidates many Americans likely haven't ever heard of, the performances are intended to whittle the field, but may only overwhelm and confuse voters further. Whoever emerges better off or worse, we'll leave with some important takeaways. ...Read more

With 24 Democrats running for president, there's an unending inundation of polls, platforms, policies and platitudes to keep track of.

National polls tell one picture, but not the whole picture or even a useful one this early. We learn a little through national press coverage -- increasingly less about a candidate's authenticity or policy ...Read more