The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Monday that existing federal civil rights protections forbids job discrimination against LGBTQ+ workers. The decision said that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which makes it illegal for employers to discriminate based on a person’s sex, also covers sexual orientation. Twenty-two states plus the District of Columbia […]
Historic Transgender Rights Supreme Court Case Plaintiff Aimee Stephens Has Died
Aimee Stephens died yesterday at age 59. She was unsure whether the Supreme Court will decide her case as planned on Thursday and if she would live to hear the decision. In 2013, Stephens told her employer that she was going to transition to female and was subsequently fired two weeks later from her job […]
Supreme Court Considers Affordable Care Act Religious Exemption Rule
On Wednesday, the Supreme Court will consider yet another case regarding whether employers can decline to cover contraceptives in their health care plans. Reproductive rights groups warn that depending on the outcome of the case, tens of thousands of American women could lose vital contraceptive coverage. The case, Little Sisters of the Poor and Paul […]
Jill Karofsky Defeats Daniel Kelly for Wisconsin Supreme Court Seat
Democrat Jill Karofsky has defeated the incumbent Justice Daniel Kelly for his seat on Wisconsin’s Supreme Court according to results released Monday, reducing the conservative majority in the court and solidifying another seat for a woman on the bench. According to Partick Marley for USA Today, Karofsky has “served as the state’s first violence against […]
Biden Pledges to Pick a Woman for VP; Will Appoint a Black Woman to SCOTUS
During Sunday night’s CNN-Univision debate, former Vice President Joe Biden said that he would choose a woman to be his vice-presidential running mate. According to Biden in a piece by CNN, “If I’m elected president, my Cabinet, my administration will look like the country, and I commit that I will, in fact, appoint a, pick a woman to be vice […]
Supreme Court Set to Hear Louisiana Abortion Case Today
Today the Supreme Court of the United States will hear oral arguments for June Medical Services LLC v. Russo, which looks into the constitutionality of a Louisiana state law (Act 620) regarding abortion practices and has the potential to reshape the legal status of abortion nationwide. According to SCOTUSblog’s official issue report, the case is […]
Court Strikes Down Mississippi Law Banning Abortion After 15 Weeks
This past Friday a federal appeals court found Mississippi’s ban on abortion after 15 weeks unconstitutional. The ban was blocked from taking effect in 2018 after Jackson Women’s Health Organization—the only abortion clinic in Mississippi—sued the state. The fight came down to the argument that there is no medical evidence that proves a fetus is […]
Supreme Court to Hear Oral Arguments on DACA Case
On Tuesday, the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments regarding the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) case. The Obama-era federal program that has allowed over 700,000 undocumented immigrants to avoid deportation, was rolled back by the Trump administration. The initiative allows children of undocumented immigrants who’ve arrived in the US when at a very […]
Alabama’s Near-Total Abortion Ban is Temporarily Blocked by Federal Judge
A federal judge on Tuesday blocked a controversial Alabama abortion bill from taking effect next month, ensuring the procedure remains available and legal while it makes its way through the courts. Judge Myron H. Thompson of the United States District Court for the Middle District of Alabama issued a preliminary injunction on Tuesday barring the […]
Supreme Court to Hear Louisiana Abortion Case Next Term
The Supreme Court announced on Friday that it will take up a controversial abortion case next term, a first since Justices Brett Kavanaugh and Neil Grouch have joined the court. Many are worried that the now conservative majority court will use this as an opportunity to rule against abortion rights. The Louisiana case, June Medical […]
Trans Woman Fired for Coming Out Awaits Supreme Court Judgement
Aimee Stephens was fired from RG and GR Harris Funeral Homes in 2013 for coming out as trans to her (now ex) boss, Thomas Rost. Rost testified in court documents that he fired Stephens because she “wanted to dress as a woman” which would be a “distraction not appropriate” for grieving families. Following her firing, […]
Supreme Court Rules against Citizenship Question on 2020 Census for now
This Thursday, the Supreme Court rejected the stated reasoning behind the citizenship question that the Trump Administration wanted to add to the 2020 Census, setting the efforts of the Trump administration further back. In the 5-4 ruling, Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. wrote that the reason behind the citizenship question which was provided by […]
Supreme Court Declines to Rule Partisan Gerrymandering Unconstitutional
Today, the Supreme Court issued a 5-4 decision declaring that partisan gerrymandering, the redrawing of legislative districts to favor one political party over another, presents a political question that federal courts cannot review. In his opinion, Chief Justice John Roberts, joined by four conservative members of the Court, concluded that “partisan gerrymandering claims present political […]
Supreme Court Upholds Virginia Redistricting
On Monday, June 17th, the Supreme Court decided to uphold district re-drawings in spite of republican’s challenge to reverse racially gerrymandered districts. Written by Justice Ginsburg, majority 5-4 decision states Virginia preferred to “stop than fight on,” illuminating that they are ready for an election with these already redrawn districts. These districts were originally drawn […]
Supreme Court Agrees to a Compromise on Indiana’s Anti-Abortion Law
Today, the Supreme Court agreed to a compromise regarding a restrictive Indiana anti-abortion, upholding part of the law that regulates the disposal of fetal remains while dismissing an appeal to reinstate the part of the law that banned abortions on the basis of fetal characteristics. The court’s decision argued that regulating fetal remains “does not […]
States are Passing Extreme Anti-Abortion Laws to Challenge Roe v. Wade
Yesterday, Alabama’s female Governor Kay Ivey signed into law the most restrictive and cruel anti-abortion legislation in the United States, legislation that female Representative Terry Collins introduced in the state house to challenge Roe v. Wade. This past week both Georgia and Alabama have passed extreme anti-abortion legislation, revealing the conservative agenda to overturn Roe […]
Supreme Court Will Hear Cases on LGBTQ+ Rights in the Workplace
The Supreme Court announced yesterday that they have agreed to hear a group of high profile cases regarding the rights of gay and transgender individuals in the workplace. These cases are aimed to determine if existing federal laws banning sex-based discrimination applies to cases of sexual orientation or gender identity. In particular, the case will […]
India Supreme Court Considering Allowing Women into Mosques
India’s Supreme Court is now considering a case to allow women into mosques. Currently, most mosques in India do not allow women in at all or have a separate entrance for women to worship in a segregated area. Individuals began a petition to allow women into mosques, arguing that women were allowed to do so […]
Students Protest Kavanaugh Teaching at George Mason University
This summer, Brett Kavanaugh will be teaching a course on the origins of the U.S. Constitution at George Mason’s Antonin Scalia School of Law campus in London. Jennifer Mascott, an assistant professor of law at George Mason and a former clerk on the U.S. Court of Appeals in the D.C. Circuit, will be joining him […]
Iowa State Will Not Seek Appeal to Fetal Heartbeat Court Ruling
Governor Reynolds of Iowa stated Monday that the government will not seek an appeal after the Iowa Supreme Court ruled that the “fetal heartbeat” law passed last May was unconstitutional. This unconstitutional law, if had it gone into effect, would have been one of the most restrictive abortion bans in the United States. Those against […]