The Trump administration will encourage schools to implement race-blind admissions policies, a reversal from an Obama-era guidance. Under the Obama Administration, the Education Department’s civil rights division issued seven guidance documents urging schools to consider race during admissions when attempting to diversify student bodies. The Justice Department plans to scrap these guidance efforts.
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Notre Dame Students Sue Over Denial of Birth Control Coverage
Irish 4 Reproductive Health, a student group at the University of Notre Dame, together with several individuals insured by the university, sued the U.S. Departments of Health and Human Services, Treasury, and Labor as well as Notre Dame itself for entering into an agreement to deny students, university employees, and their dependents insurance coverage of birth control, in violation of U.S. Constitution and federal law.
University of North Carolina Found in Violation of Title IX
Last week, the United States Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights concluded a five-year investigation, determining that University of North Carolina Chapel Hill was in violation of Title IX. UNC did not admit guilt, but Chancellor Carol Folt listed five actions to improve UNC’s Title IX program.
Supreme Court Rules Against Public Sector Unions
Last week, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 5-4 against public-sector unions in Janus v AFSCME, deciding that unions can no longer collect fees from public employees who opt not to be union members yet are covered by and profit from all of the benefits that unions achieve. This ruling reversed precedent from the 1977 ruling in Abood v. Detroit Board of Education.
Supreme Court Rules in Favor of Anti-Abortion Fake Clinics
This week, in a 5-4 decision, the Supreme Court struck down a California law requiring that anti-abortion, fake health centers provide women with complete and accurate information about abortion.
Afghan Women Break Glass Ceilings
Women in Afghanistan are being celebrated for unprecedented rises in female leadership and activism across social, political, and economic spheres.
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Supreme Court Rules on Major Gerrymandering Cases
The Supreme Court ruled on two major cases regarding gerrymandering on Monday. The decisions, a victory for Republican lawmakers in Texas and North Carolina, allow for the majority of the states’ voting districts to remain in their current design ahead of the 2018 elections.
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New Concerns Arise as Trump Signs Order to Allegedly End Family Separation Policy
President Trump signed an executive order today, claiming it will end the family separation policy his administration implemented in April. But legal analysts have voiced concern over language in the order that could allow for the indefinite detention of children with their parents, a practice that until now has been forbidden due to a 20 day legal limit on children’s stays in immigration facilities.
Judge Who Gave Light Rape Sentence Recalled
Aaron Persky, the judge who sparked national outrage after granting a light jail sentence to Stanford rapist Brock Turner, was recalled by California voters in their June 5 primary. It is very rare for a judge to be recalled: since 1911 when recalls were first legalized, only four attempts have been successful; the last was in 1932.
Supreme Court Upholds Ohio Voter Suppression Law
In a 5-4 decision last week, the Supreme Court upheld an Ohio law that removes voters from voter rolls after four years of inactivity. This reversed the 6th Circuit Appeals Court’s decision finding that the Ohio policy violated the 1993 National Voter Registration Act, a law that bans removing voters from voter rolls for failing to vote. The decision fell along ideological lines.
Virginia Medicaid Expansion to Begin January 1
Two weeks ago, Virginia Governor Ralph Northam approved a state budget that included allocations for Medicaid expansion. The expansion will go into effect on January 1 and will cover over 400,000 currently uninsured adults.
Iowa Heartbeat Abortion Ban Temporarily Blocked
On June 1, Polk County District Court Judge Michael Huppert temporarily blocked Iowa’s fetal heartbeat ban, SF 359, from going into effect until the case can make its way through the appropriate legal channels.
Sessions Reverses Asylum Protection for Immigrants Fleeing Domestic and Gang Violence
On Monday, Attorney General Jeff Sessions ruled that a 2014 Board of Immigration Appeals decision protecting victims of gang or domestic violence was “wrongly decided.” “Generally, claims by aliens pertaining to domestic violence or gang violence perpetrated by non-governmental actors will not qualify for asylum,” Sessions wrote. “The applicant must show that the government condoned […]
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Death Toll from Hurricane Maria Higher Than Originally Reported
Fourteen Democrats from the House Committee on Natural Resources have called for an investigation into the Harvard study published last week that concluded Hurricane Maria caused 73 times more deaths than originally claimed by the U.S. government.
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Illinois Becomes the 37th State to Ratify the ERA
On Wednesday, with a required three-fifths vote (72-45) in the state House, Illinois became the 37th state to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment. The United States is now only one state short of guaranteeing women’s equality in the U.S. Constitution.
Sex Segregated Public Education Is Increasing, But It Can Be Stopped
Last month, the Feminist Majority Foundation (FMF) released “Tracking Deliberate Sex Segregation in K-12 Public Schools,” its third multi-year report based mainly on 2013-14 data from the Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC). The report found and named 794 public coed U.S. schools that reported having single-sex academic classes and 75 all-girl and 58 all-boy public schools.
Court Upholds Rights of Transgender Student Under Title IX
Last week, U.S. District Court Judge Arenda Allens ruled in favor of former-high school student Gavin Grimm by refusing to dismiss his case against the Gloucester County School Board over the right of transgender students to use bathrooms that corresponds to their gender identity.
When Misogyny Kills
More than half of mass shootings have been committed by gunmen with a history of violence against women.
Saudi Arabia Arrests Women’s Rights Activists
The government of Saudi Arabia has arrested numerous women’s rights activists less than a month before the country is due to formally legalize female drivers. The women, who worked as vocal campaigners’ in the #women2drive movement, have been charged with suspicious activity and crimes of treason, a common smear and intimidation tactic employed by Saudi authorities to denigrate political activists.
Trump’s Anti-Abortion Domestic Gag Rule Strips Funding from Women’s Clinics
Under this new rule, any clinic that receives Title X funding for family planning and reproductive healthcare would be barred from providing any information, referrals or services for abortion.