Photo by Ian Taylor on Unsplash In 2017, the Supreme Court heard a case about a bakery owner who refused to create a cake for a gay wedding. The Court ruled that the cake represented free expression, so the Colorado Anti-Discrimination Act (CADA) could not force the owner to sell a cake for the couple’s […]
Democrats reintroduce legislation to expand the Supreme Court, set term limits
AP/J. Scott Applewhite The Supreme Court ended its term with decisions that challenged precedent and rolled back rights for the environment, Black and Latino college applicants, same-sex couples, and student loan borrowers. With a 6-3 conservative majority, the Court is making its highest rate of conservative decisions since 1931.Two of its Justices have violated ethics […]
Supreme Court Hears Challenges to Texas Abortion Ban
On Monday, the Supreme Court heard two procedural challenges to SB8, Texas’s six-week abortion ban that was enacted on September 1. The Court heard both United States v. Texas and Whole Woman’s Health v. Jackson, both challenging the law. US Solicitor General Elizabeth B. Prelogar argued that the law is unconstitutional and that if upheld, […]
Appeals Court Puts Temporary Hold on Judge’s Order to Block Texas Abortion Ban
On Friday night, a federal appeals court placed a temporary hold on a federal judge’s order to block Texas’ SB8, an extreme, near-total abortion ban enacted last month. The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals granted Texas’ administrative stay request, after Judge Robert Pitman ruled to block the law last week, responding to a request from […]
Federal Judge Blocks Texas’ Abortion Ban
On Wednesday, a federal judge granted an emergency request from the Justice Department and blocked enforcement of Texas’s SB8, a law banning abortion after six weeks. U.S. District Court Judge Robert Pitman said in his ruling that since SB8 went into effect in September, “women have been unlawfully prevented from exercising control over their lives […]
Federal Judge Sets Hearing Date to Rule on Justice Department’s Emergency Request to Stop Texas Abortion Ban
A federal district judge in Texas announced Wednesday that a hearing date for October 1 has been set to rule on the Justice Department’s request for a preliminary injunction to block Texas’s abortion ban. The hearing date comes just after the Department of Justice filed an emergency motion Tuesday asking Judge Robert L. Pitman of […]
Justice Department Files Emergency Motion Asking Federal Judge to Block Texas’ Six-Week Abortion Ban
The Department of Justice asked a federal district judge Tuesday to block the enforcement of Texas’ new six-week abortion ban, which effectively eliminates all abortion access in the second-largest state. The Justice Department filed an emergency motion requesting that Judge Robert L. Pitman of the Western District of Texas implement a preliminary injunction and temporary […]
Texas Judge Issues New Injunction Preventing Anti-Choice Group from Enforcing Six-Week Abortion Ban
On Monday, a state judge in Texas issued an injunction blocking Texas Right to Life, the state’s largest anti-abortion group, from suing Planned Parenthood under Texas’s new six-week abortion ban, SB 8. Judge Karin Crump of the Travis County district court issued the injunction, which will stay in effect until April of 2022. It replaces […]
Biden Administration Appeals Ruling that Found DACA Illegal
The Biden administration appealed a federal district court ruling on Friday that declared the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program illegal and blocked new applicants from receiving the program’s benefits. The appeal challenges a ruling made by Texas federal district Judge Andrew Hanen in July. Judge Hanen ruled that DACA was unlawful because it […]
Texas Judge Temporarily Blocks Anti-Choice Group from Suing Planned Parenthood
On Friday, a U.S. district judge in Texas granted Planned Parenthood’s request for a restraining order against Texas Right to Life, an anti-abortion group in Texas. The group is temporarily blocked from suing Planned Parenthood under Texas’s newly enacted six-week abortion ban, called S.B. 8. Judge Maya Guerra Gamble of the District Court for Travis […]
Appeals Court Upholds Texas Ban on Common Second-Trimester Abortion Procedure
A federal appeals court ruled Wednesday that Texas can ban the standard dilation and evacuation abortion procedure used in the second trimester of pregnancy. Texas will be the first state in the country to ban the procedure. The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that a Texas law passed in 2017 banning D&E abortions could […]
Federal Judge Blocks Several Indiana Abortion Restrictions
On Tuesday, a federal judge issued permanent injunctions against several Indiana laws that restrict abortion access, ruling them unconstitutional. Judge Sarah Evans Barker of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana blocked a number of Indiana abortion laws that had been challenged in court by a 2018 lawsuit brought by Whole Women’s […]
Human Rights Campaign Sues Tennessee over Anti-Transgender “Bathroom Bill”
The Human Rights Campaign, an LGBTQ civil rights organization, filed a lawsuit Tuesday to challenge Tennessee’s latest anti-transgender law. The “bathroom bill” prevents trans students from using the bathroom that corresponds to their gender identity. The law was signed in May by Tennessee governor Bill Lee and went into effect July 1. It requires that […]
U.S. Court of Appeals Rules Against Web Designer Seeking License to Discriminate Against LGBTQ+ Couples
On Monday, the Tenth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals maintained a lower court’s decision to reject a Colorado web designer’s request to discriminate against LGBTQ+ couples. Lorie Smith, the owner of the web design business 303 Creative LLC, challenged the Colorado Anti-Discrimination Act (CADA) by suing to request that her business be allowed to deny […]
Anti-Trans Laws in Arkansas and West Virginia Blocked by Federal Judges
On Wednesday, federal judges blocked two anti-trans state laws from going into effect. The first, an Arkansas law, would prohibit physicians from providing gender-affirming care to transgender youth. The second, a West Virginia law, banned transgender girls and women from playing in women’s public-school sports. The Arkansas law would ban doctors from offering necessary gender-confirming […]
Federal Judge Blocks Arkansas Law Banning Almost All Abortions
On Tuesday, a federal judge placed a preliminary injunction on an Arkansas law that would ban most abortions. The temporary block ensures that the law will not go into effect until a final ruling on the legality of the ban is made. U.S. District Court Judge Kristine Baker blocked the law, which would prohibit all […]
Iowa Law Mandating 24-Hour Waiting Period for Abortion is Blocked by Judge
On Monday, an Iowa district judge blocked a law that required patients to observe a 24-hour waiting period before they could get an abortion. The law, passed in 2020, was declared unconstitutional by Judge Mitchell Turner. He ruled that the law not only violated a 2018 decision made by the Iowa Supreme Court that protects […]
Pakistan will create more than 1,000 Courts Dedicated to Tackling Violence Against Women
On Friday June 21st, Chief Justice Asif Saeed Khosa announced that Pakistan will set up more than 1,000 courts dedicated to tackling violence against women in the country. Each court will deal specifically with cases of violence against women in the country to cultivate an environment where women can speak up without fear of repercussions. […]
D.C. Appeals Court Blocks Policy that Prevents Undocumented Minors from Seeking Abortions
Today, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals blocked a Trump administration policy barring undocumented minors held in federal custody from obtaining an abortion. In their opinion, the Circuit Court judges wrote that “a person has a constitutional right to terminate her pregnancy” and “the government accepts the applicability of that settled framework to unaccompanied alien […]
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The Youth are Suing the Federal Government over Failure to act on Climate Change
On June 4th, the Court of Appeals in the 9th Circuit heard arguments from Juliana v. United States on whether or not US citizens’ have a constitutional right to be protected from man-made climate change. The students are challenging the executive government’s inaction on climate change, and argue that the younger generations will suffer the […]
