Photo by Ian Hutchinson Georgetown Law’s O’Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law hosted an event, sponsored by Ms and Feminist Majority Foundation, on July 1st reviewing the Supreme Court’s 2024 term and discussing the current crisis of health and democracy due to the Dobbs decision. In honor of the 70th anniversary of Brown v. […]
The Impact of the Supreme Court’s Presidential Immunity Ruling
Photo by Tim Mossholder On July 1st, the Supreme Court released its last round of decisions before their summer recess. One of these decisions, Trump vs. the United States (2024), changed the future of the executive office, and possibly our democracy. After the January 6th insurrection in 2021, Special Council Jack Smith was assigned to investigate […]
Supreme Court Agrees To Hear Case On Transgender Affirming Care For Minors
Photo by Nikolas Gannon On Monday, June 24th, the Supreme Court inserted itself into the fight over transgender rights. The court agreed to hear a Biden administration appeal to a Tennessee law that bans gender-affirming care to transgender minors. The state law, enacted last year, restricts puberty blockers, hormone therapy, and surgery for minors and imposes […]
Supreme Court Upholds Federal Law Protecting Survivors of Domestic Violence
Photo by Tomasz Zielonka On June 21, the Supreme Court ruled 8-1 in favor of a federal law prohibiting those with a domestic violence restraining order against them from possessing a firearm. The federal law in question under United States v. Rahimi (2024) was the 1996 Domestic Violence Offender Gun Ban, often referred to as “the […]
Supreme Court Unanimously Upholds Full Access To Mifepristone
Photo by Fine Photographics On Thursday, June 13th, the Supreme Court unanimously rejected a challenge to the abortion pill mifepristone. The FDA v. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine case was brought by the Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine against the Food and Drug Administration in an attempt to restrict mifepristone access. Mifepristone was approved by the FDA in […]
Supreme Court appears poised to support Oregon city’s measures against public sleeping
Photo by Mihály Köles On Monday, April 22, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments for the case City of Grants Pass v. Johnson, marking one of the most significant cases on the issue of homelessness in years. This case comes amidst a record number of 650,000 people in 2023 reported as experiencing homelessness in the United […]
Supreme Court set to rule on Biden Administration’s ghost gun regulations
The Supreme Court has agreed to hear a case on whether the regulations placed on ghost guns by the Biden Administration are lawful. Ghost guns are privately assembled through “buy build shoot” kits or are 3D-printed. They also lack a serial number, making them untraceable, and do not require buyers to have background checks conducted. […]
Supreme Court begins oral arguments on emergency abortion case
Physicians for Human Rights supporting EMTALA in front of the Supreme Court. In yet another recent Supreme Court case concerning access to reproductive healthcare, the state of Idaho has brought a challenge to EMTALA (the federal Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act) in Moyle v. United States. EMTALA, initially passed by Congress in 1986, ensures […]
Supreme Court Denies Appeal from Black Lives Matter Organizer
On April 15th, 2024, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear the appeal of Deray Mckesson, a Black Lives Matter organizer and activist who led a protest in Louisiana where a police officer was hit by a “rock-like object” and injured. While Mckesson did not throw the rock, he is being sued by the injured […]
Florida Supreme Court’s ruling triggers DeSantis’ 6 week abortion ban
On April 1st, the conservative Florida Supreme Court ruled 4-3 to uphold the state’s 15-week abortion ban. As a result, the ruling has triggered Gov. Ron DeSantis’ extreme 6-week abortion ban, which is set to take effect in just 30 days. The state Supreme Court’s decision rests on the notion that the state constitution’s privacy […]
Supreme Court Hears Arguments in Mifepristone Case
FMF attends rally in front of Supreme Court in support of mifepristone The Supreme Court began oral arguments on March 26th for the case FDA v. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine, diving into the contentious issue of access to the abortion pill, mifepristone, which is used in more than 60% of all abortions across the nation. […]
Supreme Court set to rule on Mifepristone access
The Supreme Court has agreed to hear a case regarding the restriction on the use of mifepristone in the United States. Mifepristone — when taken in conjunction with misoprostol — is a pill that can end a pregnancy that is less than 10 weeks along. In August 2023, Texas’ ultra-conservative 5th Circuit Court of Appeals […]
Supreme Court Allows Enforcement of Idaho’s Abortion Ban, Pending April Hearing
The U.S. Supreme Court released a brief order late last week that allows Idaho to continue to enforce its near-total abortion ban, even in medical emergencies. The ruling is a response to an effort from the Biden administration to ensure additional abortion access in hospitals located in states with bans. The Court also agreed to hear […]
The Future of Abortion Access: Supreme Court Takes on Mifepristone Regulations
On Dec. 13th, the Supreme Court decided to take up the case, Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine v. FDA, regarding mifepristone, a widely used abortion pill, and its accessibility. The issue centers around a lower court decision challenging recent FDA changes allowing telemedicine appointments and mail prescriptions for the drug. The Supreme Court will hear the […]
Supreme Court strikes down affirmative action
AP Photo/Gerry Broome In a 6-3 decision, the Supreme Court ruled against race-conscious admissions programs. In both cases — Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard and Students for Fair Admissions v. University of North Carolina — college admissions programs considered race as one of many factors in determining an application’s value. The Court ruled that […]
Supreme Court explicitly rejects independent state legislature theory
Photo by Ian Hutchinson on Unsplash Voting rights activists around the country are celebrating as the Supreme Court released their decision for the Moore v. Harper case, ruling that state legislatures do not have the authority to set election rules outside the constraints of state constitutions. This is the second time this month we have seen a pro-democracy victory, where the Supreme […]
Will SCOTUS Uphold Domestic Abusers’ Right to Own Guns?
Photo by Claire Anderson on Unsplash It has now been a year since the Supreme Court issued its first major gun decision in over a decade. In New York State Rifle and Pistol Association v. Bruen, the Court ruled that the constitutionality of gun control laws can no longer be determined solely by state interests. […]
Biden’s student debt relief plan hangs in the balance
Photo by Unseen Studio on Unsplash The Supreme Court is expected to announce a decision on the constitutionality of President Biden’s student loan forgiveness plan in the next few weeks. Biden’s original debt relief plan would have canceled up to $20,000 for the millions of borrowers struggling with student loans across the country. The program […]
Supreme Court rules to protect the Voting Rights Act
Photo from Aurora Samperio/NurPhoto via ZUMA Press In a surprising win for voting rights and racial justice, the Supreme Court voted last week to reaffirm a decades old precedent prohibiting racial gerrymandering. The decision centered around Alabama’s legislative districts, where a Republican led redistricting plan would result in White voters becoming the majority in six […]
Supreme Court Will Hear Texas Abortion Ban Case November 1
On Friday, the Supreme Court said that they will not block Texas’ SB8, a near-total abortion ban, but will review the law on November 1st. The justices said that they will rule on whether the Justice Department and abortion providers can sue in federal court over the law, which was designed specifically to avoid judicial […]
