Trump’s policies would be unconstitutional and will be challenged if adopted, ACLU says

The American Civil Liberties Union is vowing to file constitutional challenges to several policies of Donald Trump if he should win election and implement them. The ACLU sees constitutional problems with Trump’s proposals on immigration, American Muslims, torture and freedom of speech. “If implemented, Donald Trump’s proposed policies will spark…

Jul 14, 2016 10:17 AM CDT

10th Circuit bars Utah governor from withholding federal funds from Planned Parenthood

A federal appeals court has issued an injunction requiring Utah Gov. Gary Herbert to continue funneling $272,000 in federal funding to Planned Parenthood Association of Utah. The Denver-based 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said in a 2-1 decision on Tuesday that Herbert likely violated Planned Parenthood’s rights to free…

Jul 13, 2016 10:17 AM CDT

Ginsburg on Trump: ‘I don’t even want to contemplate’ his potential effect on the Supreme Court

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is praising Supreme Court nominee Merrick Garland but expressing much less enthusiasm for Donald Trump. In an interview, Ginsburg offered “an unequivocal endorsement of Garland,” the New York Times reports. “I think he is about as well qualified as any nominee to this court,” she said…

Jul 11, 2016 9:10 AM CDT

Supreme Fiction: 10 novels to get your mind off the Supreme Court nomination standoff

Jul 1, 2016 3:10 AM CDT

Federal judge blocks law banning abortions based on fetal abnormalities

A federal judge in Indianapolis has blocked an Indiana abortion law that banned abortions based on genetic abnormalities of the fetus. U.S. District Judge Tanya Walton Pratt issued a preliminary injunction on Thursday, report the Associated Press, the Indianapolis Star and the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette. The law bars abortions…

Jun 30, 2016 2:49 PM CDT

Chemerinsky: The year the law did not change

The Supreme Court’s October Term 2015 was the year that the law did not change. It is hard to remember a Supreme Court term where the decisions did less to change the law. That, of course, does not make the decisions unimportant. But their significance is in preserving the status…

Jun 30, 2016 8:30 AM CDT

Supreme Court overturns Texas abortion clinic regulations

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday overturned two provisions of a Texas law regulating abortion clinics in a 5-3 decision, finding they place an undue burden on access to abortion. Justice Stephen G. Breyer wrote the majority opinion (PDF). The dissenters were Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. and Justices…

Jun 27, 2016 9:10 AM CDT

British Columbia law society appeals decision forcing it to admit students from Trinity Western

Trinity Western University’s ongoing battle with the Law Society of British Columbia has headed to the British Columbia Court of Appeals. On Friday, the Langley Times reported that the society has filed an appeal with the British Columbia Court of Appeals challenging a lower court’s decision allowing TWU graduates to…

Jun 3, 2016 4:50 PM CDT

Contentious battles between couples over frozen embryos raise legal and ethical dilemmas

When Risa Levine, a real estate attorney in New York City, got married, she wanted nothing more than to have a baby. Her husband at the time also wanted a child, but they weren't able to do so on their own. So they went to a fertility clinic together.

Jun 1, 2016 4:10 AM CDT

After Obergefell: How the Supreme Court ruling on same-sex marriage has affected other areas of law

The word patchwork may be the best way to describe the layers of laws that governed the relationships of same-sex couples before June 26, 2015, the day the U.S. Supreme Court recognized a constitutional right to marriage for gay couples in Obergefell v. Hodges (PDF).

Jun 1, 2016 4:00 AM CDT

Oklahoma governor vetoes bill that made it a felony to perform abortions

Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin says she has signed 18 bills supporting “pro-life and pro-family measures,” but she could not sign a measure making it a felony for doctors to perform abortions. Fallin vetoed the bill on Friday, saying she doubted the bill would survive a legal challenge, report the Washington…

May 23, 2016 8:55 AM CDT

Performing an abortion in Oklahoma would be a felony under bill passed by legislature

Oklahoma lawmakers have passed a bill that makes it a felony to perform an abortion unless it is necessary to save the life of the mother. The bill provides for a penalty of up to three years in prison, report CNN, the Washington Post, the Associated Press, Reuters and the…

May 19, 2016 1:13 PM CDT

Some see value in split Supreme Court’s minimalist approach to cases

The U.S. Supreme Court decision on Monday to remand the contraceptive opt-out case is an example of the narrow rulings being issued by a court seeking to avoid 4-4 ties. And that’s a good thing, according to a law professor who spoke with the New York Times. The case, Zubik…

May 18, 2016 7:57 AM CDT

Court OKs wrongful death case for child whose father died three months before she was born

A child whose father died before she was born can sue for loss of companionship in a wrongful death case, the Iowa Supreme Court found Friday. The opinion was a matter of first impression for the state, and the court cautioned that the finding should not be used in forthcoming…

May 9, 2016 6:15 AM CDT

10 great novels about the Supreme Court

At the U.S. Supreme Court, a single vote can alter the outcome of the country’s most hot-button disputes—abortion, affirmative action, campaign finance, gun control and immigration, to name a few. So it’s no surprise that within minutes after the announcement of Justice Antonin Scalia’s death, members of Congress began drawing…

Apr 13, 2016 8:35 AM CDT