Constitutional Law

Protesters’ legal rights are up for debate

As protests continue to unfold across the country, attorneys are grappling with what rights these demonstrators do and do not have.

May 24, 2024 9:43 AM CDT

Litigation continues in federal actions alleging fraud with LDS tithings

Updated: The complaint states that between 1993 and 2017, Huntsman donated 10% of his annual income to the church, which amounted to millions, and was misled to think the money would not be used to finance commercial projects.

May 23, 2024 1:42 PM CDT

Supreme Court allows disputed South Carolina voting map

The Supreme Court on Thursday allowed the use of a South Carolina congressional map that a lower court said “exiled” thousands of Black voters to carve out a district safer for a White Republican incumbent.

May 23, 2024 9:44 AM CDT

Artificial intelligence used to replicate Brown v. Board of Education oral arguments

The retired law professor who founded the Oyez multimedia archive of U.S. Supreme Court materials has taken on a new project—creating an audio of the Brown v. Board of Education oral arguments using artificial intelligence.

May 21, 2024 2:32 PM CDT

Former BigLaw employee alleges she was wrongly fired for vaccine refusal

A former practice group assistant at Jenner & Block has filed a lawsuit contending that the law firm violated federal law when it fired her for refusing to get a vaccine for COVID-19.

May 20, 2024 10:36 AM CDT

Another state approves death penalty for child rape

Republican Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee signed a bill last week that authorizes the death penalty for aggravated rape of a child by an adult.

May 16, 2024 2:14 PM CDT

Driver won’t obey judge’s order to apologize for his command to police officer

An Alabama man ticketed for speeding acknowledges telling the police officer standing in front of his car to “get your ass out of the way.” But he is refusing to obey a judge’s order to write an apology letter.

May 16, 2024 12:29 PM CDT

SCOTUS upholds funding scheme for consumer agency; ‘the framers would be shocked,’ Alito dissent says

A federal law authorizing the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to draw funding from the Federal Reserve System does not violate the appropriations clause, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled Thursday.

May 16, 2024 10:25 AM CDT

When Trump criticizes judges online, calls for violence follow, analysis shows

Since March 1, at least 152 posts on three websites supportive of former President Donald Trump have called for violence against judges handling his high-profile cases, according to an analysis by Reuters.

May 15, 2024 1:41 PM CDT

Ban on gun possession by felons is unconstitutional as applied to some offenders, 9th Circuit rules

In a 2-1 decision, the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals court said the federal ban on gun possession is unconstitutional as applied to a nonviolent offender who had served his prison time.

May 13, 2024 3:15 PM CDT

No separate hearing required when police seize cars loaned to drivers accused of drug crimes, SCOTUS rules

The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled against two women who loaned their cars to others arrested for drug crimes while using the vehicles, leading Alabama police to seek civil forfeiture of the cars.

May 9, 2024 10:44 AM CDT

Catholic school can fire gay drama teacher for marrying, 4th Circuit rules

One of the most liberal appellate courts in the country has ruled that a Catholic high school could fire a teacher for marrying another man, a victory for conservative and religious advocacy groups that have pushed back against anti-discrimination law.

May 8, 2024 3:10 PM CDT

University is ‘incubator of bigotry,’ say 13 federal judges boycotting its grads

Thirteen federal judges, all of them appointees of former President Donald Trump, have announced that they won’t hire clerks who graduate from Columbia University or Columbia Law School.

May 7, 2024 10:57 AM CDT

Pro-Palestinian groups are Hamas propagandists, BigLaw firm’s suit alleges; is First Amendment an issue?

Updated: A May 1 lawsuit alleges that two pro-Palestinian groups are Hamas propagandists that are involved in campus protests in an effort to justify violence against Israel and Zionists.

May 6, 2024 2:06 PM CDT

Chemerinsky: SCOTUS winds up term with rulings expected on major cases about government power, accountability

The Supreme Court heard the last oral arguments of the term on April 25, and now we wait for the decisions with the expectation of the usual flurry of rulings at the end of June. In thinking about the pending cases, a significant number involve the scope of government power and how to hold the government accountable.

May 1, 2024 12:08 PM CDT