Former US President Donald Trump credited himself with overturning the landmark reproductive rights case Roe v. Wade and accused Democrats of advocating for the killing of newborn babies before calling for national unity in an abortion position statement released Monday morning. “Many people have asked me what my position is on abortion and abortion rights, [...]
Search Results for: Anthony Kennedy
Explainer: Unpacking SB 4, Texas's Controversial Border Security Legislation
In recent days, an unusual state border-security law has ricocheted back and forth between US federal courts, introducing novel questions of state and federal supremacy. Long disgruntled over the federal government’s perceived inadequate efforts to curb illegal immigration along its southern border, Texas enacted a state law that would enable it to take action in [...]
Alabama's Nitrogen Gas Execution Will Be Cruel and Unusual Punishment
On Jan. 25, the Alabama Department of Corrections (ADOC) plans to execute Kenneth Smith by forcing him to breathe pure nitrogen gas, an untested execution method with profound legal and ethical consequences. Death penalty abolitionists worldwide have railed against this form of capital punishment, but these efforts have thus far failed to alter the state’s [...]
Recent concerns about leaks of US Supreme Court decisions and Justice Clarence Thomas’s refusal to recuse himself in a case that might involve connections to his wife, Virginia Thomas, have spurred calls for a code of ethics for US Supreme Court justices. Although the Judicial Conference of the United States promulgated a Code of Conduct [...]
US dispatch: a politicized judiciary could facilitate an authoritarian turn
Marisa Wright is a US national staff correspondent for JURIST, and a 2L at Harvard Law School. Last week, a federal judge agreed with Donald Trump’s request to appoint a special master to review records seized by the FBI during its search of his estate. Judge Aileen M. Cannon also ordered the Justice Department to [...]
Explainer: Have Mass Protests and Political Upheaval Strengthened Sri Lankan Democracy?
Mass protests and a presidential ouster have hoisted Sri Lanka into the international spotlight through much of 2022. But have these societal upheavals improved matters for the island nation, and placed it on track for a brighter future? The answer may depend on who you ask, and how they think Sri Lanka could stand to [...]
Defend Democracy Before It’s Too Late: A One-Page Bill Would Do It
America faces unprecedented and existential threats to voting rights, free and fair elections, and the very future of our democracy. Congress must take urgent action now — well within its constitutional powers — to stop these threats in their tracks. All it would take is a simple one-page bill. I have proposed a draft here. [...]
US Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito issued a stay on Friday on behalf of the other justices in June Medical Services LLC., et al v. Gee, a case reviewing Louisiana Act 620, the Unsafe Abortion Protection Act. Act 620 was passed in 2014 and required any doctor performing an abortion to have admitting privileges at [...]
Senate Judiciary Committee postpones vote, schedules hearing for Kavanaugh accuser
The Senate Judiciary Committee announced on Monday that it will postpone the vote on President Donald Trump’s nominee to the US Supreme Court, Brett Kavanaugh , and allow Christine Blasey Ford, who has accused Kavanaugh of attempted sexual assault, to speak at a public hearing next Monday. Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley said that the Committee will give “these recent allegations [...]
Confirmation hearing begins for Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh
The confirmation hearing of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh began Tuesday morning. In his opening statements , Kavanaugh began by thanking both the president and the 65 senators he met with over the previous months. He also took time to pay tribute to Justice Anthony Kennedy, the justice Kavanaugh would replace on the Supreme Court [...]