October 14, 2020
It is, perhaps, a severe understatement to claim that qualified immunity—the legal doctrine shielding police officers and other government officials from liability for constitutional violations in all but the most egregious cases—is a doctrine in need of reform. A recent Eleventh Circuit ruling in Cantu v. Dothan, however, exemplified how deeply this need for reform…
January 30, 2020
In November 2018, Florida amended its state constitution to restore voting rights to nearly 1.5 million ex-felons “upon completion of all terms of [their] sentence including parole or probation.” The ballot initiative, known as “Amendment 4,” was organized by Floridians for a Fair Democracy and spearheaded by Desmond Meade — an Orlandoan who overcame a…
November 26, 2019
Discriminatory school discipline practices have been the subject of much controversy in recent years. In December 2018, the U.S. Department of Education, led by Secretary Betsy DeVos, rolled back Obama-era guidance aimed at reducing racial disparities in school discipline. The move drew opposition from both state attorneys general and civil rights leaders, who worried about…
November 11, 2019
What is the difference between a legal opinion and an op-ed column? Judge James Ho of the Fifth Circuit appears to think not much. Recently, in Winzer v. Kaufman County, Judge Ho penned a dissent from an order denying a petition for rehearing en banc that seems better suited for the pages of the Dallas…
November 6, 2019
The impact of the Supreme Court’s interpretation of “sex” in R.G. & G.R. Harris Funeral Homes, Inc. v. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission this Term may not be limited to enforcement of the Civil Rights Act. In fact, many federal statutes, including the 2010 Affordable Care Act (ACA), have adopted identical language. Recently in Franciscan Alliance,…
April 23, 2019
The incident that gave rise to Mitchell v. City of Cedar Rapids, recently decided by the Iowa Supreme Court, should sound familiar by now. In November 2016, a Cedar Rapids white police officer, Lucas Jones, stopped a black motorist, Jerime Mitchell, for a minor traffic violation. When Mitchell attempted to drive away, Jones shot him,…
April 12, 2019
Transgender rights are facing a backlash. Scientific knowledge of the impacts of gender dysphoria (GD) has grown immensely, and medical care for transgender people is increasingly accessible. These developments have not been paralleled in the courts. Recently, in Gibson v. Collier, the Fifth Circuit held that a state policy that does not permit gender affirmation…
March 13, 2019
Prisoners lose many of their rights when they walk through the jailhouse door, but the free exercise of religion is not one of them. Correctional officers must provide certain accommodations for prisoners’ religious exercise, including offering religious diets. To accommodate such diets, the Indiana Department of Correction (DOC) has some facilities with kosher kitchens, and…
July 30, 2018
In a move with significant implications for federal civil rights enforcement, the Department of Education has halted investigations into several large for-profit institutions widely accused of defrauding students. This decision sends an even clearer message that the Department of Education stands on the side of corrupt corporations rather than with students. Its decision allows these…
May 8, 2018
The Supreme Court’s recent decision in Jennings v. Rodriguez raised the momentous question of whether the government can indefinitely detain people without a hearing. If the government has its way, the case also may close the courthouse doors to a wide array of class actions long used to challenge unlawful government action. In Jennings, the…
April 30, 2018
What if Donald Trump pardons people identified as targets by Robert Mueller before, during, or after they are prosecuted in federal court? Would those people escape accountability for their acts, or would a state—particularly New York State, which has jurisdiction over Trump Tower and several key players—be able to prosecute them for what is defined…
April 23, 2018
The third version of the Travel Ban (“EO-3”)—also known as the Muslim Ban—added two non-Muslim countries to the list, but that by no means immunized it from legal challenge. The Supreme Court is set to hear oral argument tomorrow in Trump v. Hawaii and will ultimately determine whether the Travel Ban is a lawful exercise…
April 2, 2018
In February, the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office published an analysis concluding that drivers living in the state’s predominantly minority communities are charged higher auto insurance premiums than similar drivers living in majority white communities. In fact, the study found that experienced drivers with good driving records in the largest minority population areas pay more for…
March 28, 2018
Americans who call U.S. territories home face unprecedented challenges. Six months after Hurricanes Maria and Irma wreaked havoc on Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, many still lack electricity. Guam continues to sit in the nuclear cross-hairs of North Korea. And the Northern Mariana Islands and American Samoa are experiencing severe economic upheaval following…
