Setting the stage for the transgender rights issue to move on to the Supreme Court, a divided federal appeals court refused on Tuesday afternoon to delay an order to enforce transgender equality in a Virginia high school. In the case of G.G. v. Gloucester County School Board, the board’s lawyers have said they will now… Read More
Jul 10 2016
Sorting out the transgender cases
With the heated controversy over the Obama administration’s policy on the rights of transgender people about to reach the Supreme Court, the dispute continues to spread in federal courthouses across the nation. It is not yet clear, though, what effect that spread will have on the Justices’ view of their own role at this point.
Jul 6 2016
Widening importance of the “G.G.” case
With a new filing due at the Supreme Court next Tuesday by a Virginia school board defending its policy on transgender students’ rights, the case — involving a 16-year-old about to enter his senior year in high school — is gaining in importance.
Jul 1 2016
U.S. seeks to restore Amtrak’s powers
The Obama administration this week began a new effort in a federal appeals court to revive the power of Amtrak — the operator of the nation’s rail passenger service — to help set and enforce rules to help make sure that its trains run on time.
Jun 30 2016
New transgender rights plea to the Court
Expecting a new round of protests from parents and students when school opens in September, a Virginia school board plans to ask the Supreme Court shortly to allow it to enforce its existing policy on access to bathrooms at its high school in the midst of a transgender rights controversy.
May 16 2016
A compromise, with real impact, on birth control
This post also appears on scotusblog.com Without settling any legal issues surrounding the Affordable Care Act’s birth-control mandate, the Supreme Court on Monday nevertheless cleared the way for the government to promptly provide no-cost access to contraceptives for employees and students of non-profit religious hospitals, charities, and colleges, while barring any penalties on those institutions… Read More
May 12 2016
Some thoughts for the law graduates
Excerpts from my commencement address to the graduating class of the University of Nebraska College of Law, in Lincoln on May 7. Today I am especially delighted to join you and those who have helped you come so far – and, for some of you, footed the bill. This is such a splendid day for… Read More
Apr 14 2016
Has the Court brokered a working deal on birth-control?
This post also appears on Constitution Daily, the blog of the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia. The Supreme Court is not normally involved in making deals, even deals that are aimed at helping the Justices decide a difficult legal dispute. But it may have just shown that it at least has the capacity to suggest a… Read More
Mar 15 2016
Most cameras in federal courts to remain dark
A committee of federal judges, citing indifference by the public, worries among judges, and the costs, has decided not to resume a five-year experiment in allowing live television coverage of non-criminal cases in federal trial courts. That means that, in eleven of the fourteen participating federal district courts, the “pilot project” that was ended last… Read More
Mar 2 2016
Two options on abortion law?
This analysis also appears on scotusblog.com It was unmistakably clear on Wednesday that the Supreme Court’s first close look at abortion rights in nine years will turn on the reaction of Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, and there were at least sturdy hints that he would lead the Court in one of two directions. In an intense argument in… Read More
