Category: Civil Liberties

June 7, 2023

Supreme Court Weakened Legal Protections for Striking. Only Jackson Dissented.

Unions still have the right to strike, but eight Supreme Court members erected barriers to that fundamental right. In a shameful decision last week, eight members of the U.S. Supreme Court weakened the right to strike. Only Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson stood up for the workers. In her 27-page dissent in Glacier Northwest, Inc. v. International… Read more »

September 22, 2022

States Need Constitutional Amendments to Protect Abortion From Right-Wing Judges

Since the right-wing majority of the Supreme Court held in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization that the U.S. Constitution does not protect the right to abortion, many states have restricted or outright banned the procedure. But some states, like California, are endeavoring to enshrine the right to abortion in their constitutions. Although the California Supreme Court… Read more »

August 16, 2022

Police Lied to Get the Warrant to Search Breonna Taylor’s Home

The March 2020 killing of Breonna Taylor, which caused widespread protest around the country, was the result of police lies to obtain a warrant and racist police violence after officers forced their way into her apartment. On August 4, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced the federal grand jury indictments of four Louisville Metro Police officers involved… Read more »

June 14, 2022

Big Money Defeats Progressive San Francisco Prosecutor Chesa Boudin

By Michael Steven Smith and Marjorie Cohn Progressive prosecutor Chesa Boudin was elected 2-1/2 years ago by the people of San Francisco to be their district attorney. He promised “radical change to how we envision justice.” Chesa fulfilled his campaign promises by enacting programs and policies that would take on the phenomena of mass incarceration…. Read more »

March 18, 2022

Extradition Looms for Assange After UK Supreme Court Refuses to Hear His Appeal

The British judicial system has erected still another barrier to Julian Assange’s freedom. On March 14, the U.K. Supreme Court refused to hear Assange’s appeal of the U.K. High Court’s ruling ordering his extradition to the United States. If extradited to the U.S. for trial, Assange will face 17 charges under the Espionage Act and up to… Read more »

September 21, 2021

Justice Department Fights Back Against Texas Anti-Abortion Law

The Supreme Court’s greenlighting of the most draconian anti-abortion law in the country has had the right wing’s “desired effect of deterring abortion providers from offering virtually any abortions” in Texas since September 1, according to the Department of Justice (DOJ). S.B. 8 prohibits abortions after six weeks of pregnancy, before most people even know they’re pregnant…. Read more »

August 17, 2021

Threat of Extradition for Assange Grows Following British High Court Ruling

On August 11, in a rare occurrence, the U.K. High Court’s Lord Justice Timothy Holroyde and Justice Dame Judith Farbey overruled the July 5 decision of Justice Jonathan Swift and allowed the Biden administration to add two additional grounds for its appeal against Julian Assange, who is being held on charges filed by the Trump… Read more »

October 17, 2020

Barrett Is Poised to Become the Most Radical Right-Wing Member of Supreme Court

During her Supreme Court confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Amy Coney Barrett refused to say that voter intimidation is illegal, that armed poll watchers are intimidating, that voter discrimination exists, whether the president could deny someone the right to vote based on race or that Congress has a constitutional duty to protect the… Read more »

August 12, 2020

Federal Judge Sets Out to Bring Down Law Shielding Police From Legal Liability

As the Massachusetts legislature debates whether to water down its qualified immunity defense, a federal judge in Mississippi filed a stunning 72-page opinion blasting the doctrine. Qualified immunity has entered the national discourse with the massive uprisings in the wake of the public lynching of George Floyd. It allows police and other government officials to escape liability for… Read more »