Law and Justice Archives

SCOTUS Votes To Overturn Roe, Leaked Opinion Says

The Supreme Court has voted internally to overturn Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 case that protected a woman’s right to an abortion, according to a leaked draft opinion obtained by Politico. The vote followed the debate in the case Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, a contentious case regarding a Mississippi law that would ban abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy. A final decision in the case has not yet been released.

Justice Stephen Breyer is Retiring. A Confirmation Battle Looms

Longtime Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer, 83, the most senior member of the court’s three-justice liberal wing, is set to announce his retirement Thursday. The decision to retire comes just ten months away from the midterm elections, where the Democrats are widely expected to lose control of Congress.

Andrew Cuomo Resigns Over Sexual Harassment Scandal

Democratic New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced his resignation on Tuesday, August 10, effective in two weeks’ time. Cuomo announced his resignation amid a slew of sexual harassment allegations and the New York attorney general releasing a report that found he sexually harassed 11 women. Had he not resigned, Cuomo would have faced near-certain impeachment from the Democratic state legislature.

Trump Organization Indicted By Manhattan DA

Former President Donald Trump’s company, the Trump Organization, and its longtime chief financial officer, Allen Weisselberg, have been charged by New York authorities over a 15-year-long “sweeping and audacious” tax fraud scheme which saw Weisselberg collect more than $1.7 million in “off-the-books” income and benefits. It is the first criminal case against Trump’s company.

SCOTUS: Obamacare Lives Again (California v. Texas)

The Affordable Care Act, better known as Obamacare, has survived its third Supreme Court challenge. On Thursday, America’s highest court ruled in California v. Texas that allowed the entirety of the law as it currently exists to stay. It capped a decade-long attempt from the Republican Party to kill the largest overhaul to the U.S. health care system since Medicare and Medicaid in 1965.

SCOTUS: The Only 2nd Amendment Case (DC v. Heller)

The Second Amendment, which states, in its entirety, “The right to bear arms shall not be infringed,” is why America remains one of the only developed countries with such loose gun control laws. Despite its controversy and looming role in shaping partisan identity and its influence over American society, from 1939 through to 2008, the Supreme Court somehow managed to avoid hearing any cases pertaining to it, until it heard D.C. v. Heller in 2008.

SCOTUS: The Time When It Declared Texas’s Secession Illegal (Texas v. White)

Texas v. White was a landmark Supreme Court case decided in 1869 in which the court established that, shockingly, the secession of a state from the United States is unconstitutional and despite Texas’s declaration of secession from the Union during the Civil War, Texas had never actually left the Union and all acts by the state legislature declaring otherwise were “absolutely null.”

Matt Gaetz In Hot Water After DOJ Probe Revealed

Rep. Matt Gaetz, a three-term Republican congressman from Florida and a staunch supporter of former President Donald Trump, is currently embroiled in a major scandal. On March 30, The New York Times first reported that an inquiry into Gaetz had been opened by the Department of Justice in the final months of the Trump administration, looking into allegations over Gaetz having a sexual relationship with a 17-year-old girl in 2019 and whether he had violated federal sex trafficking laws.

Voting Rights and How America’s Pastime Got Pulled Into Politics

Major companies have come out in criticism of Georgia’s new voter-suppression law that makes it harder to vote, especially in the urban areas. As companies headquartered in Georgia like Coca-Cola and Delta slammed the law for being “based on a lie” and President Joe Biden calling the law “Jim Crow on steroids,” Major League Baseball has chosen to move this season’s All-Star Game out of Atlanta, resulting in Republicans, who have rallied against “cancel culture,” calling on people to boycott MLB.

George Floyd Case Trial Begins in Minneapolis

One of the most closely-watched and important trials in a very long time began on Monday in Minneapolis, in the Hennepin County District Court, as the murder trial for former police officer Derek Chauvin, who is being charged with murder in the death of George Floyd last summer, started. The death of George Floyd, a 46-year-old Black man, resulted in nationwide protests against police brutality and calls for equal treatment of Black people, igniting the Black Lives Matter protest movement.

Atlanta Shootings Bring Attention to Anti-Asian Racism

Last Tuesday, on March 16, eight people were killed in a series of shootings which took place at three spas in the Greater Atlanta area. Of the eight that died, six were Asian American and two were white. All of them, except for one, were women. The shootings fueled fear that the shooting may have singled out Asians, and draws attention to the longstanding racism many Asians have faced in America, which has sadly become more exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.

SCOTUS: Guaranteeing Criminal Rights (Miranda v. Arizona)

“You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can be used against you in court. You have the right to talk to a lawyer for advice before we ask you any questions. You have the right to have a lawyer with you during questioning. If you cannot afford a lawyer, one will be appointed for you before any questioning if you wish. If you decide to answer questions now without a lawyer present, you have the right to stop answering at any time.”

This is the now-famous “Miranda warning,” dramatized in movies, which must be read off to all people in police custody to alert them of their rights. Miranda warnings were derived from the landmark Supreme Court case ruling of Miranda v. Arizona in 1966, which required police to advise suspects of their rights, especially the right to remain silent.

Supreme Court Denies Trump’s Final Bid to Shield Tax Records

The Supreme Court on Monday cleared the way to allow the Manhattan district attorney to obtain eight years of federal income tax and financial records of former President Donald Trump after it denied Trump’s last-ditch Supreme Court petition to get the court to hear his case. The decision marks the end of a long-running battle of prosecutors’ access to the documents.

SCOTUS: Right to an Attorney (Gideon v. Wainwright)

The right to an attorney when charged with a crime is laid out in the Sixth Amendment, and is widely known today that those unable to afford an attorney must receive one provided by the state to represent themselves in court. However, this was not always the case. Such precedent was only established in the landmark Supreme Court decision of Gideon v. Wainwright in 1963.

SCOTUS: Protecting Press Freedom (New York Times v. US)

One of the most significant Supreme Court decisions was the case of New York Times Co. v. United States (1971), now also known as the Pentagon Papers Case. This case, which concerned whether it was legal for The New York Times to publish the then-classified Pentagon Papers, saw the Supreme Court defend the First Amendment-guaranteed right of a free press against prior restraint by the government.

SCOTUS: How Same-Sex Marriage Became Legal (Obergefell v. Hodges)

Same-sex marriage was legalized throughout the entire United States just five years ago, in the case of Obergefell v. Hodges (2015). Prior to this ruling, it was only legal in 36 states plus Washington, D.C., and Guam. With this landmark civil rights case, the Supreme Court ruled that the right to marry is guaranteed to same-sex couples under the equal protection and due process clauses of the 14th Amendment.

The American Court System Explained

The U.S. has one of the most complex judicial systems in the world. It has two court systems—the state courts and the federal courts—and all are overseen by the United States Supreme Court. Each system works a bit differently, and it all gets super complex when states sue each other or the U.S. government itself (i.e., the Department of Justice, DOJ) is a party. Let’s take a closer look at how the American judiciary system works.

Texas GOP Lawsuit To Invalidate Millions of Votes Is Ludicrous

On December 8, 2020, the Republican Texas Attorney General, Ken Paxton, filed a lawsuit in the U.S. Supreme Court alleging that Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Michigan violated federal law by changing election law prior to the election, claiming that voter fraud would be “undetectable.” The lawsuit is basically asking the Supreme Court to disenfranchise millions of voters in battleground states and overturn the results of a fair, free election with no evidence of voter fraud.

SCOTUS Denies Pennsylvania GOP to Overturn Certification

In just one sentence, “[t]he application for injunctive relief presented to Justice Alito and by him referred to the Court is denied,” the Supreme Court of the United States on Tuesday denied Pennsylvania Republicans’ request to overturn the results of the presidential election in Pennsylvania, where President-Elect Joe Biden won by 1.2 percent.

SCOTUS: How SCOTUS Decided the 2000 Election (Bush v. Gore)

The 2020 election has ended with Joe Biden being declared as the victor and the president-elect, and despite lawsuits and claims from the Trump campaign, no voter fraud has been found. In addition, the Trump campaign has failed at getting the courts (even Trump-appointed judges) to sympathize with his cause and throw out hundreds of thousands of legally cast ballots. He has already lost over 30 lawsuits, and with a Pennsylvania court throwing another of his lawsuits out, he is running out of legal ways to overturn the election. However, in the 2000 presidential election, the Supreme Court actually played a huge part in determining the winner.

SCOTUS Hears Another GOP Case Trying to Repeal Obamacare

The Supreme Court is once again hearing another GOP-led case which could determine the future of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA), also known as Obamacare, which provides health insurance to over 23 million Americans and ensures that all Americans with preexisting medical conditions can still purchase health insurance plans. As of writing, over 38 states, including some very conservative states, have expanded Medicaid via the ACA to allow cheaper health care coverage to more Americans.

SCOTUS: Ensuring Gender Equality (US v. Virginia)

In commemoration of Justice Ruth Ginsburg’s death, today, we are going to look at the landmark 1996 Supreme Court case of United States v. Virginia, a landmark case regarding women’s rights, of which Justice Ginsburg wrote the majority statement and played a huge role in deciding.

A Race to Fill the Supreme Court Ensues After Justice Ginsburg’s Death

In the late afternoon of Friday, September 18, Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg passed away at the age of 87 due to complications from pancreatic cancer in her home in Washington, D.C. This came just 45 days away from the general elections in November. With a Supreme Court justice death so close to the election, the fight to fill her seat will have a number of political implications.

SCOTUS: How Interracial Marriage Was Legalized (Loving v. Virginia)

Believe it or not, as late as 1967, interracial marriage (marriage between a Black and a White) was illegal in much of the South. Interracial marriage bans were only ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in the very fittingly-named case Loving v. Virginia of 1967. We will take a closer look at this case in today’s post.

SCOTUS: Why the Supreme Court Matters (Marbury v. Madison)

The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest and most important court of the U.S. It has the power of judicial review and sets precedents for all other court cases in its decisions via common law. However, the power of judicial review, meaning the power to strike down laws, statues, executive orders, etc. that the court finds to be unconstitutional, was not given to the courts in the Constitution. Why, then, does the court have this power?

SCOTUS: How Abortion Became a Constitutional Right (Roe v. Wade)

Despite all the controversy surrounding abortion today, it is important to understand that abortion was actually a constitutional right as ruled by the 1973 landmark Supreme Court case of Roe v. Wade. How and why did the court decide that abortion was a right? Let’s find out in today’s post.

SCOTUS: Trump’s Tax Returns (Trump v. Vance and Trump v. Mazars)

The Supreme Court decided on two landmark cases regarding executive power on July 9, 2020. In the cases of Trump v. Vance and Trump v. Mazars USA, LLP, the justices ruled that in Trump v. Vance, New York County District Attorney’s attempt to subpoena (order to appear in court) President Donald Trump’s tax returns was valid and did not require a heightened standard. Separately, in Trump v. Mazars, the court ruled that the House of Representatives’ subpoena to obtain the tax returns were not valid.

SCOTUS: Desegregation of Public Schools (Brown v. Board of Education)

Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka was a major, landmark Supreme Court decision in 1954. The ruling declared racial segregation in public schools unconstitutional and was the first major victory for civil rights activists during the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s. Here’s how the case unfolded.

SCOTUS: Punishment For Faithless Electors (Chiafalo v. Washington)

On July 7, 2020, the Supreme Court made a major decision in the case of Chiafalo v. Washington regarding faithless electors in the Electoral College, especially with regard to those in the 2016 presidential election. In a 9-0 decision, the Supreme Court ruled that states have the ability to enforce an elector’s pledge in a presidential election.

SCOTUS: The Time When SCOTUS Legalized Segregation (Plessy v. Ferguson)

In a previous post about the Jim Crow laws era, I briefly mentioned the landmark Plessy v. Ferguson Supreme Court case, which was where the Supreme Court legalized racial segregation. In today’s post, I would like to go into more detail about the case.

SCOTUS: Strengthening Abortion Rights (June Medical Services, LLC v. Gee)

On June 29, 2020, the Supreme Court made another landmark decision in the case of June Medical Services, LLC v. Gee, strengthening women’s rights to having an abortion. Chief Justice John Roberts sided with the four liberal justices to deliver the 5-4 decision in favor of June Medical Services and abortion. It marks the third major victory for liberals in the Supreme Court this month (the other two being LGBTQ rights and DACA).

SCOTUS: DACA Lives On (DHS v. Regents of UC)

On June 18, 2020, the Supreme Court made another landmark decision against the will of President Trump. In the case of the Department of Homeland Security v. Regents of the University of California, the Supreme Court ensured, in a 5-4 vote, that the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program introduced under the Obama administration would continue to be in effect after the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) tried to rescind it in 2017 under the Trump administration.

SCOTUS: Civil Rights for All LGBTQ Americans (Bostock v. Clayton County)

On June 15, 2020, the Supreme Court made a landmark decision regarding LGBTQ rights. In a 6-3 decision, the Court ruled that the Civil Rights Act of 1964 also protected LGBTQ Americans from workplace discrimination.

The case was Bostock v. Clayton County, where Bostock was fired from the juvenile court system in Georgia after soliciting interest in a gay baseball league at work. Bostock claimed that this was violating the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The Court sided with him, ruling against Clayton County of Georgia.

SCOTUS: Forced Vaccinations From the Government? (Jacobson v. Massachusetts)

In view of the coronavirus pandemic and the fact that a coronavirus vaccine may be developed soon, I thought that it would be a great time to discuss the Jacobson v. Massachusetts Supreme Court case, which deals with forced vaccinations from the government.