By Vinay Harpalani, University of New Mexico School of Law. On October 1, the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts issued its much anticipated ruling in Students for Fair Admissions (SFFA) v. Harvard. Almost one year after the trial began, Judge Allison D. Burroughs ruled that Harvard’s race-conscious admissions policy did not violate Title … Continue reading The Supreme Court and the Future of Affirmative Action
The Supreme Court today hears two cases that consider whether Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act prohibits sexual orientation discrimination in the workplace and a third case that considers whether Title VII prohibits discrimination against transgender people. Bostock v. Clayton County involves a man who was fired from his job as a child … Continue reading Title VII’s Day at the Supreme Court
As the 2018 midterm election approaches, parties to election and voting-related litigation are asking the Supreme Court to step in. On Tuesday October 10, 2018, for example, the Court ruled on a request to issue a stay in a North Dakota voter ID law challenge, declining to intervene. The North Dakota law requires that voters … Continue reading SCOTUS and the Election: North Dakota Voter ID Law
On April 24, the Court heard arguments in Abbott v. Perez, the third redistricting case that the justices have heard this Term. Unlike the other cases, Gill v. Whitford and Benisek v. Lamone, which involved partisan gerrymandering, this case involves allegations of racially discriminatory redistricting in violation of the Voting Rights Act and/or the Equal Protection Clause. … Continue reading April Argument Review IV – Race Discrimination and Voting
Why in the world did Wendy Vitter refuse to declare her allegiance to that constitutional holy of holies, Brown v. Board of Education? U.S. Supreme Court Justices of the 1953 session Harris and Ewing/Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division During Vitter’s confirmation hearings this week, Senator Richard Blumenthal asked the federal district court nominee … Continue reading Dancing Away From Brown
In an opinion published Wednesday, February 21, 2018, the Supreme Court decided a case about prisoners’ civil rights, Murphy v. Smith. This case stemmed from a 2011 incident at Vandalia Correctional Center in Illinois in which Petitioner Charles Murphy was punched in the right eye by a prison guard, placed into a chokehold during which … Continue reading Prisoners Rights and Attorneys Fees: Opinion Analysis of Murphy v. Smith
In honor of Martin Luther King Jr Day, we are reposting this essay by ISCOTUS Co-Director Christopher W. Schmidt. Among the most important of Martin Luther King, Jr.’s contributions to American history were his commentaries on the relationship between the law and social justice. King’s views toward the law can be divided into two categories: law … Continue reading Martin Luther King Jr., the Law, and the Courts
On this day in 2003, the Supreme Court decided Grutter v. Bollinger, one of the Court’s most important rulings on the constitutionality of affirmative action. In a 5-4 ruling, the Court upheld the admissions policy of the University of Michigan Law School, which used race as one factor in its evaluation of applicants. Challenging the … Continue reading This Day in Supreme Court History—June 23, 2003
On this day in 2014 the Supreme Court announced its opinion in Schuette v. Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action. The case involved a 2006 amendment to the Michigan constitution, approved by a statewide referendum, that prohibited “all sex- and race-based preferences” in public education, employment, and contracting. The referendum was organized in response to Grutter … Continue reading This Day in Supreme Court History—April 22, 2014
On this day in 2000, United States v. Morrison was argued in front of the Supreme Court. Morrison was a constitutional challenge to a section of the Violence Against Women Act of 1994 (VAWA) that provided a civil remedy for victims of gender-motivated violence by allowing them to sue for damages in federal court. The … Continue reading This Day in Supreme Court History—January 11, 2000