What To Expect Now That Roe’s Been Overturned
Most abortion bans criminalize providers by making it a felony to perform an abortion. But experts say people who obtain abortions can and will be criminalized for their pregnancy outcomes — they already have been even while Roe was still in place.
Supreme Court Overturns Roe, Opening Door for Mass Criminalization of Abortion
Police and prosecutors will now be tasked with enforcing state anti-abortion laws.
Anti-Abortion Group Urges States to Pass Sweeping Criminalization Laws Post Roe
Model state legislation proposed by a leading anti-choice group would impose felony charges for a broad new set of activities related to abortion.
What Would the End of Roe v. Wade Mean for Pregnancy Behind Bars?
A Supreme Court decision overturning the constitutional right to an abortion could force thousands of incarcerated people to carry pregnancies to term.
Georgia’s Unique Death Penalty Law Is Killing the Mentally Disabled
Georgia is the strictest state in America when it comes to proving intellectual disability in capital cases. This month, the Supreme Court could save the life of a man who says he is mentally disabled—or let the state kill him.
His Attorneys Say He’s Intellectually Disabled. A ‘Reform’ Prosecutor Wants The Death Penalty
State Attorney Melissa Nelson is pushing for a death sentence even as more prosecutors reject capital punishment.
Advocates Call On Biden To Change the Narrative on Immigration and Then Change Policy
President-elect Biden has a tough road ahead in reversing the Trump administration’s damage to the immigration system. Advocates say they’ll make sure he fulfills his promises.
Supreme Court’s Decision To Bar Restrictions On Religious Services In New York Is An Ominous Sign
The Court’s willingness to infer discrimination against Judeo-Christian religions from poorly articulated remarks that accompanied a public health response to COVID-19 may make other laws and policies vulnerable to claims of religious discrimination as well.
Joe Biden Has to Be More Than the Man Who Defeated Trump
A Democratic president who politely listens to progressive rhetoric while failing to act on it is one who just watches the planet burn a little more slowly.
Mondaire Jones Is Bringing the Fight Against Systemic Racism to Congress
Jones has vowed to support expansion of the Supreme Court, back the Green New Deal, and push for criminal justice reform.
Amy Coney Barrett’s Record on Criminal Justice Is ‘Deeply Troubling,’ Reform Advocates Say
In the midst of a national debate about changing the criminal legal system, Barrett is set to take a lifetime seat on the U.S. Supreme Court. Advocates see her addition as a potential setback to creating a more fair system.
Democrats Could Flip the Ohio and Michigan Supreme Courts
Shifting control of the states’ highest courts next month will prove critical on a number of major issues, including redistricting in 2021.
Abortion Could Be Criminalized in Arizona if Roe v. Wade Gets Overturned
The state’s pre-Roe abortion ban includes mandatory prison time for people who provide or obtain abortions. Candidates for top prosecutor in Maricopa County differ on whether they would prosecute such cases.
Federal Judges Were Once All Reliably Bad On Prisoners’ Rights Issues. COVID-19 Changed That.
President Trump has appointed a quarter of active federal appellate judges, and they have decisively hampered legal efforts to force prisons and jails to address the coronavirus.
Yes, Pack The Court – Pack It With Public Interest Lawyers
No intellect or doctrine can overcome a judiciary inclined to favor government and the powerful against the accused and the vulnerable. And that is the federal judiciary we now have.
Expanding the Supreme Court Is Not ‘Radical’
Rebalancing the nation’s highest court is a reasonable, proportionate response to a system that failed a long time ago.
U.S. Executes Lezmond Mitchell Over Objections Of The Navajo Nation
It’s the first time in modern history that the federal government has executed a Native American for a crime committed against another Native American on tribal land, his attorneys say.
Conservatives Are Winning The Supreme Court’s Most Important Fight: Suppressing The Vote
Enabling widespread voter suppression is shaping up to be the Roberts Court’s most consequential accomplishment, because every other aspect of the Republican agenda depends on it.
U.S. Completes Second of Three Executions Set for This Week
In a 5-4 ruling early today, the Supreme Court cleared the way for the lethal injection of Wesley Ira Purkey. Lawyers had argued that killing Purkey, who had dementia associated with Alzheimer's disease, would represent cruel and unusual punishment.
U.S. Government Carries Out The First Execution Of A Federal Prisoner in 17 Years
A late-night Supreme Court ruling cleared the way for the execution of Daniel Lewis Lee, despite his claims of innocence and his attorneys’ belief that DNA testing could show he was wrongly convicted.
Supreme Court Blocks Trump Administration From Ending DACA, Handing A Win To ‘Dreamers’
The ruling thwarts the administration’s attempt to deport nearly 700,000 immigrants who were brought to the United States as children.
DACA Workers Are Saving COVID-19 Patients’ Lives While Worrying About Their Own
The Supreme Court will soon decide the fate of 650,000 so-called Dreamers across the country. Lawyers say terminating protections for them during a pandemic would be 'catastrophic.'
Louisiana Prosecutors Push To Retain Nonunanimous Jury Verdicts
In 2018, the state’s voters approved a constitutional amendment that requires unanimous jury verdicts in felony cases for crimes committed on or after Jan. 1, 2019. Now, the Supreme Court is considering the constitutionality of the nonunanimity rule—with prosecutors arguing that the U.S. Constitution does not require unanimous jury verdicts in criminal cases.
The Appeal Podcast: Qualified Immunity, A Roadblock to Reform
With Appeal contributors Amir H. Ali and Emily Clark of the MacArthur Justice Center
For Some Local Prosecutors, the Post-Roe World is Already Here
As the potential demise of Roe v. Wade looms, past and current prosecutions of pregnant women illustrate what lies ahead.
How Criminal Justice Reformers Should Confront Justice Kennedy’s Retirement
First, look to local prosecutor elections.
What Brett Kavanaugh on the Supreme Court Would Mean for Criminal Justice
Trump’s pick to replace Justice Kennedy would most likely undermine the rights of criminal defendants and stall progress on solitary confinement, prisoners’ rights, and the death penalty.
Houston Conviction and Death Sentence Goes to U.S. Supreme Court
Court watchers believe Justices will side with plaintiff
When “Ambiguity” Can Mean Life in Prison
A Louisiana man’s request for a “lawyer dog” was deemed unclear by the state’s Supreme Court.