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. Meg O'Connor
Supreme Court Overturns Roe, Opening Door for Mass Criminalization of Abortion Police and prosecutors will now be tasked with enforcing state anti-abortion laws. Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg
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. Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg
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. Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg
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. Lauren Gill
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. Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg
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. Liz Robbins
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. Leah Litman
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. Jay Willis
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. Lauren Gill
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. Joshua Vaughn
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. Joshua Vaughn
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. Meg O'Connor
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. Samuel Weiss
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. Matthew Segal
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. Jay Willis
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. Lauren Gill
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. Jay Willis
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. Lauren Gill
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. Lauren Gill
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. Liz Robbins
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.' Liz Robbins
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. Joshua Vaughn
The Appeal Podcast: Qualified Immunity, A Roadblock to Reform With Appeal contributors Amir H. Ali and Emily Clark of the MacArthur Justice Center Adam H. Johnson
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. Rebecca McCray
How Criminal Justice Reformers Should Confront Justice Kennedy’s Retirement First, look to local prosecutor elections. Angela J. Davis, Whitney Tymas
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. Kyle C. Barry
Lawsuit Tests the Supreme Court’s ‘Immunity Protection Program’ for Police Officers Who Kill Kyle C. Barry
Houston Conviction and Death Sentence Goes to U.S. Supreme Court Court watchers believe Justices will side with plaintiff Larry Hannan
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. Rebecca McCray
Attorney General Jeff Sessions & the uncertain legal status of the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines Leah Litman
