Summer reading picks and why a YMCA-funded crusade against obscenity matters today

Do you need some distractions during vacation travel or while lying directly under your A/C unit and sweating? It’s time for The Modern Law Library’s summer recommendations episode.

Jul 10, 2024 3:15 PM CDT

Chemerinsky: SCOTUS term reveals deeply divided justices frustrated with one another

At times, some have referred to the Supreme Court as “nine scorpions in a bottle.” That metaphor seems especially appropriate this year, though I would describe them as “nine angry scorpions in a bottle.” There is a strong sense that it is a deeply divided court. There were a total of 59 opinions, and 23 were 6-3 and another five were 5-4.

Jul 3, 2024 8:44 AM CDT

‘Storm clouds loom ahead’ after Supreme Court dismisses abortion dispute, Justice Jackson says

Updated: The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday turned aside an Idaho abortion dispute, which had the effect of blocking Idaho from enforcing its abortion ban in emergency situations.

Jun 27, 2024 11:04 AM CDT

Supreme Court would allow emergency abortions in Idaho, Bloomberg reports

The Supreme Court would allow emergency abortion care in Idaho for now despite the state’s restrictions on the procedure, according to Bloomberg Law, which viewed a copy of a not-yet-released opinion that was briefly posted on the court’s website Wednesday.

Jun 26, 2024 1:11 PM CDT

Law students support free speech but want LSAT and bar exams gone, new survey says

The vast majority of law students support free speech, and more than half say the LSAT and bar exams must go, according to a new survey released by the Buckley Institute at Yale University.

Jun 25, 2024 11:34 AM CDT

Justice Thomas questions associational standing; would his view end diversity challenges?

Justice Clarence Thomas took a dim view of associational standing in a concurrence last week to the U.S. Supreme Court’s abortion drug mifepristone decision, a stance that could interfere with diversity challenges.

Jun 18, 2024 12:14 PM CDT

Expanded access to abortion drug remains intact after Supreme Court says challengers lack standing

The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday unanimously ruled that anti-abortion medical groups and doctors who challenged expanded access to the abortion drug mifepristone lacked standing to sue.

Jun 13, 2024 9:32 AM CDT

Texas man files legal action to probe ex-partner’s out-of-state abortion

As soon as Collin Davis found out his ex-partner was planning to travel to Colorado to have an abortion in late February, the Texas man retained a high-powered antiabortion attorney—who court records show immediately issued a legal threat.

May 6, 2024 12:45 PM CDT

Conservative justices skeptical federal law requires emergency room abortions

Conservative Supreme Court justices expressed skepticism Wednesday that federal law can require hospitals to provide emergency abortion care in states with strict bans on the procedure, marking the latest legal battle over abortion access since the high court overturned Roe v. Wade nearly two years ago.

Apr 25, 2024 2:15 PM CDT

The fate of emergency abortion care rests with Supreme Court

Shanae Smith-Cunningham arrived at Memorial Regional Hospital on Dec. 21, 2022 - five days after her water broke, only halfway through her pregnancy. Despite her pleas for treatment and the risks to her health, staff at the Hollywood, Fla., hospital turned her away amid the state’s new abortion restrictions.

Apr 23, 2024 1:25 PM CDT

Arizona Supreme Court issues near-total ban on abortion

Arizona’s conservative Supreme Court on Tuesday revived a near-total ban of abortion, invoking a 1864 law that forbids the procedure except to save a mother’s life and punishes providers with prison time.

Apr 9, 2024 2:00 PM CDT

Florida Supreme Court allows one of nation’s strictest abortion bans to take effect

Florida’s conservative supreme court ruled Monday that the state’s constitution does not protect abortion rights, allowing one of the country’s strictest and most far-reaching abortion bans to take effect May 1.

Apr 2, 2024 4:00 PM CDT

A ‘divinely created’ being: States try to define fetal personhood

When is a human embryo not simply a clump of cells but a person with distinct legal rights? The answer, which holds much consequence in a post-Roe world, depends on the state where that embryo resides.

Apr 1, 2024 3:30 PM CDT

Supreme Court skeptical of efforts to restrict access to abortion pill

The Supreme Court on Tuesday seemed unlikely to limit access to mifepristone, a key medication that is used in more than 60 percent of U.S. abortions and has emerged as the next front in the battle over how and whether women can terminate their pregnancies.

Mar 27, 2024 9:30 AM CDT

Supreme Court revisits abortion debate in case over access to pregnancy-ending drug

Next week, a case about federal regulation of the primary drug used in medication abortions will be taken up by the justices, returning a major issue in the abortion debate to them perhaps sooner than they would have wished.

Mar 21, 2024 10:34 AM CDT