Civil Rights

ICE moves detainees to Texas facility where judge declined to halt deportations

As the Trump administration battles to use a wartime law to speed deportations of alleged gang members, it has moved dozens of detained Venezuelans to the one court district in the nation where a federal judge for now has declined to stand in its way.

May 9, 2025 3:09 PM CDT

Federal judge orders release of detained Tufts student Rümeysa Öztürk

A federal judge ordered the government to release a Tufts University graduate student who was grabbed off the street in late March and detained for co-writing an opinion piece in a student newspaper criticizing the war in Gaza.

May 9, 2025 2:45 PM CDT

NC justice can be sworn in after 6-month court battle over top court seat

A Republican who narrowly lost a North Carolina Supreme Court election ended his challenge to the results Wednesday, clearing the way for the Democratic incumbent to be sworn in six months after she won the race.

May 7, 2025 4:45 PM CDT

Supreme Court allows ban on transgender troops to take effect

The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday allowed the Trump administration to enforce a ban on transgender troops while a legal challenge continues.

May 6, 2025 3:14 PM CDT

Migrants’ temporary legal status remains intact after 1st Circuit denies Trump administration’s stay request

Migrants granted temporary legal status to remain in the United States through a humanitarian parole program during the Biden administration can’t be kicked out of the country immediately, a federal appeals court decided Monday.

May 6, 2025 9:25 AM CDT

Boutique law firm is talent pipeline for conservative lawyers

A boutique law firm in Washington, D.C., is advancing conservative causes by filing legal challenges to liberal policies, such as corporate diversity programs, environmental regulations and job protections for transgender people.

May 1, 2025 2:08 PM CDT

Wisconsin judge suspended over charges she helped migrant evade arrest

The Wisconsin Supreme Court on Tuesday suspended a county judge from performing her duties after she was charged with helping a migrant from Mexico briefly evade arrest.

Apr 30, 2025 10:46 AM CDT

Chemerinsky: Cases before SCOTUS challenge injunctions against executive orders to end birthright citizenship

Although oral arguments in the U.S. Supreme Court usually end in April, on May 15, the Supreme Court will hear its first case—the consolidation of three cases—on the merits challenging a Trump administration policy: whether federal district courts erred in granting nationwide injunctions against President Donald Trump’s executive order ending birthright citizenship in the United States.

Apr 30, 2025 9:56 AM CDT

Civil rights lawyers leave en masse as Justice Dept. mission shifts

The new head of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division is dramatically reshaping the office to propel President Donald Trump’s social agenda, prompting the departure of about half of the division’s lawyers in recent weeks.

Apr 29, 2025 1:30 PM CDT

Harvard Law Review investigated for alleged ‘spoils system’ that uses race in article selection

The federal government has opened an investigation into the Harvard Law Review “based on reports of race-based discrimination permeating the operations of the journal,” according to an April 28 press release from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Apr 29, 2025 12:13 PM CDT

Insurance case is ‘but a speck in the recesses of interstellar space,’ high-profile appeals judge writes

In a span of less than a week, a conservative federal appeals judge has written two opinions that are getting attention—for taking a tough stand against the mistaken deportation of an immigrant in one case and for waxing philosophical in another case.

Apr 28, 2025 3:07 PM CDT

Wisconsin judge arrested by FBI, charged with obstructing immigrant arrest

Federal prosecutors have charged a Milwaukee judge with obstructing an immigration arrest operation—a significant escalation of Justice Department efforts to prosecute local officials for allegedly interfering with immigration enforcement.

Apr 25, 2025 12:15 PM CDT

‘It’s Time for You to Leave’: More immigration lawyers get notices to self-deport

Immigration lawyers outside Massachusetts are also receiving notices to self-deport, despite their U.S. citizenship.

Apr 25, 2025 9:32 AM CDT

Politically charged ‘shadow docket’ cases taking over Supreme Court during its busiest time

President Donald Trump is approaching the end of the first 100 days of his second term. The milestone is considered significant for assessing any new occupant of the White House, but for the U.S. Supreme Court, the 100-day mark holds no special resonance. The court is still in the early days of a new chapter in what has been a complicated relationship.

Apr 24, 2025 11:00 AM CDT

AARP says it’s not part of challenge to El Salvador deportations, despite case caption

The AARP—formerly known as the American Association of Retired Persons—has intervened in a lawsuit filed on behalf of immigrant detainees because of concerns about the case caption.

Apr 23, 2025 2:19 PM CDT