Human Rights

Lawyer for ABA, foreign-aid recipients tells DC Circuit US must spend appropriated ‘pots of money’

Congress in 2024 “appropriated very specific pots of money for foreign assistance purposes” and required the executive branch to spend the full amount, a lawyer representing the ABA and other groups challenging funding cutoffs told the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit on Monday.

Jul 8, 2025 1:35 PM CDT

SCOTUS will allow Trump to deport migrants to ‘third countries’ for now

The Supreme Court on Monday cleared the way for the Trump administration to deport immigrants to countries where they are not citizens, temporarily blocking a decision by a lower court judge who said migrants must have a “meaningful opportunity” to contest their removal.

Jun 23, 2025 4:41 PM CDT

Barrett belies claims of leftward drift as Supreme Court upholds ban on some medical treatments for trans minors

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled 6-3 Wednesday that Tennessee’s ban on gender-affirming medical treatments for transgender minors does not violate the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment.

Jun 18, 2025 10:04 AM CDT

Chemerinsky: SCOTUS takes on multiple challenges to executive orders from Trump administration

The first four months of Donald Trump’s second term as president have been unlike anything in American history with the issuance of a large number of executive orders, many of which are of dubious constitutionality and legality.

Jun 4, 2025 12:13 PM CDT

8th Circuit blocks ‘backup theory’ for enforcing Voting Rights Act, leaving private plaintiffs without recourse

A federal appeals court in St. Louis has blocked an alternate path for private plaintiffs in seven states to sue to enforce racial-discrimination protections in Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act.

May 19, 2025 11:48 AM CDT

Supreme Court maintains block on Trump’s use of Alien Enemies Act for deportations

A divided Supreme Court on Friday kept a block on the Trump administration’s use of a rarely invoked wartime power to deport migrants in Northern Texas and said administration officials had not given those targeted for removal last month sufficient time to challenge their deportations.

May 16, 2025 5:18 PM CDT

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

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

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

Supreme Court says Trump officials must ‘facilitate’ return of wrongly deported man

The Supreme Court on Thursday unanimously backed a lower-court order requiring the Trump administration to “facilitate” the release from custody of a Maryland man who was mistakenly deported to a mega-prison in El Salvador last month.

Apr 11, 2025 7:05 AM CDT

Lawyer alleges BigLaw firm fired her 11 days after she disclosed epilepsy diagnosis, violating disability law

A former lawyer at Ballard Spahr has filed a lawsuit alleging that she was fired for taking medical leave after suffering gastrointestinal problems and a seizure.

Apr 10, 2025 9:00 AM CDT

Future Forward: How lawyers can embrace sustainability

Sustainable development means more than “being green,” says John Dernbach, an emeritus professor at Widener University Commonwealth Law School and the founding director of its Environmental Law and Sustainability Center. Rather, he says, sustainable development balances environmental protection, economic development and social justice.

Apr 1, 2025 3:00 AM CDT

Trump’s deportation push tests courts’ ability to check his power

The Trump administration Monday insisted it had not violated a court order by expelling hundreds of alleged members of Venezuela’s Tren de Aragua gang to El Salvador for imprisonment, even as a federal judge ordered a halt to some deportations.

Mar 17, 2025 9:44 AM CDT

Trump asks Supreme Court to OK partial plan to end birthright citizenship

The Trump administration asked the Supreme Court on Thursday to allow U.S. officials to begin implementing a partial plan to end birthright citizenship for children born in the United States to undocumented immigrants and foreign visitors.

Mar 13, 2025 3:40 PM CDT