All Law & Courts
Five years after Trayvon Martin鈥檚 death: What鈥檚 changed?It has been half a decade since Trayvon Martin was shot by George Zimmerman. Since then, activist movements created in response to the shooting have exposed racial issues and tensions that had been ignored for decades by the mainstream.聽
First LookWhite House drops Obama-era discrimination claim against Texas voter ID lawThe Trump administration is dropping a claim against a Texas voter ID law, one of the nation's strictest. A federal appeals court has ordered the state to fix the law's discriminatory effects.
How vital is Facebook for free expression?The US Supreme Court will hear a case involving a law that bars registered sex offenders from using some social media platforms.
Sessions memo: Reversal on private prisons could portend shift on justice, observers sayThe federal government will not phase out its contracts with private prisons, Attorney General Jeff Sessions indicated in a memo on Thursday, highlighting the Trump administration's contrasting approach on criminal justice after Obama-era reforms.
First LookTrump administration sets sights on state recreational marijuana lawsThe Obama administration had declined to enforce the federal laws prohibiting marijuana in states that have legalized recreational use of the drug. Comments from the White House press secretary suggest that stance could be about to change.
First LookHundreds protest in Anaheim after off-duty cop fires shot in altercation with teensVideo footage of an off-duty cop struggling with a teen in Anaheim, Calif., and eventually firing a gun has sparked outrage both locally and across the nation, spurring protesters to take to the streets Wednesday night.聽
Md. appeals court upholds 'assault weapon' ban: a new challenge to scope of Second Amendment?A federal appeals court in Maryland has upheld a law banning military-style weapons. If the case goes before the Supreme Court, justices will have to confront whether the weapons deserve protection under the Second Amendment.
First LookLarry Nassar, former USA gymnastic coach, is charged with sexual assaultDr. Nassar, who specialized in treating female gymnasts at Michigan State University and through the USA Gymnastics organization, faces charges in two Michigan counties.聽
First LookJudge stalls Texas efforts to defund Planned ParenthoodThe judge鈥檚 injunction will keep Medicaid funding flowing to Planned Parenthood until an upcoming court case can rule on the merits of Texas鈥� case for defunding the organization.
First LookSecond Amendment does not cover 'weapons of war,' US appeals court findsThe Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld on Tuesday Maryland's ban on 45 kinds of assault weapons, but the National Rifle Association is open to appealing the decision.聽
First LookWhy the Supreme Court rejected a death penalty appealThe US Supreme Court refused to hear the death penalty plea of Thomas Arthur, an Alabama inmate who argued that his state's lethal injection procedures constitute cruel and unusual punishment.
First LookSupreme Court to hear case on border shooting of Mexican nationalAs its first case under the new Trump administration, the US Supreme Court is scheduled to hear a case involving the shooting of a 15-year-old Mexican by a US border guard.
Travel ban rewrite: Should judges parse Trump motives as well as the text?President Trump is expected to release a new executive order affecting people trying to enter the US from seven Muslim-majority nations. Some legal scholars say it's appropriate for judges to also consider statements Trump made before becoming president.
Trump seeks pause in legal fight with revised travel banPresident Trump has said a new order would come next week, but even a revised order would face legal hurdles and likely end up in court, experts say.
First LookWA Supreme Court: By refusing same-sex wedding, florist violated anti-discrimination lawMs. Stutzman refused to create flower arrangements for Rob Ingersoll and Curt Freed's wedding, saying it would violate her religious beliefs to participate in a same-sex wedding.
Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch and the rise of originalismJudge Neil Gorsuch鈥檚 confirmation hearings for the Supreme Court could highlight how a traditionally conservative judicial policy has become mainstream and, arguably, bipartisan.
Ninth Circuit ruling: Why it doesn't signal end of road for Trump travel banThursday's ruling ordered that a temporary restraining order should remain in effect while the courts examine the merits of the challenge. And those merits, even critics point out, may yet be decided very differently.
Could a confession from Emmett Till's accuser lead to a new investigation?Relatives of Emmett Till, the 14-year-old victim of a 1955 lynching, have called for a new investigation into the case following a recent confession from his accuser.聽
Up close and personal: how Trump's attacks against the judiciary are differentTrump is not the first sitting president to take a swipe at the courts. But legal scholars and political scientists say his MO is different in one key way.聽
Why courts could rein in executive power 鈥撀燼fter decades of allowing itThe legal pushback to President Trump's travel ban is part of a growing number of legal challenges in recent years to the expansion of presidential power.
