CRS Legal Sidebar, December 28, 2023: Disqualification of a Candidate for the Presidency, Part II: Examining Section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment as It Applies to Ballot Access: “Numerous lawsuits across the country have sought or are seeking to prevent former President Donald Trump from appearing on state ballots for the upcoming presidential elections. In… Continue Reading
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Category Archives: Courts
Google agreed to settle $5B lawsuit alleging it tracked users’ activity in “incognito” mode
Inside Daily Brief: “Google has agreed to settle a $5B lawsuit alleging it tracked users’ activity in “incognito” mode in its Chrome browser and similar private modes in other browsers. The lawsuit, filed in 2020, accused Google of misleading users about their privacy and continuing to collect data despite using private browsing. The class-action lawsuit… Continue Reading
Times Sues OpenAI and Microsoft Over AI Use of Copyrighted Work
The New York Times [read free]: “The New York Times sued OpenAI and Microsoft for copyright infringement on Wednesday, opening a new front in the increasingly intense legal battle over the unauthorized use of published work to train artificial intelligence technologies. The Times is the first major American media organization to sue the companies, the… Continue Reading
Access to abortion pills has grown since Dobbs
Vox: “Eighteen months after the Dobbs v. Jackson decision that overturned the constitutional right to abortion, and with a new Supreme Court challenge pending against the abortion medication mifepristone, confusion abounds about access to reproductive health care in America. Since the June 2022 decision, abortion rates in states with restrictions have plummeted, and researchers estimated… Continue Reading
Supreme Connections
Pro Publica: Supreme Connections – “Every year, the Supreme Court’s nine justices fill out a form that discloses their financial connections to companies and people. Using our new database, you can now search for organizations and people that have paid the justices, reimbursed them for travel, given them gifts and more. by Sergio Hernandez, Alex… Continue Reading
Call For Justice Clarence Thomas’ Recusal In Trump Immunity Case
December 20, 2023 Letter to John G. Roberts, Jr. Chief Justice, Supreme Court of the United States from Senator Richard Blumenthal: [snipped] “The Supreme Court is currently weighing whether to decide a critical question in United States v. Trump, a criminal case arising from former President Trump’s role in the January 6 th insurrection. Last… Continue Reading
Behind the Scenes at the Dismantling of Roe
The New York Times [read free]: Behind the Scenes at the Dismantling of Roe. On Feb. 10 last year, Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. showed his eight colleagues how he intended to uproot the constitutional right to abortion. At 11:16 a.m., his clerk circulated a 98-page draft opinion in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization.… Continue Reading
Thomas privately pushed for a higher salary and to allow Supreme Court justices to take speaking fees
PrpPublica: “In early January 2000, Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas was at a five-star beach resort in Sea Island, Georgia, hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt. After almost a decade on the court, Thomas had grown frustrated with his financial situation, according to friends. He had recently started raising his young grandnephew, and Thomas’… Continue Reading
NCSC resource tracks mandatory judicial retirement age
NCSC has updated its report on State Judicial Retirement Plans to include a Mandatory Retirement Age tab, which tracks the mandatory retirement ages of judges across the country. In the last decade, voters and legislatures have rejected increases to mandatory judicial retirement ages in eight states. NCSC now offers a data visualization map showing mandatory retirement ages. The… Continue Reading
GIS Technology to assist in identifying “legal deserts”
“NCSC has recently started utilizing Geographic Information Systems (GIS) mapping technology to assist state courts in identifying “legal deserts” – areas where people may face challenges accessing legal resources and services. GIS technology can help courts gain deeper insights into the needs of people living in legal deserts by generating legal desert maps that consider access-to-justice… Continue Reading
5 Takeaways From Inside the Overturning of Roe v. Wade
The New York Times – A Times investigation [read free] reveals the behind-the-scenes story of how the Supreme Court abolished the constitutional right to abortion. “By the time the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last year, a draft of the ruling had been leaked to the press and the outcome was anticipated. The story… Continue Reading
The Judiciary Has Policed Itself for Decades. It Doesn’t Work.
ProPublica: “For decades, judges have relied on a select group to make sure the judiciary adheres to the highest ethical standards: themselves. The Judicial Conference, a secretive, century-old council of federal judges led by the chief justice of the Supreme Court, oversees the ethics and financial disclosures for more than 1,700 federal judges, including the… Continue Reading
