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Category: Courts

A Federal Judge Stopped Trump from Scaling Back the Census

Robyn Beck/Getty For indispensable reporting on the coronavirus crisis, the election, and more, subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily newsletter.For more than a year, President Donald Trump has been attempting to undermine the 2020 census, pushing legal boundaries to ask respondents about their immigration status and exclude undocumented immigrants, even as the bureau struggled to mount its…

Remember When People Thought the June Medical SCOTUS Ruling Was a Win for Abortion Rights? Think Again.

Abortion rights activist gathered outside the Supreme Court to protest against abortion laws in May 2019.Aurora Samperio/NurPhoto via Getty Images For indispensable reporting on the coronavirus crisis and more, subscribe to Mother Jones’ newsletters.A court ruled on Friday that a strict abortion ban in Arkansas can move forward—and it used the recent Supreme Court decision…

A Federal Judge Blasts the Supreme Court for Inventing Qualified Immunity for Cops

Erik McGregor/Getty For indispensable reporting on the coronavirus crisis and more, subscribe to Mother Jones’ newsletters.A federal judge in Mississippi published a scorching opinion on Tuesday calling on the Supreme Court to eliminate “qualified immunity,” the legal doctrine that gives police officers special protection from lawsuits when they violate people’s civil rights.  Judge Carlton Reeves,…

How Native Tribes Started Winning at the Supreme Court

Mother Jones illustration; Michael S. Williamson/The Washington Post/Getty, Liu Jie/Xinhua/Getty For indispensable reporting on the coronavirus crisis and more, subscribe to Mother Jones’ newsletters.On a September morning in 2001, Native American leaders from across the country convened in a ballroom at the Grand Hyatt in Washington, DC, to talk strategy. The Supreme Court was escalating…

In Tony McDade Case, a Florida Judge Just Ruled That On-Duty Cops Can’t Be Victims If They Kill Someone

Protestors participated in a “unity walk” in Tallahassee in June. Don Juan Moore/Getty For indispensable reporting on the coronavirus crisis and more, subscribe to Mother Jones’ newsletters.It has been two months and we still don’t know the name of the police officer who shot and killed Tony McDade in Tallahassee, Florida. The reason sounds ridiculous:…