Courts and Judges

We Can No Longer Tinker With the Machinery of Death: New ACLU Report Exposes Fatal Flaws in Capital Punishment

PUBLISHED 11/26/2025 by

On the first day of his second term President Donald J. Trump issued an executive order entitled Restoring The Death Penalty And Protecting Public Safety. In doing so he chose to ignore the mounting and irrefutable evidence, recently highlighted in a new report from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), that the death penalty is riddled with human error and poses the undeniable risk of executing innocent people.

At least 150 countries have abolished the death penalty, by law or by practice. Resisting the humanitarian trend around the world, the United States remains part of a gruesome club, along with China, Iran, Saudi Arabia and Iraq.

Kim Davis Failed This Time, But Her Advocates Are Still American Power Players

PUBLISHED 11/13/2025 by

The Supreme Court this week declined to revisit Kim Davis’ appeal that attempted to overturn its landmark precedent recognizing same-sex marriage as a legal right nationwide.

Davis may now fade into the distance—but how did the former Kentucky county clerk become the face of America’s anti-gay marriage movement?

In short, Davis had help from some of the biggest Christian legal groups and most influential figures in the U.S., who are still actively trying to roll back LGBTQ rights on home soil and—in many cases—internationally. Now more than ever, we need to remain vigilant about Davis and these groups and monitor their efforts.

Supreme Court Soon to Hear a Religious Freedom Case That’s United Both Sides of the Church-State Divide

PUBLISHED 11/7/2025 by

A case headed to the U.S. Supreme Court on Nov. 10 stands apart from most of the high-profile cases we’ve seen lately. Landor v. Louisiana Department of Corrections asks whether an inmate who’s part of a minority religious group—the Rastafarians—can sue for monetary damages after a warden violated his religious rights by forcing him to cut his hair.

With nearly 2 million people currently held in prisons, jails and other detention facilities, the inability to seek damages under the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act means there’s little accountability when those rights are violated.

Landor’s case also highlights something fundamental: Minority religions are entitled to the same First Amendment protections as major faiths. How the Supreme Court rules will speak volumes about the future of religious freedom—and how it applies to issues the Constitution’s authors could never have imagined.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton Foiled in Scheme to Extend Texas Abortion Ban to New York

PUBLISHED 11/6/2025 by and

The battle over abortion rights crossed state lines last week when a Hudson Valley judge refused to enforce a Texas abortion ban in New York state. On Friday, Oct. 31, the judge dismissed a lawsuit filed by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton against a New York clerk who refused to accept papers to enforce a Texas judgment against Dr. Margaret Carpenter, a New York doctor who provided telehealth abortion services to a Texas woman.

“The New York judge’s dismissal of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s frivolous lawsuit is welcomed but expected,” said the Abortion Coalition for Telemedicine.

“Our shield law exists to protect New Yorkers from out-of-state extremists, and New York will always stand strong as a safe haven for healthcare and freedom of choice,” said Attorney General Letitia James.

Judge Rules FDA Abortion Pill Restrictions Unlawful, Citing Political Interference

PUBLISHED 11/4/2025 by

Following eight years of litigation, a federal trial court in Hawaii ruled the FDA violated federal law by imposing medically unnecessary restrictions on mifepristone, which is used for early abortion. Ruling in Purcell v. Kennedy, the court held that the FDA has a legal obligation to fairly evaluate and weigh the decades of extensive research affirming mifepristone’s safety, noting the agency had failed to justify its restrictions on access to mifepristone.

The court’s ruling requires the agency to consider the peer-reviewed evidence proving mifepristone’s safety, including its use via telemedicine, and to assess how the agency’s restrictions burden patient access. The ruling does not immediately change access to the medication, but it puts pressure on the FDA to follow the science rather than be swayed by political pressure.

“The FDA’s needless restrictions on mifepristone make our jobs harder without any safety benefit,” said Dr. Lisa Folberg, chief executive officer of the California Academy of Family Physicians. “We appreciate that the court recognized how FDA failed to consider the toll its restrictions take on physicians trying to provide a safe and effective medication to their patients.”

Election Results: Historic Gender Gaps Shape 2025 Outcomes in Virginia, New Jersey and Beyond

PUBLISHED 11/3/2025 by , , , and | UPDATED 11/10/2025 at 12:28 P.M. PT

We’ve curated the results of all the state-by-state election results that feminists most care about.

Together, the early data from this week’s elections paints a clear picture: Women voters were the decisive force in the 2025 elections, driving sweeping Democratic victories across key states. Women turned out at higher rates than men and made up a majority of voters. Support for women’s rights, reproductive freedom, gender equality and fair immigration policies powered a Democratic sweep this election season.

Historic gender gaps reshaped the political landscape:
—In Virginia, 65 percent of women voted for Democrat Abigail Spanberger for governor, compared to just 48 percent of men, a 17-point gender gap. 
—In New Jersey, women backed Democrat Mikie Sherrill by 62 percent, compared with 49 percent of men, a 13-point gap that proved decisive in her win. 

Yearning to Breathe Free [Part 1 of 3]

PUBLISHED 10/15/2025 by

In the matter of K-E-S-G-, a Salvadoran woman stalked and threatened by gang members was denied asylum by the U.S. Board of Immigration Appeals on July 18, even though her persecution stemmed from her gender in a country that treats women as property. Advocates warn that this ruling could make it much harder for women fleeing violence to prove gender-based claims and may embolden immigration judges to discount their stories.

“This isn’t the first time the Trump administration has singled out women seeking asylum, and we know where this path leads,” said Neela Chakravartula of the Center for Gender & Refugee Studies. “More judges denying protection to women who qualify for it. More refugees being deported to danger.”

The decision highlights the ongoing struggle to recognize gender as a protected basis for asylum. Afghan and Salvadoran women, among others, may now face even steeper barriers to protection—a chilling effect that experts say could deter survivors from seeking safety in the U.S.

The Trump Administration Is Paying Children $2,500 to Give Up Their Rights

PUBLISHED 10/7/2025 by

The Trump administration’s latest immigration scheme offers unaccompanied children $2,500 to “voluntarily” give up their legal rights and return to the very countries they fled. Officials are calling it a resettlement stipend, but in reality, it’s a disingenuous and dangerous form of coercion. Children in federal custody—many without attorneys—are being asked to make life-altering decisions under duress, with money dangled as an incentive to abandon their claims. Far from empowering them with choice, this program undermines the legal protections Congress established to keep children safe.

It’s one more example of the administration’s incremental intimidation of children—this time, with a price tag attached.

‘We Heard You’: Judge Addresses Victims After Handing Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs a Four-Year Sentence

PUBLISHED 10/6/2025 by

A federal judge sentenced music mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs on Friday to 50 months in prison—just over four years—marking an end to a trial against one of the most influential names in entertainment. Combs must also pay a $500,000 fine.

“To Ms. Ventura and the other brave survivors that came forward, I want to say first: We heard you,” Judge Arun Subramanian said after he pronounced the sentence.

The Antiabortion Movement’s Decades-Long Goal Achieved: Planned Parenthood Defunded

PUBLISHED 9/24/2025 by

Republicans have finally achieved a decades-long goal: defunding Planned Parenthood. In July, President Trump signed a spending bill that blocks Medicaid reimbursements and federal grants for nonprofit health centers that provide abortions—including Planned Parenthood—even though federal law already prohibits Medicaid from covering abortion. The result is that more than a million low-income and disabled patients who rely on Planned Parenthood for contraception, STI testing, and cancer screenings can no longer use their insurance there. Hundreds of clinics across the country are expected to close, and in many communities, there are no alternatives waiting to replace them.

What does this mean in practice?

It means people like Colleen—who discovered she had breast cancer because of an affordable visit to Planned Parenthood—will face new barriers to care.

It means patients who already struggle to cover basic expenses will be asked to pay out-of-pocket for lifesaving services.

And it means thousands of people living in rural or medically underserved areas may have no nearby provider at all.

The political fight over Planned Parenthood has always been framed as a battle about abortion, but the immediate impact is much broader: fewer clinics, fewer screenings, and fewer chances to catch disease before it’s too late.