Justice Kennedy on Healthcare
Justice Anthony Kennedy, who long served as the swing vote on important healthcare-related decisions, retired from the United States Supreme Court on July 31, 2018. The press and pundits alike...
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Justice Kennedy’s Gay Rights Legacy
Justice Anthony Kennedy’s announced retirement left progressives reeling over what the Court’s inevitable rightward shift will mean for civil rights given Kennedy’s swing-vote status on cases implicating social issues. Indeed,...
Justice Kennedy’s Mixed Environmental Legacy Turns Tragic
Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy, a 1988 Reagan appointee, will leave behind a mixed environmental law legacy. Best known to the public as a crucial swing vote on issues regarding...
Justice Anthony Kennedy’s Human Rights Legacy: Introduction to the Blog Series
Anthony McLeod Kennedy, born on January 23, 1936, to Irish Catholic parents, announced his retirement on June 27, 2018, after thirty years on the United States Supreme Court. Known as...
July 4, 2018 – A New Independence Day
In the United States, the Fourth of July is celebrated as Independence Day. Someday history books may celebrate the Fourth of July 2018 as a new “independence day” – not...
Legal Actions Against Mountain Valley Pipeline Underscore Grassroots Activism’s Importance
The Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) is a 303-mile U.S. interstate project currently under construction that would transport fracked natural gas from northern West Virginia through southwest Virginia. The MVP is...
A Masterpiece of Judicial Avoidance?
Masterpiece Cakeshop, Ltd. v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission, 584 U.S. (2018), the U.S. Supreme Court’s blockbuster case, has been decided. The questions in dispute: 1. Can a person, exercising religious...
Trump, “Zero Tolerance,” and the Separation of Families
On June 20, in the wake of public outcry, President Donald Trump issued an executive order intended to end the separation of families at the U.S.-Mexico border. Two months prior,...
Justice Brett Kavanaugh and the Future of Women’s Reproductive Rights
President Trump recently named Justice Brett Kavanaugh as his Supreme Court nominee. Although the nomination awaits confirmation from the Senate, an analysis of Justice Kavanaugh’s record suggests that he could...
Are Christian bakers part of the wedding cakes they make; and what follows if they are?
Is making a cake for a gay wedding the same as making a cake with an anti-gay message? This equivalence was drawn by conservative judge, Justice Gorsuch, in the US...
Masterpiece Cakeshop and Discriminatory Intent
On July 19, 2012, Charlie Craig and David Mullins visited Masterpiece Cakeshop in suburban Colorado, asking the owner, Jack Phillips, to design and create a cake for their upcoming wedding....
Cakes and the Conscience Wars
Last week, the U.K. Supreme Court heard argument in Lee v. Ashers Baking Company. The case involves a baker whose Christian beliefs led him to refuse to bake a cake...
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