Explainer: US Mass Incarceration and Its Disparate Racial Impacts
The US prides itself on being a nation built on freedom, justice, and individual rights. And yet the evolution of its system of mass incarceration — a system that cannot be defined without reference to shocking racial disparities — seems to directly contradict these founding principles. The US prison population dwarfs those of nearly every other [...]
Supreme Court rules power of attorney need not expressly allow arbitration
The US Supreme Court issued an opinion for Kindred Nursing Centers Limited Partnership v. Clark on Monday holding that the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) preempts a Kentucky state law that requires a power-of-attorney agreements...
Supreme Court hears arguments on binding arbitration agreements
The US Supreme Court on Wednesday heard arguments in Kindred Nursing Centers Limited Partnership v. Clark , wherein the court will once again be asked to decide whether binding arbitration agreements are permissible. The Kentucky Supreme Court...
Supreme Court denies review in Planned Parenthood documents case
The US Supreme Court denied review in New Hampshire Right to Life v. Department of Health & Human Services on Monday. The anti-abortion group petitioned the court to clarify Exemption 4...
The US Supreme Court granted certiorari in eight cases Tuesday. In Young v. United Parcel Service the court will consider whether, and in what circumstances, an employer that provides work accommodations to non-pregnant...
Federal judges grant California extension to reduce prison overcrowding
A panel of three federal judges in California on Monday granted the state an extension until February 28, 2016, to reduce overcrowding in its massive prison system. The California prison system currently houses about 120,000...
California Governor Jerry Brown on Thursday signed into law a bill that prevents the early release of inmates and allows the state to comply with a federal court order. The order requires the department...
Supreme Court rejects California request to block prisoner release
The US Supreme Court on Friday refused to stay an injunction that will allow for the early release of nearly 10,000 California inmates by the end of the year. The six-justice majority offered no explanation...
Rights group urges improvement in California prison conditions
Amnesty International (AI) on Tuesday called on California to end conditions for prisoners in solitary confinement and order an impartial investigation into the recent death of a prisoner. Billy Sell, 32, was found hanged in...
The Supreme Court took up the issue of affirmative action in June 2003, when the high court decided the twin cases of Grutter v. Bollinger and Gratz v. Bollinger. Both cases involved the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor. The...
