A group of defendants in criminal cases Monday filed against the State of Oregon alleging that the state violated criminal defendants’ constitutional right to legal counsel and a speedy trial. The lawsuit seeks to become a class action lawsuit. The complaint argues the state made a “clear violation of basic standards of justice” by depriving [...]
![South Carolina Governor signs bill banning transgender athletes](https://www.jurist.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2022/05/high_school_1652972268.jpg)
South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster Monday signed a bill banning transgender athletes from playing sports as the gender they identify as. South Carolina joins a number of other states which have signed similar laws into effect. The bill, entitled the Save Women’s Sports Act, requires transgender students to compete with the gender listed on their [...]
![Missouri execution proceeds after US Supreme Court denies stay](https://www.jurist.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2017/11/Death-penalty-.jpg)
A Missouri man was executed Tuesday after the US Supreme Court denied his stay of execution in a two sentence order on Monday. Carman Deck asked the court to determine whether his constitutional rights were violated because there was a delay between his conviction and his final sentencing. Deck argued that the delay prevented him [...]
A Tulsa, Oklahoma judge ruled Monday that a lawsuit brought by three survivors of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre may proceed but dismissed part of the plaintiffs’ “public nuisance” claim. The lawsuit will allow for the survivors to seek reparations for the harm caused from the massacre. Lessie Benningfield Randle, 107, Viola Fletcher, 107, and Hughes [...]
![DOJ challenges Alabama law criminalizing some treatments for trans minors](https://www.jurist.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2021/12/lgbt_1640020870.jpg)
The US Department of Justice (DOJ) Friday filed a complaint challenging an Alabama law that criminalizes some medical treatments for transgender youth. The DOJ stated Alabama’s Vulnerable Child Compassion and Protection Act (VCCPA) “denies necessary medical care to children based solely on who they are” and threatens criminal action against doctors, parents, or others who [...]
![US Supreme Court temporarily approves Virginia highschool admission policy](https://www.jurist.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2022/04/Supreme_Court_1651080196.jpg)
The Supreme Court Monday rejected a request to temporarily block a new admissions policy at a Virginia high school. The new admission policy, as described by the school board, was created to increase socioeconomic diversity, however, the plaintiff argues that the new policy harms Asian students. The court did not state their reasoning for rejecting the [...]
![Mississippi civic leaders file a lawsuit against the Mississippi Supreme Court](https://www.jurist.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2022/04/Judge_1651079675.jpg)
Mississippi civic leaders Monday filed a lawsuit against the Mississippi Supreme Court claiming that the state is violating the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and the US Constitution. The civic leaders, who are also citizens of Mississippi, argue that the drawing of the district lines “used in Mississippi’s State Supreme Court election” dilutes the value of [...]
![US Supreme Court hears oral arguments in public prayer, execution method cases](https://www.jurist.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2022/02/US-Supreme-Court.jpg)
The US Supreme Court Monday heard oral arguments for Kennedy v. Bremerton School District and Nance v. Ward. In Kennedy v. Bremerton School District, the court will decide whether a public school employee has the right, under the First Amendment, to pray in view of students on the football field. Joe Kennedy, who was employed as [...]
Guinea’s former president, Alpha Conde, was released from house arrest last week. Conde was removed from office by the army in September 2021, and he was temporarily replaced by Colonel Mamady Doumbouya. In January, Doumbouya announced the establishment of an 81-member National Council of Transition (CNT) to serve as the country’s parliament and legislate during [...]
![US Supreme Court rules city distinction between on-, off-premises ads is content neutral](https://www.jurist.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2022/04/supreme_court_1650647696.jpg)
The US Supreme Court Thursday ruled in a 6-3 decision that the Austin city code’s distinction between on-premises signs, which may be digitized, and off-premises signs, which may not, was “facially content neutral” under the First Amendment. In City of Austin v. Reagan National Advertising, the city of Austin, Texas enacted a regulation that allowed [...]