Outside the Beltway

The Lone Star state is making up its own rules.

A feminist icon offers some advice her allies will not want to hear.

The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals has blocked a Mississippi law that banned nearly all abortions after the 15th week of pregnancy.

A wedding venue in Mississippi is citing religious beliefs in support of its decision not to allow an interracial couple to utilize their facilities.

A defense of a modest philosophy of judicial interpretation.

A Federal Court has ruled once again in favor of a transgender student in Virginia who was prevented from using the bathroom conforming to their gender identity.

Just over nine years after retiring from the Supreme Court, former Associate Justice John Paul Stevens has passed away at the age of 99.

In a significant setback for challenges to partisan gerrymandering, the Supreme Court has effectively ruled that Federal Courts do not have jurisdiction to hear challenges to redistricting based on partisan motivations.

The Washington State Supreme Court has ruled against a Seattle-area florist who refused to provide flowers for a same-sex wedding.

A Federal Judge in Mississippi has blocked Mississippi’s law that purports to ban abortions after detection of a fetal heartbeat.

The American Civil Liberties Union has filed a lawsuit against Alabama’s patently unconstitutional abortion law.

Following in the footsteps of Alabama, the Missouri legislature has passed a law that would severely restrict abortion rights in the Show Me State.

We’ve soon see whether the current Supreme Court will overturn Roe v Wade.

A panel of three Federal Judges has found Ohio’s Congressional District map to be unconstitutional, but a case currently pending before the Supreme Court could mute the impact of this decision.

A Federal Court in Michigan has found several of that state’s Congressional and state legislative districts to have been subject to extreme partisan gerrymandering.

A novel argument, untested in court, suggests that it might.

The Supreme Court has agreed to accept a group of cases dealing with the issue of whether or not existing civil rights laws bar discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

Oral argument hints that we may have a 5-4 ruling allowing state legislatures to continue stacking the deck.

A new poll shows that most Americans believe the Supreme Court’s landmark Roe v. Wade decision should remain the law on the land. Opinion on other abortion-related issues is more divided.

The Supreme Court issued a ruling that places new limits on civil asset forfeiture by state and local government.

Tulsi Gabbard was born in American Samoa, an American territory whose residents are generally not American citizens from birth. However, she is nonetheless a “natural born citizen.”

A Federal Judge has blocked the Trump Administration from going forward with a plan to put a question about citizenship on the 2020 Census.

The Supreme Court is taking up the issue of partisan gerrymandering. This time, though, they’re likely to reach the merits of the cases rather than punting like they did last year.

The Supreme Court appears ready to impose at least some limits on civil asset forfeiture at the state level.

The Trump Administration is attempting to bypass the Circuit Courts of Appeal and get immediate Supreme Court review of the President’s ban on transgender Americans serving in the military.

A Mississippi law that seeks to ban most abortions after 15 weeks was struck down by a Federal District Court Judge.

In addition to being mandated by the Constitution, birthright citizenship goes to the core of what it means to be an American.

The Supreme Court is set to consider whether to take a case involving employment discrimination based on gender identity.

Overwhelmingly, legal experts agree that President Trump is wrong about birthright citizenship and the Fourteenth Amendment.

President Trump is now claiming he will end birthright citizenship for the children of undocumented immigrants via Executive Order. He clearly lacks the authority to do this.

For the second time this year, a three-judge panel of Federal Judges has struck down North Carolina’s Congressional District map. The immediate question is what impact, if any, this will have on November’s election.

A group of lawsuits filed across the country are seeking to challenge the predominant method for allocation of Electoral College votes. These lawsuits appear to have little merit.

Another Federal Judge has ruled in favor of a transgender student seeking the right to use the gender that conforms to the gender they identify with.

A Federal Judge in Oregon has rejected an efforts by a parent’s group to block a school district policy that allows transgender students to use the restroom facilities that conform to their gender identity.

More evidence that the politics of the moment aren’t just about illegal immigration.

A thoughtful liberal argues the Justice has “altered and destroyed his legacy” by allowing Donald Trump to appoint his successor.

The Supreme Court avoided ruling on the merits of two partisan gerrymandering cases, but the issue will be back before them sooner rather than later.

A 9-0 ruling side-stepped the broader issue of to what extent purely political considerations may be applied.

A Federal Judge in Virginia has handed a significant legal victory to a student who sued their school district because they were barred form using the bathroom of the gender they identify with.

A new lawsuit seeks to have the 2012 DACA program declared unconstitutional.

A Federal Judge has struck down the revised version of the ban on transgender members of the military from serving openly, and the ruling has significance that goes well beyond the issue at hand.

If you recall your grade school civics, you already knew this.

A woman who was at the center of one of the most important Supreme Court cases in American history has died at the age of 75.

I don’t see how the state legislature making tax decisions on the basis of the public position an company takes is legal under the 14th Amendment. 

A Federal Court in North Carolina has issued a stinging ruling against the partisan gerrymandering undertaken by the Republican legislature in that state.

The Supreme Court held oral argument in a case that pits First Amendment rights against the rights of LGBT Americans.

Donald Trump is continuing to up the ante in his rhetorical war against one of America’s most fundamental freedoms.

A complicated concurrence to Steven Taylor’s recent postings.

Reversing an Obama Era position, the Justice Department has rescinded a legal interpretation that purported to apply previously adopted civil rights laws to transgender individuals.

The pardoning of Joe Arpaio was distasteful and an affront to the Rule of Law, but it was completely within the powers of the President and should not be a ground for impeachment.