A federal judge in DC must decide whether EEOC commissioner Jocelyn Samuels was wrongly fired by President Trump. Prof. Jane Manners argues that in omitting removal criteria when it created the EEOC via Title VIl, Congress intended for the commissioners to have absolute protection.”To me, this is a tragedy, that this understanding has been lost, because you’ve got these agencies where independence is of critical importance, and this argument is not even being made that the statute means absolute independence, absolute unremovability,” she said.

Emboldened Anti-Abortion Faction Wants Women Who Have Abortions To Face Criminal Charges A fringe group calling for women who have abortions to be prosecuted is gaining influence. “With the reversal of Roe v. Wade, now states can pass the most severe abortion bans, which has galvanized the anti-abortion movement as a whole, including this part of it,” said Dean Rachel Rebouche. “Certainly the fall of Roe has brought abortion abolitionists one step closer to what they want – banning abortion nationwide.”

Trump is Trying to Cut the Public Out of Federal Rulemaking President Trump issued three executive orders that, if upheld, will restrict public input into government rules and increase executive power to make them unilaterally despite SCOTUS’s decision to the contrary in Loper Bright. Prof. Craig Green warns that “he is trying to use Loper Bright as a mask or as a chess piece to try to push deregulatory policies” and “any judicial safeguards or backstops might not occur for a year, a year and a half- long after the politics have moved on to something else.”

Inside Philly’s hidden foster care system, where parents ‘voluntarily’ give up their children Philadelphia’s Dept of Human Services often removes children from their families under so-called “voluntary safety plans.” Prof. Sarah Katz warns they are anything but voluntary. “Legally, these voluntary safety plans are a much greater concern, because they can go on indefinitely, the parents are often not made aware of their rights, and the government takes as much control of the child as they would if they had them in their custody. It’s essentially a total denial of parental rights.”

This Supreme Court Case Is About More Than “Defunding” Planned The Supreme Court recently heard arguments about whether Medicaid beneficiaries can sue South Carolina over the state’s decision to exclude Planned Parenthood from coverage for political reasons. Dean Rebouche explains what’s at stake for The Nation.

The Supreme Court Case That Could Gut Planned Parenthood The Supreme Court recently heard arguments about whether Medicaid beneficiaries can sue South Carolina over the state’s decision to exclude Planned Parenthood from coverage for political reasons. Dean Rebouche explains what’s at stake for The Nation.

As Trump seeks systemic change, does the US have an obligation to refugees? In a move experts say will test the reach of executive power, President Trump has placed the US Refugee Admissions Program, created by Congress with bipartisan support, on indefinite suspension. While what happens next is unclear, Prof. Jaya Ramji-Nogales thinks “the long-term ramifications for both the United States and the rest of the world will be unfortunate, to say the least.”

Are we headed for a constitutional crisis? Prof. Craig Green joins WHYY’s Studio 2 to discuss concerns that America is headed for a constitutional crisis.

After historic indictment, doctors will keep mailing abortion pills over state lines New York and Louisiana are engaged in an escalating legal battle over “shield laws” intended to protect abortion care providers. Dean Rebouché, who helped draft the first such law, explains their purpose and why the interstate dispute could end up before the Supreme Court.

Trump Agency Firing Cases March Toward Receptive Supreme Court As litigation over the president’s power to remove agency leaders moves through the courts, observers note that the Supreme Court has been eroding safeguards embodied in a 1935 decision, Humphrey’s Executor, for a long time. “There’s a lot of reasons to think Humphrey’s is on its last legs,” said Prof. Jane Manners.