What’s at Stake In this case, Amazon unsuccessfully tried to avoid liability for allegedly abusing the most basic rights of transportation workers by forcing the workers’ claims into arbitration using a different company’s arbitration agreement and arguing that these transportation workers are not exempt from the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA). Summary In May 2023, three…
What’s at Stake This case presents the question whether the president has unilateral authority to, without cause, fire commissioners of independent agencies. Summary In March 2025, President Trump purported to fire Rebecca Slaughter, a Commissioner of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), partway through the term for which she was appointed. The FTC Act provides that…
What’s at Stake This case presents us with the opportunity to urge the Ninth Circuit to narrowly interpret its jurisdiction to hear qualified immunity cases on appeal. Judge-made immunity doctrines like qualified and sovereign immunity make litigating claims against government actors like police officers and corrections officers either difficult or impossible. Meanwhile, interlocutory appeals by…
What’s at Stake The case raises important questions about the impact prohibitive court filing fees have on the ability of people who are incarcerated to access the civil legal system. We are increasingly seeing court fees and other costs used to suppress people’s constitutional right to petition the courts. Summary This appeal arises from Appellants…
On Day 1 of the current Trump Administration, the President signed an Executive Order that directed DHS to use immigration fines as a tool to pressure non-citizens to self-deport. The Immigration and Nationality Act (“INA”) allows for the assessment of fines up to $998/day for any person with a final order of removal who “willfully…
What’s at Stake Judge-made immunity doctrines like sovereign and qualified immunity make litigating claims against government actors difficult, but especially difficult for the two million people locked up in state and federal prisons, jails, and immigration detention facilities across the United States and who already struggle to obtain representation to protect their rights. Summary Benjamin…
What’s at stake Whether undocumented immigrants who graduate from Oklahoma high schools have access to the same affordable college education as their classmates. Summary Like over two dozen other state laws, Oklahoma law has long allowed undocumented immigrants who graduate local high schools to attend public college at the same in-state tuition rates as their…
What’s at stake Ensuring that seemingly “neutral” school dress and grooming codes do not discriminate against students on the basis of race, gender, or cultural identity. Summary This case challenges a discriminatory dress and grooming code administered by a Texas public high school. The case was filed in May of 2020 on behalf of students…
What’s at Stake Twenty-two youth plaintiffs filed this lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Montana to challenge a coordinated set of executive orders issued earlier this year. The challenged executive orders “unleash” fossil fuel development and amount to a wholesale attack on clean renewable energy and climate science—escalating the climate emergency…