legal-issues
Qualified immunity, explained. And why police reformers want to end it
in the 1960’s, the U.S. Supreme Court created a loophole, as a way to protect public servants from high-stakes lawsuits known as qualified immunity.
Philadelphia must safeguard immigrant legal services in its budget | Opinion
As an immigrant and a Black woman, our elected representatives need to remember powerful program that keeps families like mine healthy and strong.
Why precedent alone may not be enough to save Roe v. Wade | Bruce Ledewitz
Roe could, instead, die the death of a thousand cuts through statutory restrictions, becoming irrelevant as a practical matter, without ever being overturned.
Pa. Supreme Court orders lower courts to resume more operations starting May 4
State courts have been operating, under significant restrictions since March 16. Under an order issued Tuesday, all courts "generally shall be open to conduct all court business," starting next week. But, "all in-person access and proceedings shall be strictly limited."
Here’s the danger at the heart of Trump’s meddling in the judiciary | John L. Micek
You won't know how much you'll miss a fair and impartial judiciary until it's gone. But we're learning now what it might be like.
Public sector unions face legal threats, but they’re on a ‘winning streak’
Over tthe past two years, conservative groups have filed more than a dozen lawsuits against public sector unions. The legal outlook for the challenges appears cloudy.
Calif. Supreme Court right to strike down law requiring Trump to release tax returns to get on the ballot | Bruce Ledewitz
What was great about the decision was that, despite our highly partisan environment, it was rendered by a court on which a majority of the justices had been appointed by Democratic governors.
$9 a day barely gets you a sandwich in Philly. Yet that’s what Pa. pays its jurors. It can do better | Opinion
One of the oldest, and most historically symbolic, states in the country seems to have forgotten about the people who serve jury duty.
Ex-Starbucks regional manager claims company discriminated against white employees after wrongful arrests
The former regional director for Starbucks claims she was fired because she was white less than a month after the wrongful arrests last year of two Black men at the coffee giant's Rittenhouse Square location
Worker-protection laws aren’t ready for an automated future | Opinion
The United States’ regulation of the workplace has long been an outlier among much of the world.
How the government can steal your stuff: 6 questions about civil asset forfeiture answered | Opinion
The federal government confiscated assets worth a total of about US$28 billion during the decade ending in 2016, Justice Department data indicate.
Why does the U.S. sentence people to hundreds of years in prison? | Opinion
The US is unique in its criminal punishment policies – as the recent sentencing of neo-Nazi James Fields Jr. demonstrates.