Stay the Course: The Supreme Court Respects Abortion Rights Precedent

JOANNA L. GROSSMAN

SMU Dedman School of Law professor Joanna L. Grossman comments on the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in June Medical Services v. Russo, in which a 5-4 majority of the Court struck down a Louisiana law regulating abortion providers. Grossman describes the history of abortion decisions that got us to this place today and explains why the core right to seek a previability abortion without undue burden from the government remains intact.

Read More

What Chief Justice Roberts’s June Medical Concurrence Tells Us About the Future of Abortion

JAREB GLECKEL

Jareb Gleckel assesses what Chief Justice John Roberts’s concurrence in the June Medical decision might tell us about the future of abortion in the United States. Gleckel suggests that the concurrence suggests that the Chief Justice will not vote to overrule Roe and Planned Parenthood v. Casey but cautions that the test the Chief Justice embraces could provide a roadmap for anti-abortion states going forward.

Read More

Diaz-Torres v. Barr

Docket: 18-70141

Opinion Date: June 29, 2020

Judge: R. Nelson

Areas of Law: Immigration Law

The Ninth Circuit denied the petition for review of the BIA's decision denying asylum and withholding of removal to petitioner. The panel held that substantial evidence supports the BIA's conclusion that petitioner has not met his burden to produce evidence demonstrating that his purported groups are socially distinct: Mexican professionals who refuse to cooperate with drug cartels and agronomists who refuse to help cultivate drugs. In this case, nothing in the record addresses whether Mexican society views either of petitioner's proposed social groups as distinct; no laws or proposed legislation so indicate; nor do any country conditions reports or news articles mention such a group. Rather, the evidence paints a picture of all segments of the Mexican population being adversely affected by the brutality of drug cartels. Furthermore, the expert testimony does not bridge the gap nor does petitioner's testimony make the required showing.

Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation v. Yakima County

Docket: 19-35199

Opinion Date: June 29, 2020

Judge: R. Nelson

Areas of Law: Native American Law

The State of Washington may exercise criminal jurisdiction over members of the Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation who commit crimes on reservation land. The panel held that the Yakama Nation had Article III standing to seek a permanent injunction regarding the effect of a Washington State Proclamation retroceding, or giving back, criminal jurisdiction to the United States. Under 25 U.S.C. 1323(a), the Proclamation retroceded, "in part," civil and criminal jurisdiction over the Yakama Nation to the United States, but retained jurisdiction over matters "involving non-Indian defendants and non-Indian victims." Based on the entire context of the Proclamation, the panel concluded that "and" is disjunctive and must be read as "or." Therefore, the panel held that, under the Proclamation, the State retained criminal jurisdiction over cases in which any party is a non-Indian. Therefore, the panel found that the Yakama Nation has not shown actual success on the merits in order to justify a permanent injunction.