City of Grants Pass v. Johnson In June of 2024, the Supreme Court handed down its most important decision concerning homelessness in decades. In City of Grants Pass v. Johnson, the Court decided that a prohibition on public camping does not violate the Cruel and Unusual Punishments Clause of the Eighth Amendment. The case concerned […]
Tag: Supreme Court
Affirmative Action and the Model Minority Myth
On October 31st, 2022, the Supreme Court began hearing oral arguments for Students for Fair Admissions v. President and Fellows of Harvard College, marking a significant development in the topical debate around affirmative action. At the center of the conversation are Asian Americans. Edward Blum, co-founder of Students for Fair Admissions (SFFA), is the vanguard […]
In Defense of SCOTUS
Biden vs. Nebraska, 303 Creative LLC vs. Elenis, and, of course, Dobbs vs. Jackson are just a few of the new Supreme Court’s landmark decisions that have fundamentally changed the nation’s political landscape. To the dismay of progressives, SCOTUS has demonstrated an increasing willingness to strike down prior decisions rooted in judicial activism, in the […]
Good Riddance, Affirmative Action: What’s Next?
There’s no way around it: affirmative action was a failure. Affirmative action sought to help non-White Americans overcome systemic barriers to equal opportunity. Considering the racial imbalances in education–funding inequities in primary/secondary schools, advanced coursework inaccessibility, and various non-academic factors–a system like affirmative action is necessary for approaching equal opportunity. A system like affirmative action, […]
The Quiet Menace of Court Packing
The Supreme Court has a credibility problem: a 40% approval rating, to be precise. Such a number is par for the course for President Joe Biden (whose approval hovers at 41%) and enviable for Congress, whose approval rose to a paltry 23% this year. But for the Supreme Court, 40% approval marks a seismic 19-point […]
A Case of Declining Power for Citizens
In a summer of miserable Supreme Court decisions, the decision in Egbert v. Boule never quite made it to the public eye. Despite its massive implications, the case was lost to slew of front-page decisions. Now, as summer has come to a close and we have had time to understand the busy June season, it […]
The Debate Over Legalization of Sports Betting in California
As Rams Defensive Tackle Aaron Donald came barreling through the line, Bengals Quarterback Joe Burrow threw a desperation heave to a receiver near the first down marker. The pass fell short, and the Los Angeles Rams won Super Bowl LVI. No, this is not a sports article. However, that pass might mark the end of […]
Minority Voters Save Democrats. Now, Democrats Must Save Minority Voters.
Fish live in water, humans breathe air, and minorities vote for Democrats. Right? I am a person of color and have aligned myself with the values of the Democratic Party, so it must be natural in American politics that voters of color will consistently turn out to elect Democrats. This seems to be the view […]
Targeted (government) harassment: The kind a Hijab can’t protect you from
The Hijab is a headscarf or veil worn by Muslim women in the presence of males, as per their religion. Open to several interpretations, some women also find wearing the Hijab liberating and a means of avoiding harassment. Because of the complexities in how the hijab is viewed, there are often violent reactions to the […]
Twenty Years After 9/11, FBI Surveillance Still Haunts Muslim-American Life
“Can you be spied on because of where you worship?” Hussam Ayoush is the executive director of the Los Angeles chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations. His organization is backing an intense Supreme Court religious discrimination lawsuit against the FBI for invasive surveillance of Muslim communities in Southern California that occured between the years […]