Madeleine Carlisle

Justices Expand Prisoners' Religious Rights

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Thursday that a Texas death row prisoner likely has the right to have his Baptist pastor touch and audibly pray over him as he is put to death. The state...

What We Learned During Ketanji Brown Jackson’s Hearings

The Senate Judiciary Committee’s two days of questioning of Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson were marked by tense exchanges between Senators, the airing of grievances over confirmations past, and inflammatory descriptions of gruesome child...

Republicans Accuse Ketanji Brown Jackson of Being Weak on Crime

Ketanji Brown Jackson’s second day of Supreme Court confirmation hearings lasted more than 12 hours. But over the course of the marathon session, a central theme emerged: Republicans accused the D.C. Circuit Court judge of...

Ketanji Brown Jackson Confirmation Hearings: Day One Recap

On day one of Ketanji Brown Jackson’s Supreme Court confirmation hearings, Democrats and Republicans could agree on one thing: her historic nomination comes at a critical moment for the U.S. Supreme Court. In remark after...

What Ketanji Brown Jackson May Be Asked at Hearings

On Monday, D.C. Circuit Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson will sit before a panel of 22 Senators for what may be the most important job interview of her life. When President Joe Biden nominated Jackson to...

LGBTQ Ukrainians Flee to Countries Hostile to Their Rights

For Vitaly and his wife, it was the bright light that woke them up at 4:30 am on Feb. 24. Then came the crashes of the explosions, four in a row, shaking their home in...

Florida Passed the "Don’t Say Gay" Bill. Here's What It Means

The Florida Senate passed the controversial so-called “Don’t Say Gay” bill on Tuesday, sending the Republican-backed legislation banning LGBTQ instruction in primary schools to Gov. Ron DeSantis’ desk. The bill passed the Republican-controlled Senate 22-17,...

As Ketanji Brown Jackson's Confirmation Looms, Republicans Look to the Midterms and Beyond

In the days since President Joe Biden nominated D.C. Circuit Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court, the Republican response has been unusually muted. Most discussion surrounding the nominee has lacked partisan rancor and...

Why Sherrilyn Ifill Fights for Gender Equity in Civil Rights Battles

In January 2019, four Black and Latina girls were walking down the hallway of their middle school in Binghamton, N.Y., laughing, when their principal stopped them. He brought the 12-year-olds to the school’s health office...

Can You Sue A Federal Officer? SCOTUS May Soon Decide

Eight years ago, a U.S. Border Patrol agent got into a fight with a bed-and-breakfast owner in Blaine, Wash. Now, the facts of that fracas, as presented to the U.S. Supreme Court, may shape whether...

Ketanji Brown Jackson's Path to the Supreme Court Nomination

As she braced for graduation from Miami Palmetto Senior High School in 1988, Ketanji Brown wrote in her high school yearbook that she wanted to be a judge. 34 years later, she walked into the...

Biden Nominates Ketanji Brown Jackson to SCOTUS. What Happens Next?

In 1967, Thurgood Marshall became the first Black Supreme Court Justice. In 1981, Sandra Day O’Connor became the first woman Supreme Court Justice. Now, Ketanji Brown Jackson is poised to become the first Black woman...

How Greg Abbott's Healthcare Rules Could Affect Trans Kids

When Lisa Stanton looked at her phone on Wednesday morning, she felt like she’d been “physically punched.”The day before, Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott issued a letter directing the state’s Department of Family and Protective...

Meet Joe Biden’s Top 3 Supreme Court Contenders

Ketanji Brown Jackson, Leondra Kruger, and J. Michelle Childs

Pediatricians Who Serve Trans Youth Face Harassment

Pediatricians who serve trans youth faced a wave of increased harassment. Access to crucial medical care could ultimately be at stake.

What Florida's "Don't Say Gay" Bill Could Mean for LGBTQ Kids

How Joe Biden Is Choosing a Supreme Court Nominee

With a freshly stoked fire roaring in the fireplace behind him, President Joe Biden welcomed into the Oval Office Tuesday two of the most powerful Senators charged with considering his pick for Supreme Court. “We’re...

Pressure Mounts for Biden to Nominate a Black Woman to the Court

Joe Biden’s summer is starting to look brighter. With widespread media reports that Justice Stephen Breyer will retire from the U.S. Supreme Court at the end of the current term, the President may have an...

Minneapolis City Council President Andrea Jenkins Interview

Andrea Jenkins continues to make history. In 2017, with her election to Minneapolis’ city council, the transgender activist became the first Black openly trans woman ever elected to public office in the United States. Just...

Ted Cruz Supreme Court Case Could Change Campaign Finance

The year was 2018. Ariana Grande’s Sweetener topped the charts. Avengers: Infinity War smashed records. The U.S. midterm elections were in full swing, with Republicans on the way to holding the Senate and Democrats poised...