This report discusses the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA), which was first presented to the states in 1972 and has been ratified by 37 states, most recently by Illinois in May 2018.

This report discusses the Supreme Court's ruling in the case of Gill v. Whitford. On June 18, 2018 the Supreme Court ruled that in order to establish standing to sue upon a claim of unconstitutional partisan gerrymandering on the basis of vote dilution, challengers must allege injuries to their interests as voters in individual districts. Topics discussed include Supreme Court precedent, case background, and implications for the future.

This report discusses the CLOUD Act recently passed by Congress which gives the U.S. government's the ability to force companies to disclose information stored on overseas servers that is covered under a warrant and updates the reciprocal agreements with other countries accessing data as a part of criminal investigations that is held in the United States. Legal commentary on the law is provided.

This report addresses when, if ever, a regional federal trial judge adjudicating a case involving the federal government can award nationwide injunctive relief--a court order that commands a party to take or refrain from taking some action throughout the country. In the context of a suit against the federal government, an injunction with this type of "universal" effect acts to effectively void the law or policy in question. This report briefly explores the nationwide injunction at issue in the travel ban case (Trump v. Hawaii) and surveys a handful of the scholarly and judicial arguments surrounding the nationwide injunction in general

This report discusses the U.S. District for the Southern District of California's recent decision in a case brought by the State of California against the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) regarding DHS's right to waive environmental and other administrative laws for border fence building projects. The court agreed with other court rulings on the issue and affirmed DHS's right to waive the laws.

This report discusses the Supreme Court case of "Benisek v. Lamone" which involves a challenge to a Maryland congressional district map on the basis that it was drawn as a part of partisan gerrymandering. Previous Supreme Court cases involving gerrymandering and background on this case is included.

This report discusses Temporary Protected Status (TPS) designations and answers questions regarding the recent termination of TPS for those from El Salvador, Nicaragua, Haiti, and Sudan.

This report discusses the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (Ninth Circuit) decision in "Teixeira v. County of Alameda" which reversed the original court decision which held that Second Amendment rights applied to commercial firearm sellers. The course of the case and decision and implications of the ruling are also discussed.