2022 started full speed ahead and hasn’t let up. With over 30 pending cases on our docket, our team continues to support democracy and social progress in courts across the country, states, and federal agencies. Check out some highlights below.

 

 

  • Supporting $15 Minimum Wage for Federal Contract Workers Against Efforts to Cut Workers’ Wages: On behalf of the National Employment Law Project, Communications Workers of America, Service Employees International Union, the National Women’s Law Center, and the Economic Policy Institute, we filed a brief urging the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals to deny a request to block workers from receiving $15 minimum wage. The brief explains the legal grounds for and the economic benefits of increased minimum wage requirements for employees of federal contractors.
  • Defending Federal Authority to Enforce the Regulation of Certain Tobacco Products: Attempts to undermine the FDA from regulating certain cigars were rejected by the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals. Read the brief we filed urging the court to uphold the FDA’s enforcement authority on behalf of the American Academy of Pediatrics, American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, American Heart Association, American Lung Association, Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, and Truth Initiative urging the court to uphold the agency’s authority.
  • Supreme Court Rules on Federal Vaccine Policies: In a 5-4 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services vaccination standard for healthcare workers, citing a brief we filed on behalf of 16 medical and patient professionals. The same day, the Supreme Court blocked enforcement of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s standard, a policy supported in a separate brief we filed on behalf of medical and patient professionals.
  • Protecting the Rights of Students Who Experience Sexual Harassment at School: On behalf of the Women’s Student Union in Berkeley, California, we, together with co-counsel Public Justice, urged the court to reject the government’s motion to dismiss an important legal challenge to Trump-era rollbacks of Title IX protections. The State of Texas and far-right groups have sought to intervene in the case.

  • Supporting Voters in South Dakota: South Dakota voters filed a lawsuit challenging a legislature-proposed amendment to the state constitution that directly attacks voters’ rights and weakens future ballot initiatives. We, together with our partners at The Fairness Project, support these voter efforts and are collaborating to ensure that laws that undermine democracy and people’s voices in government are challenged.
  • Protecting the Health of People in Carceral Settings from COVID-19: COVID-19 poses a grave risk to the health of people who are incarcerated, where those incarcerated can’t change their interactions to avoid exposure. Citing briefs we filed on behalf of the American Medical Association, the American College of Correctional Physicians, and the Medical Society of New Jersey, the Superior Court of New Jersey Appellate Division upheld vaccine requirements for those working in carceral settings. On behalf of the American College of Correctional Physicians, we also urged a court to uphold vaccination requirements for workers in California’s correctional facilities.
  • Protecting Minors’ Access to Medical Care: In a continued effort to protect capable minors’ ability to make informed vaccination decisions, we filed a brief on behalf of the American Medical Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and a coalition of medical groups encouraging the court to uphold D.C.’s Minor Consent Act in the face of a legal challenge.

  • Protecting Workers: On behalf of the New Orleans Workers’ Center for Racial Justice, we submitted a comment to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration describing their members’ experience working in intense workplace heat and urging the agency to take bold action to protect workers.
  • Protecting the ACA and Quality Healthcare for people in Georgia: In the waning days of the last administration, the Department of Health and Human Services approved an unlawful ACA waiver proposed by Gov. Kemp. This action would eliminate Georgians’ access to healthcare.gov and other ACA protections. In a continuation of our work to protect access to affordable healthcare, we supported our clients — Planned Parenthood Southeast and Feminist Women’s Health Center— as they urged the administration to “promptly rescind” the approval for Gov. Kemp’s plan.

Recently in The Inquest, lawyers Jessica Morton and Samara Spence penned the piece “Home Rule” where they explain why permitting reincarceration of some people serving their sentences on home confinement would be not only unfair but likely legally indefensible.

  • “’You Can’t Kill Patients’: Justices Open To CMS Vaccine Rule” | Law 360
  • “Amendment C challenged on the single-subject rule” | SDPB
  • “Defending Democracy: A discussion with Skye Perryman, CEO of Democracy Forward” | The O + G Advocates Podcast
  • “Biden admin reconsidering Georgia’s plan to scrap ACA exchanges” | Reuters