Legal Progress

Legal Progress is the legal policy program at the Center for American Progress. No matter the issue—health care, immigration, marriage equality, offshore oil drilling, privacy, ethics—the judiciary will continue to play an increasingly important role in the lives of hardworking Americans as well as in the success of the progressive legislative agenda. Through legal and policy analysis, communications and public education and convening key stakeholders, Legal Progress is helping to push the American legal system in a more progressive direction and educate the public about the impact of the courts on issues they care most about.

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Pipelines to Power: Encouraging Professional Diversity on the Federal Appellate Bench Report
 (A courthouse sits empty in the Jack Brooks Federal Building in Beaumont, Texas, November 2013.)

Pipelines to Power: Encouraging Professional Diversity on the Federal Appellate Bench

Policymakers can diversify the federal courts by confirming more lawyers from civil rights and public defender backgrounds to the bench as well as creating pipelines of young attorneys from a range of professions for future judgeships.

Maggie Jo Buchanan

The Need for Supreme Court Term Limits Report

The Need for Supreme Court Term Limits

It is essential to update the rules governing the Supreme Court to better reflect modern life.

Maggie Jo Buchanan

13 Troubling Judicial Nominees You Missed This Year Report

13 Troubling Judicial Nominees You Missed This Year

These 13 nominees may have stayed under the radar, but they are poised to shape the U.S. judiciary branch for decades to come.

Tony Hanna, Abbey Meller

Big Business’s Bonanza Week in the Supreme Court Article
A flag adorned with corporate logos and fake money flies in front of the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington, D.C., October 2013. (Getty/Drew Angerer)

Big Business’s Bonanza Week in the Supreme Court

The new 5-4 conservative majority is likely to rule against the legal rights of workers and consumers.

Devon Schmidt, Jake Faleschini

Why Courts Matter in the Trump Era Video

Why Courts Matter in the Trump Era

The importance of the federal court system becomes increasingly apparent as the Trump administration attacks fundamental American values and protections.

Jake Faleschini, Meghan Miller, Jasmine Hardy

North Carolina’s Attacks on the Courts Lead to Fewer Judges of Color Report

North Carolina’s Attacks on the Courts Lead to Fewer Judges of Color

African American judges have been caught in the crossfire of the North Carolina legislature’s war on the judiciary.

Billy Corriher, Michele L. Jawando, Lukasz Grabowski

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