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

Trump’s Anti-Worker Judges Will Outlast His Administration Article
Thomas Farr is sworn in during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on his district court nomination in Washington, September 20, 2017. (AP/Alex Brandon)

Trump’s Anti-Worker Judges Will Outlast His Administration

As the Supreme Court takes aim at public sector unions, President Trump is nominating judges with a record of putting corporations over workers.

Billy Corriher

How Distorted Districts Lead to Distorted Laws Article
Lawmakers study a map of a proposed redistricting plan at the State House in Montgomery, Alabama, May 9, 2012. (AP/Dave Martin)

How Distorted Districts Lead to Distorted Laws

Legislators are less responsive to the will of the public due to gerrymandering.

Liz Kennedy, Billy Corriher

President Trump’s Rubber-Stamp Judiciary Article
Then-Supreme Court Justice nominee Neil Gorsuch is greeted by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Capitol Hill in Washington, February 2017. (AP/J. Scott Applewhite)

President Trump’s Rubber-Stamp Judiciary

The president has a record number of judicial vacancies to fill, and some of his picks come from the fringes of the right wing.

Zachary Winkler

The Not-So-Secret Attack on Our Voting Rights Video

The Not-So-Secret Attack on Our Voting Rights

With voting rights under attack at both the state and national levels, we asked Sarah Audelo of the Alliance for Youth Action and Shaneice Simmons of Rock the Vote to talk about how progressives can fight back to make voting more convenient and accessible.

Andrew Satter, Raman Preet Kaur

Gorsuch Signals an Extreme Threat to LGBT Rights Article
Judge Neil Gorsuch testifies in Washington at his confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee, March 22, 2017. (AP/J. Scott Applewhite)

Gorsuch Signals an Extreme Threat to LGBT Rights

Neil Gorsuch’s refusal to recognize LGBT people as a class during his confirmation hearing could signal a threat to the future of LGBT equality.

Sharita Gruberg, Rebecca Buckwalter-Poza

Judge Gorsuch Threatens the Dignity of LGBT People Article
People gather in Lafayette Park to see the White House illuminated with rainbow colors in commemoration of the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling to legalize same-sex marriage in Washington on June 26, 2015. (AP/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

Judge Gorsuch Threatens the Dignity of LGBT People

The constitutional right to dignity is critical to LGBT people. Gorsuch is likely to reject that right.

Rebecca Buckwalter-Poza

Trump’s Supreme Court Nominee Puts the Rights of Corporations over Individuals Report
Supreme Court Justice nominee Neil Gorsuch meets with Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE) on Capitol Hill in Washington, February 14, 2017. ((AP/Andrew Harnik))

Trump’s Supreme Court Nominee Puts the Rights of Corporations over Individuals

Judge Neil Gorsuch has a record of ruling in favor of big business, and he joined the first federal court ruling that allowed a for-profit corporation to claim a right to exercise religion.

Billy Corriher

Unfairness in Class Action: A New Attack on Civil Rights Article
A courtroom sits empty on February 13, 2017, in Honolulu. (AP/Jennifer Sinco Kelleher)

Unfairness in Class Action: A New Attack on Civil Rights

Congress and the Trump administration do not just want to cut funding for civil legal aid. They are trying to make it more difficult for Americans to pursue justice altogether.

Rebecca Buckwalter-Poza

Our Courts Matter for the Muslim Community Article
A teenage boy from Yemen wipes his eyes as he walks with his father and his uncle after arrival at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York, February 5, 2017. ((AP/Alexander F. Yuan))

Our Courts Matter for the Muslim Community

The courts are a critical independent check on this unpredictable and dangerous administration’s attack on the Muslim community.

Anisha Singh, Billy Corriher

5 Things You Need to Know About Judge Gorsuch Video

5 Things You Need to Know About Judge Gorsuch

President Donald Trump has nominated Judge Neil Gorsuch to fill the currently vacant seat on the U.S. Supreme Court. Here are five things you need to know about Judge Gorsuch.

Andrew Satter, Aki Suzuki, Billy Corriher, 1 More Jake Faleschini

Deregulation Nation: Congress Wants to Let Corporations Take Charge Article
Visitors tour the Rotunda on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, November 15, 2016. (AP/Susan Walsh)

Deregulation Nation: Congress Wants to Let Corporations Take Charge

Congress is not only trying to remove vital federal regulations that protect Americans and their interests from big businesses, but also block agencies from making new ones.

Rebecca Buckwalter-Poza

Big-Money Courts Decide Fate of Local Fracking Rules Report

Big-Money Courts Decide Fate of Local Fracking Rules

As states battle with municipalities over fracking regulations, oil and gas companies are spending big to elect the courts and legislatures that define the scope of local authority.

Billy Corriher

Dirty Money, Dirty Water II Video

Dirty Money, Dirty Water II

The Ohio Supreme Court ruled that municipalities cannot regulate fracking waste, but many of the justices who made this decision received large campaign contributions from fracking companies and fossil fuel interests.

Billy Corriher, Lauren Malkani

5 Things You Need to Know About Sen. Jeff Sessions Video

5 Things You Need to Know About Sen. Jeff Sessions

Here are five things that Americans need to know about attorney general nominee Sen. Jeff Sessions.

Andrew Satter, Billy Corriher, Jake Faleschini

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