Social Movements & the Law

The ABA Journal is read by half of the nation's 1 million lawyers every month. It covers the trends, people and finances of the legal profession from Wall Street to Main Street to Pennsylvania Avenue.

EveryLibrary is issuing a comprehensive report on 2023 state-level legislation affecting libraries. The report, “Unpacking 2023 Legislation of Concern for Libraries”, is designed to support and assist state library associations in future legislative advocacy campaigns. The recent wave of state legislation affecting libraries across the United States has been largely negative, with a focus on restricting access to certain materials, particularly those deemed harmful or inappropriate for minors. Through June 17, 2023, twenty-four bills have passed in state legislatures. Two were vetoed, and 22 are in various stages of enactment. These bills have been enacted in fourteen states: Arkansas, Florida, Iowa, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Mississippi, Montana, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, and Utah. The bills encompass several recurring themes that pose potential challenges to library operations and services. [Clip] This report provides a moment-in-time review of state-level legislation affecting libraries and education while looking at key themes across and between states. The report offers strategic recommendations for state library association leaders and legislative advocates to build coalitions, activate constituents, and work across the entire lifecycle of a bill, including pre-session communications and post-session actions.

A federal judge has struck down Arkansas' 2021 ban on gender-affirming care for transgender youth calling it unconstitutional and saying the state's experts were motivated by ideology, not science.

An economics professor at Middlebury College and her undergrad research assistants have been tracking access to abortion care since 2009. These maps show the dramatic changes in the past decade.

This guide is intended to help academic libraries create policies for responding to challenges to library materials.

The emerging culture war over the holiday is misguided. In reality, Juneteenth celebrates one of the greatest triumphs of America and its founding principles.

From the National Archives and Records Administration: Archivist of the United States Dr. Colleen Shogan announced earlier today [June 17]that the National Archives plans to place the Emancipation Proclamation on permanent display in the Rotunda of the National Archives Building in Washington, DC. “When President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863, he […]

Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders have played a vital role in shaping America as we know it, contributing to every facet of industry, including higher education. Since 1990, the U.S. has used the month of May to recognize and celebrate Asians and Pacific Islanders in the United States. The Department of Distinctive Collections (DDC) celebrates […]

New detailed social, economic, housing and demographic statistics for hundreds of race, tribal, Hispanic origin and ancestry populations.

The Relist Watch column examines cert petitions that the Supreme Court has “relisted” for its upcoming conference. A short explanation of relists is available here.The Supreme Court will be cons

Law librarianship is a constantly evolving profession driven by the evolution of law practice, legal education, government, and law itself. Changes in these dri

The Justice Department on Friday issued a scathing assessment of Minneapolis police, alleging that racial discrimination and excessive force went unchecked before George Floyd's killing because of inadequate oversight and an unwieldy process for investigating complaints. Here are six key points from the report.

The Freedom Libraries will be placed in the facilities' housing units for unfettered access to a 500-book collection donated by the non-profit organization.

Tina Castelan took over as head librarian at the Llano Library last December. This month, she said she submitted her resignation to Library Director Amber Milum. On Monday, Castelan said she was as…

City leaders have declined speaking with the media about these matters but documents said a move to privatize the library was decided in an effort to help save money.

We speak with the parents of Mika Westwolf, a 22-year-old Indigenous woman struck and killed in March by a driver as she was walking home along the highway in the early morning hours. The parents and allies are on a “Justice to Be Seen” march to call for justice and an investigation. Westwolf was a member of the Blackfeet Tribe and was also Diné, Cree and Klamath. The driver has been identified as Sunny White, a suspected white nationalist whose children are reportedly named “Aryan” and “Nation” and were in the car at the time of the crash. White has not been charged in connection with Westwolf’s death, but it’s part of an apparent pattern in which many Indigenous people are killed or hit by vehicles along Highway 93. “They need to hear us and see us,” says Westwolf’s mother, Carissa Heavy Runner. “Listen to our stories and feel our pain and see our pain.” Erica Shelby, a tribal legal advocate for missing and murdered Indigenous women, discusses the details of the case and how she is in Washington, D.C., to demand action from lawmakers. “Everybody has the same story about the same players, the same agencies, the same police, the same attorneys,” says Shelby. “Enough is enough.”

We speak with Cherokee journalist Rebecca Nagle about a major victory at the Supreme Court in a case that could have gutted Native American sovereignty. In a surprise 7-2 ruling Thursday, the court upheld the 1978 Indian Child Welfare Act, which protects Native children from being removed from their tribal communities for fostering or adoption in non-Native homes. The court rejected an argument from Republican-led states and white families who argued the system is based on race. Nagle has covered the case closely for The Nation and her podcast, This Land, and says the far right is attacking the Indian Child Welfare Act as part of a broader conservative agenda to destabilize federal Indian law. She calls the decision “really encouraging,” noting it is “good not just for Native nations and families, but for the rule of law.”

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE June 15, 2023 Contact: Nizhoni Begay communications@waterprotectorlegal.org Today, the Supreme Court upheld the Indian Child Welfare Act in a 7-2 landmark decision in Brackeen v. Haaland. The court rejects all of the challenges raised by petitioners to the Indian Child Welfare Act, "some on the merits and others for lack of standing." The opinion prevents states from removing Native children from their homes, writing “Texas therefore does not have standing to bring either i

Rylan Clark discusses how to be a man, Daisy May Cooper is unreceptive to classic novels and Jon Ronson investigates a debutante turned neo-Nazi in the pick of the year to date

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The American Library Association (ALA) applauds the Biden-Harris Administration’s steps announced today to address the rise in book bans and other attacks on LGBTQIA+ Americans. In a fact sheet released today, the White House announced that the Department of Education will appoint a new coordinator to address the growing threat that book bans pose for the civil rights of students, among other steps to protect the rights of LGBTQIA+ Americans.

New York state tried to limit writings and artistic works from prisoners — illustrating a growing issue across the country.

June is Pride Month, a time to celebrate the LGBTQIA community, and today we look at those represented by the “I” which stands for “intersex.” In a broadcast exclusive, we are joined by the filmmaker and three stars of a new documentary, Every Body, which follows their work as intersex activists who share childhoods marked by shame, secrecy and nonconsensual surgeries. We speak with actor and screenwriter River Gallo, political consultant Alicia Roth Weigel, scholar Sean Saifa Wall and Academy Award-nominated and Emmy-winning director Julie Cohen, who says she was able to document “a movement that’s in the midst of truly blossoming.” Roth Weigel adds, “There is no one way to look intersex. There is no one way to be intersex,” emphasizing that the movement for informed consent and body autonomy is broad and intersectional. The film will be released in theaters on June 30.

American Genocide podcast about the crimes of Native American boarding schools, a story that is personal to many in our community.

We’ve seen an unprecedented wave of anti-LGBTQ+ legislation in 2023, but we refuse to let extremist forces limit our freedoms in schools, in the workplace, in hospitals and in communities. LGBTQ+ people nationwide will not be erased — not now, not ever.

The Supreme Court has ruled against Alabama's defense of an electoral map drawn by the state's Republican-dominated legislature. Black voters had challenged the law as racially discriminatory.

The Supreme Court on Thursday ordered Alabama officials to redraw the state’s congressional map to allow an additional Black majority district to account for the fact that the state is 27% Black.

Arkansas is among a growing number of Republican-led states that have passed laws that criminalize lending certain library books to children.