Boom! Lawyered

This week, a federal court blocked Missouri’s multi-week gestational ban. But did you know that another restriction banning abortions based on the race, sex, or Down syndrome diagnosis of a fetus was allowed to take effect? Jess and Imani explain the faulty logic of these bans and how this decision paves the way for more trouble down the road. Read more from Jess here.

Planned Parenthood recently announced it will withdraw from the federal family planning program known as Title X because of President Donald Trump’s domestic "gag rule." Imani and Jess explain this crisis and how Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts helped lay the foundation for it.

Shameless Tennessee lawmakers are trying to redefine fetal viability in a way that makes no medical sense and is designed as a direct attack on Roe v. Wade. Jess and Imani explain what makes this bill a dangerous escalation in the decades-long crusade to overturn Roe.

Recently, the ultra-conservative 8th Circuit Court of Appeals reinstated an involuntary manslaughter charge against a Native woman from Sisseton, South Dakota. That charge is based on allegations that she ingested illegal drugs while pregnant, resulting in the death of her newborn. Jess and Imani explain why this decision is an alarming escalation of the anti-choice efforts to establish fetal personhood and punish people for their pregnancy outcomes.

It's no secret that Imani and Jess are as close as they are smart. But what secrets have they kept from each other? And what secrets have they kept from us? All is revealed on this special episode of Boom! Lawyered.

SisterSong v. Kemp may be the first major lawsuit centering the reality that attacks on access to abortion care disproportionately harm communities of color. Imani and Jess explain the case and how it could introduce the concept of reproductive justice to the Supreme Court.  

Last week, a Department of Justice lawyer stunned the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals when she argued that it is “safe and sanitary” to confine immigrant children for indefinite periods of time without basic needs like soap or toothbrushes. Jess and Imani explain the legal framework meant to protect these children and how the Trump administration intends to dismantle it.

Last week, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that policies targeting transgender people are sex-based discrimination that must meet heightened scrutiny to be constitutional. This is a big deal! Imani and Jess evaluate this important—but qualified—win for transgender rights and what it means for those rights in the future.

The fight over the Trump administration’s questionable efforts to add a citizenship question to the census has reached the Supreme Court, and a decision looms. Jess and Imani explain the case and how a bad decision could cement inequality for generations.

Jess sits down with Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum to discuss the challenges facing progressive attorneys general in the era of Trump and how they are fighting back against his administration.