In its October 2019 Term, the Court agreed to hear 74 cases but postponed consideration in twelve cases to the October 2020 Term due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Of the cases it considered this term, LDF filed or joined an amicus brief in five cases that affect civil rights: Bostock v. Clayton County, Ga.; Ramos v. Louisiana; Department of Homeland Security, et al. v. Regents of University of Ca., et al.; Comcast Corporation v. National Association of African-American Owned Media; and June Medical Services LLC v. Russo. LDF also represented voting rights advocacy organizations and voters in emergency applications arising during the summer of 2020, Merrill v. People First of Alabama and Jones v. DeSantis. We highlight these cases here as well as additional cases with civil rights implications: Kansas v. Glover, Mathena v. Malvo, Our Lady of Guadalupe School v. Morrissey-Berru, Barr v. Lee, and other COVID-related voting rights cases.
Our 2019 Term Roundup provides a snapshot of the issue in each case, the outcome, and its impact on our rights. Our hope is that this summary will be easy to digest (without too much legal jargon) and will underscore the importance of the U.S. Supreme Court (and other courts) to our lives and the future of our democracy.
