Martha Davis Archives

protest sign that says 'keep your laws off their bodies'

Northeastern professor says, ‘In the end, Roe and Casey will be reaffirmed'

Reproductive rights will, in a long drawn-out political and legal struggle, eventually win out over the anti-abortion cause, according to Northeastern experts.

by Tanner Stening June 30, 2022

Abortion-rights protesters gather outside the Supreme Court in Washington, Friday, June 24, 2022. The Supreme Court has ended constitutional protections for abortion that had been in place nearly 50 years, a decision by its conservative majority to overturn the court's landmark abortion cases. AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana

Northeastern faculty experts react to Roe v. Wade decision

The purpose of the Constitution, insofar as it grants and protects basic rights and liberties, should be understood in relation to “what the text is trying to accomplish,” not “what’s actually in the text,” argues Jeremy R. Paul, a professor of law and former dean of Northeastern’s School of Law.

by Tanner Stening June 24, 2022

Demonstrators protest outside of the U.S. Supreme Court Tuesday, May 3, 2022 in Washington. A draft opinion suggests the U.S. Supreme Court could be poised to overturn the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade case that legalized abortion nationwide, according to a Politico report released Monday. Whatever the outcome, the Politico report represents an extremely rare breach of the court's secretive deliberation process, and on a case of surpassing importance. AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana

The leaked SCOTUS draft threatens contraception and same-sex marriage rights, too.

The willingness of the conservative justices to take such a brazen stance against Roe v. Wade threatens other rights rooted in the same privacy framework, including contraception and same-sex marriage rights, says Martha F. Davis, university distinguished professor of law at Northeastern.

by Tanner Stening May 3, 2022

U.S. President Joe Biden congratulates Ketanji Brown Jackson moments after the U.S. Senate confirmed her to be the first Black woman to be a justice on the Supreme Court in the Roosevelt Room at the White House in Washington, DC. Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

How will Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson influence the Supreme Court?

The jurist, who will be leaving her post as a judge with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, is the first Black woman to ascend to the High Court.

by Tanner Stening April 7, 2022

What’s changed since abortion rights were last before the Supreme Court?

With the addition of several Trump appointees, the court appears ready to dismantle Roe v. Wade, the landmark case that established a person’s right to an abortion. But it’s not the first time a conservative-led bench threatened to defang abortion rights.

by Tanner Stening March 29, 2022

Can states preserve access to abortion if Roe v. Wade is overturned?

More state legislatures are mobilizing in anticipation of the Supreme Court’s decision on an abortion ban in Mississippi, which directly threatens the rights spelled out in Roe v. Wade. Northeastern legal experts weigh in on the latest effort in Vermont.

by Tanner Stening February 10, 2022

Northeastern law graduate Kelly Cooke was selected to referee women's ice hockey at the Beijing Winter Games. Is the National Hockey League next for her?Photo by Matthew Modoono/Northeastern University

From the AHL to the Olympics, Kelly Cooke is taking ice hockey refereeing by storm

Kelly Cooke is headed to the Beijing Olympics to referee women’s ice hockey. The 2019 law school graduate’s ambitions don’t end there; she hopes to ascend to the pinnacle of the sport—the National Hockey League—one day as a referee.

by Peter Ramjug January 21, 2022

Federal judges’ financial conflicts add to mistrust of the judicial system

Given concerns about the increasing politicization of the federal judiciary, the Wall Street Journal investigation's findings that 131 federal judges oversaw cases involving their own stockholdings are deeply troubling, says Martha Davis, university distinguished professor of law at Northeastern.

by Tanner Stening January 11, 2022

Half of US could lose abortion access if Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade

With a series of so-called “trigger laws” on the books in 21 states and elected officials hostile to abortion in charge of five more, half the country stands to lose access to abortion if the high court overturns Roe v. Wade. And, during oral arguments in a case over a Mississippi law that flies in the face of Roe, it appeared some justices were willing to do just that, say two Northeastern law professors.

by Molly Callahan December 2, 2021

Why resigning won’t end Cuomo’s problems

Resigning likely takes impeachment off the table, say Northeastern legal experts, but does nothing to stop the criminal or civil lawsuits that may arise from Cuomo’s alleged harassment of women. “This story is only the beginning,” says Rose Zoltek-Jick, a law professor whose expertise includes civil lawsuits related to sexual abuse cases.

by Peter Ramjug August 10, 2021

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