Law, Rights & Institutions
-
The Paradox of Freedom in a Country That Wants to Keep Immigrants Locked Up
•
A routine visit to the immigration field office in Dallas, Texas, upended life for Mahir Tarabishi (62), who was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in October 2025. Mahir’s detention proved fatal for his disabled son, Wael Taraishi, who died on January 23, 2026, in the absence of Mahir,…
-
Rights in Retreat: Advocacy, Organizing, and Justice – A Conversation with Kris Hayashi
•
This interview has been approved by Kris Hayashi and ACLU Communications. Across continents and institutions, the premise of queer equality is being tested anew. From legislative chambers to military ranks to public squares across the globe, LGBTQ+ people are confronting an unsettling pattern: rights once thought secure are again under…
-
From Collaboration to Consolidation: How Conference Realignment Concentrates Power Beyond Antitrust Reach
•
College athletic conferences organize the economic and competitive structure of college sports. These leagues group universities into regional affiliations that coordinate scheduling, negotiate shared television contracts, and determine postseason competition. Two of the most prominent were the Pac-12 Conference, historically composed of major West Coast universities, and the Big 12…
-
Iran’s Protests and the Myth of Instant Solutions
•
On February 28, 2026, the United States & Israel conducted joint large-scale military strikes against Iran, hitting military and nuclear targets across cities including Tehran, Isfahan, Natanz, and Fordow. A number of key Iranian leaders have been killed, including Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Armed Forces Chief of Staff Abdolrahim Mousavi, and…
-
Rights in Retreat: Equality, the Military, and Reform with Alex Wagner
•
Across continents and institutions, the premise of queer equality is being tested anew. From legislative chambers to military ranks to public squares across the globe, LGBTQ+ people are confronting an unsettling pattern: rights once thought secure are again under siege. What connects these struggles is not only the backlash itself,…
-
Leveling the Playing Field
•
For decades, the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) prohibited student-athletes from profiting off their name, image, and likeness (NIL). That changed in 2021 when the Supreme Court, in NCAA v. Alston, held that the NCAA could not restrict education-related benefits for athletes. Although the ruling did not mandate NIL rights…
-
Right-to-Work Laws in the Midwest: Evaluating Impact on Low-Wage Workers
•
Right-to-Work (RTW) laws, which prohibit mandatory union membership as a condition of employment, have been a focal point of policy debates across the United States. Over the past decade, several Midwest states, including Michigan, Indiana, and Wisconsin, have adopted RTW laws, shifting the labor landscape in a region historically characterized by strong…
-
Less Qualified and Less Diverse: Race-Neutral Affirmative Action Hurts Chicago’s Exam Schools
•
Selective admissions high schools, or exam schools, have long been at the center of education policy debates due to their struggles in balancing fair enrollment and improving diversity. In 2007, the Supreme Court ruled in Parents v. Seattle and Meredith v. Jefferson that using race as an admissions requirement is unconstitutional…