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The Supreme Court of the United States has at last addressed a years’ long debate: How is the term “sex” defined under Title IX? In its landmark decision West Virginia v. B.P.J., the Court found the term means one’s sex at birth, rather than one’s gender identity. As a result, the Court determined public institutions may implement sex-based eligibility restrictions for women’s and girls’ sports focused on the athlete’s sex assigned at birth without violating Title IX. The Court…
Continue Reading Title IX and ‘Sex’: What B.P.J. Means for Wisconsin Schools

​By Erik Reinthaler
WJI Intern
​
A federal judge recently dismissed the U.S. Department of Justice’s lawsuit to force Wisconsin election officials to produce the state’s unredacted voter registration list.
In a narrow and technical ruling on May 21, Western District of Wisconsin Chief Judge James D. Peterson found that the unredacted list is not subject to disclosure under the Civil Rights Act of 1960. The judge did not address issues of voter privacy.

“While the judge didn’t rule

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Continue Reading Wisconsin’s Voter List Protected by Federal Judge: Decision Explained

UPDATE: Shortly after this alert was published, the Supreme Court granted an administrative stay of the Fifth Circuit’s order. This means that, while the Supreme Court reviews Danco’s and GenBioPro’s emergency requests that the Fifth Circuit’s stay be vacated, mifepristone is available under the 2023 REMS, which permits dispensing of mifepristone directly to patients by certain pharmacies, including by certain mail-order pharmacies. We will continue to follow this litigation and will provide further updates as they are available.
Continue Reading Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals Panel Grants Stay in Case Challenging FDA Regulation of Mifepristone

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PictureLloyd Barbee at the Wisconsin Capitol in August 1964. Photograph courtesy of the Wisconsin Historical Society. WHS Image 26539.

By Amy Rabideau Silvers

Three words—long used as the sign-off before his signature—sum up Lloyd Barbee’s goal throughout his life.

Justice for All.

Best known for his efforts to desegregate Milwaukee’s public schools, Barbee fought for justice on other fronts, too. He was an activist, attorney and state legislator, pushing for equal rights as human rights, arguing for fair housing

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Continue Reading Unsung Hero: In Pursuit of Justice, the Life and Activism of Lloyd Barbee

Posted on April 23, 2026 in Criminal Defense
If you have a Ring camera, a Nest doorbell, or any other video device mounted outside your home, you may have wondered what happens to that footage if the police come knocking. Can they take it? Can they demand it from the company directly? And what happens if someone shares your footage without your permission?

These are real legal questions that come up constantly in 2026. If you have pressing legal…
Continue Reading Can Police Get a Warrant for My Doorbell Footage?

The Wisconsin Supreme Court recently clarified student questioning conducted by school resource officers in schools may constitute “custodial interrogation” requiring Miranda warnings, even when no arrest occurs. In State v. K.R.C., the Court held that a 12-year-old student was in custody for Miranda purposes when the student was questioned by two police officers in the SRO office. One officer was the school resource officer, and the other officer was not affiliated with the school.

The K.R.C. decision provides important…
Continue Reading Wisconsin Supreme Court Addresses Miranda Protections in School Settings

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A Brown County man recently won the right to withdraw his guilty plea after the Court of Appeals held that drug task force investigators used impermissible coercion to gain entry to his home.

“This case is a classic example of law enforcement tactics that deeply undermine individual rights and ultimately undercut the state’s interest in investigating and prosecuting crimes,” said defense attorney and Wisconsin Justice Initiative President Craig Johnson.

The District 3 per curiam (nonprecedential) opinion issued from the

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Continue Reading Officers’ Coercive Tactics Rendered Search of Residence Invalid

The Indiana Supreme Court (the “Court”) upheld a trial court’s Order for Temporary Commitment, reaffirming the new mootness standard for temporary civil commitment appeals first established earlier this year in In re Commitment of J.F., 256 N.E.3d 1260 (Ind. 2025). In re Commitment of M.C., 262 N.E.3d 836 (Ind. 2025).
Background
In J.F., the Court held that an appeal from a temporary civil-commitment order does not become moot merely because the order has expired. See In re Commitment of…
Continue Reading Indiana Supreme Court Reaffirms Mootness Standard in Temporary Civil Commitment Appeals

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By Attorney Emily Dudak Leiter

The Law Center for Children & Families

Madison, WI

Here is a summary and our opinion regarding the petition for review by Kim Davis and Liberty Counsel to SCOTUS.

Kim Davis is the former Kentucky county clerk who refused to issue marriage licenses in 2015 to same-sex couples on religious grounds. Her attorneys in the petition for review are Liberty Counsel, which is a right-wing Christian organization designated as a “hate group” by the…
Continue Reading Summary of Davis v. Ermold and Moore

A joint statement has been issued by the major LGBTQ+ legal advocacy non-profits, reaffirming their advice for LGBTQ+ families after the election: get a court order regarding your child. Before the election and after, for 20+ years, actually, this has been our advice at The Law Center. Even post-marriage equality, we felt a birth certificate alone is not enough. Nearly all LGBTQ+ legal advocacy non-profits have agreed with us for years. Now, several non-profits have just put out a…
Continue Reading Protecting Your LGBTQ+ Marriage and Family: A Comprehensive Resource

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Lavinia Goodell, October 1879

In the fall of 1879, Lavinia Goodell wrote an article for the Woman’s Journal titled “How it Looked to a Lawyer Half a Century Ago.” In it, she lauded the progress women had made during her lifetime (Lavinia was born in 1839) in gaining more rights.

Lavinia noted that in 1837, Timothy Walker, a professor at the Law Department of Cincinnati College delivered a course of lectures on American Law that were published in book…
Continue Reading ‘Married women today are not the abject slaves they were fifty years ago’

Can You Sue a Police Officer for Using Excessive Force?
 Posted on October 08,2024 in Civil Rights
Most people know that when you get injured in a car accident that is caused by someone else’s negligence, you can pursue compensation from the responsible person or an insurance company. Likewise, if someone breaks into your house, kills your spouse, and steals your property, you can pursue a claim against that person in civil court for the losses you experience.

But…
Continue Reading Can You Sue a Police Officer for Using Excessive Force? 

a man speaking at a podiumHon. Jeh Charles Johnson, former U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security and ABA Task Force for American Democracy co-chair, speaks on “The Threat to Democracy.”

July 11, 2024 – A dozen speakers recently gave sobering presentations on the threat to democracy during a nonpartisan event from the American Bar Association’s Task Force for American Democracy, in partnership with the State Bar of Wisconsin.

The program, called
Wisconsin: Elections in the 21st Century (watch now) was held in-person July

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Continue Reading American Bar Association Brings Democracy Listening Tour to Wisconsin

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Closeup of a Vote by Mail envelope, official balloting material - business reply mail, USPS first class mail.

The Democratic Party of Illinois may not intervene in a suit relating to mail-in voting, according to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. The case, Bost v. Illinois State Board of Elections, arose when Congressman Michael Bost and two voters challenged an Illinois law that permits completed mail-in ballots to be counted as long as they are sent on or before election day and are received within two weeks after election day. ___ F.4th ____, 2023…
Continue Reading Seventh Circuit Reiterates the Low Bar for Intervention in Voting-rights Litigation

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Athletic running track with lane numbers at a stadium

Enacted in 1972, Title IX prohibits discrimination based on sex in educational activities that receive federal funds and requires public elementary and secondary schools, as well as colleges and universities, to effectively accommodate the athletic interests and abilities of students and provide equal opportunity in the benefits, opportunities, and treatment provided for athletic teams.

While Title IX does not directly address gender identity, the Department of Education recently released a notice of proposed rulemaking related to a transgender student’s…
Continue Reading All Tied Up: OCR Issues New Resources on Equal Athletic Opportunity Under Title IX