Law
Make Progressive Politics Constitutional Again
We must reject the legal liberalism that attempts to cordon off constitutional questions from democratic politics.
Radicalizing Human Rights
Critics say human rights discourse blunts social transformation. It doesn’t have to.
Roe Was Never Enough Anyway
It is long past time for law and policy to facilitate affordable and accessible services.
Are the Courts the Way to Queer Rights?
Saving LGBT equality requires strategic pluralism—marshaling legal challenges and electoral mobilization as well as social movement activism.
From the Editors: Rethinking Law
In a deeply unequal society, the law can certainly impede progress, but it also remains an essential resource in building a more just world.
What Movements Do to Law
When we think, write, and act alongside movements, we help disrupt the everyday violence of law and imagine more radical transformation.
122 Immigrants Face the U.S. Death Penalty. Only 2 of Those Sentences Honor International Law.
The far-reaching effects of U.S. noncompliance.
What Will It Take to End Violence Against Native Women?
The reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act is an important step, but activist Mary Kathryn Nagle argues that only full restoration of Indigenous sovereignty will stop the epidemic.
What Makes Laws Unjust
King could not accomplish what philosophers and theologians also failed to—distinguishing moral from immoral law in a polarized society.
Father Knows Best
“Don’t Say Gay” laws can be traced to the Reagan-era crusade to put “parents’ rights” before the interests of children.
The “Benevolent Terror” of the Child Welfare System
The system’s roots aren’t in rescuing children but in the policing of Black, Indigenous, and poor families.
On Antitrust, Don’t Take Big Tech’s Word for It
Corporate restructurings are not a cure-all, but they would tilt the balance of power toward ordinary Americans.
Is There a Constitutional Right to Sex Work?
The Supreme Court recognizes the right of consenting adults to an erotic life free of state control. Given that, it shouldn’t matter whether sex is your job.
Twenty Years Later, Guantánamo Is Everywhere
The lawless—and ongoing—administration of the prison underwrites the broader democratic crisis we face today.
America as a Tactical Gun Culture
The militarization of gun culture in the United States reflects an increasingly energetic defense of white rule.
Demanding Justice for the Living
Derecka Purnell discusses her new book Becoming Abolitionists, how she came to join the movement against policing and prisons, and what a just world looks like.
A Path to Neighborhood Power
Well-meaning nonprofits don’t go far enough in the fight against gentrification. Residents themselves must be in charge, and neighborhood trusts point the way.
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