Constitutional Law

Dean Erwin Chemerinsky discusses the overturning of Roe v. Wade and other recent Supreme Court decisions. “The reality is that Supreme Court decisions are always a product of the ideology of the justices,” he says. 

Dean Erwin Chemerinsky says said that while the right to travel, including to get an abortion, is protected, he expects conservative states will pass laws that try to prohibit women from leaving in order to get an abortion. “That should be unconstitutional, but we’ll see what the court does,” he says.

Professor Khiara M. Bridges talks about the racial dynamics of the fight over abortion, and how they shaped the events that led to the recent overturning of Roe v. Wade. 

“The decisions this week must be understood as a conservative majority favoring conservative political ideology: requiring aid for religious instruction, greatly expanding gun rights, ending abortion rights,” Dean Erwin Chemerinsky says. “It is not about judicial philosophy or constitutional interpretation. It is about conservatives moving constitutional law very far and very fast in a very conservative direction.”

“There’s an open legal question about whether states could limit the use of mifepristone in light of the FDA’s judgment that the medicine is safe and effective. It’s not at all clear,” Professor Khiara M. Bridges says. “States can regulate the practice of medicine within their borders.”

Professor Rebecca Wexler discusses the role of big tech in a post-Roe world, and why the fight over sensitive data will be of essence to protect patients. 

The Supreme Court’s reversal of Roe v. Wade decision raises a host of thorny legal issues for pregnant people, healthcare providers, and state governments, Professor Khiara M. Bridges says. “We are going to see an abundance of lawsuits for the next 10 years, if not longer, around what states can and cannot do to regulate abortion,” she says. “It’s complicated. There aren’t easy answers, and there’s a lot of uncertainty.”

Professor Khiara M. Bridges says the Supreme Court’s recent decisions have sent a message to conservative state lawmakers that it won’t stand in the way of laws restricting birth control methods. “It’s all of the implications of the Dobbs decision that make us reasonable to be fearful about the accessibility of contraception in the future,” she says. 

“Precedent and the principle of stare decisis are supposed to limit judicial discretion and provide stability to the law. But time and again, as in this decision, the conservative justices are willing to overrule the precedents they dislike,” Dean Erwin Chemerinsky writes. “They are motivated by carrying out the Republican platform, not a judicial philosophy or an interpretative methodology. The only question is how far they will go.”

California’s strict gun laws could be affected by the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent ruling striking down a New York law. The new test outlined in the New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen case “potentially has long-term implications for California’s other gun laws,” California Constitution Center Executive Director David Carrillo says.