Constitutional Law, Federal Courts, Civil Rights, and Civil Procedure Scholars Amicus Brief
Amici are law professors whose scholarship focuses on constitutional law, federal courts, civil rights, and civil procedure. The brief recounts the history of Congress’s enactment of Section 1983 of the Civil Rights Act in response to southern state resistance during the Reconstruction era, specifically state-sanctioned vigilantism that violated federal constitutional rights. Amici explain that Section 1983 was designed to enable federal court intervention and protection against state nullification of constitutional rights. Amici argue that in seeking to deprive individuals of their constitutional rights and access to the federal courts, S.B. 8 subverts the very purpose of Section 1983 and undermines the supremacy of federal law.
Cooley LLP is pro bono counsel.
This brief was filed in support of Whole Woman’s Health et. al. v. Jackson et. al. the Center’s lawsuit at the U.S. Supreme Court challenging Texas’s abortion ban (S.B. 8).
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