Fred Smith Jr.

In three consolidated lawsuits, Alabama voters are currently challenging the state’s most recently enacted Congressional map, arguing that it violates Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act.

Former president Donald Trump's attorneys have cited a Georgia case from the '60s to support their position that Trump's speech to a crowd, some of whom later attacked the U.S. Capitol, was protected by the First Amendment. In 1965, newly elected Georgia Rep. Julian Bond voiced an opinion opposing the Vietnam War. His House colleagues then refused to allow him to take his seat, but Bond later prevailed in a ruling by the U.S Supreme Court. Professor Fred Smith Jr. told 11 Alive that while creative, it does not necessarily support Trump's case for acquittal.

Could the battle over replacing Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on the Supreme Court affect some tight Georgia races in this election? Professor Fred Smith Jr. joined a panel on "Political Rewind" to discuss specific races and cases that could sway how Georgia voters cast their ballots.

"While polls show that the majority of Americans are now sympathetic to the Black Lives Matter movement, many are skeptical of calls to defund police,” say the hosts of Political Rewind. Associate Professor Fred Smith joined a panel that included a political writer, mayor, and a human rights attorney, to discuss what defunding the police would mean in Georgia.

Associate Professor Fred Smith Jr. was invited to WABE’s "Political Rewind" to discuss Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp's executive order that says cities may not pass laws requiring the public to wear face coverings to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Kemp later said mask mandates were unenforceable and ineffective. "From a legal perspective, he picked literally the weakest case," Smith said.

Because the Eighth Amendment of the United States Constitution bans cruel and punishment, it places certain limits on whom may be executed, including the State may not execute a person who is so mentally incapacitated as to not have a rational understanding of the basic reasons for the execution, in light of Ford v. Wainwright, and Panetti v. Quarterman. This past term, in the case of Madison v. Alabama, the United States Supreme Court considered the scope of that limitation.

State legislators have fielded calls and questions from residents concerned or confused about Georgia's new anti-abortion law, the AJC reports. HB 481 defines a "natural person" as "any human being including an unborn child." So legal experts need to consider mentions of "natural person" or "human being" in Georgia code to see what the implications might be, Emory Law Associate Professor Fred Smith Jr. says.

On Mother's Day, in a new venue and among a packed house of family and friends, 454 students crossed the stage in recognition of their graduation from Emory University School of Law.

Professor Fred Smith Jr. serves on the Invest Atlanta Board of Directors, and recently voted "no" on donating $7.5 million to the Georgia Aquarium, which plans an $108 million addition to feature sharks. "If we are going to give $7.5 million of taxpayer money, then the question becomes, "What are we getting that we wouldn't already get?," Smith said, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. "This is going to happen regardless if we put in the $7.5 million, (so) that really doesn't work for me." The motion passed, 4-3.

How does a case make its way to the highest court in the land? Associate Professor Fred Smith Jr. was interviewed for Georgia Public Broadcasting's "On Second Thought" show to answer that question. They started with a recent death penalty case, Foster v. Chatman, which originated in Georgia. The U.S. Supreme Court receives about 8,000 petitions for certiorari each year, but only about 80 are granted.

The NFL's announcement that players who do not stand for the national anthem could be fined highlights the clash of values over what defines equality and patriotism, Emory Law Associate Professor Fred Smith Jr. tells the Washington Post. "This is clearly a very fraught issue in the American political imagination," he said. "Generally speaking, I don't think people want to see large powerful entities, whether it be Facebook or anyone else, telling us what to think and what to say and how to say it. But the constitution is a protection against government power. And for private entities, like the country itself, it's a work in progress."

Officials at a Florida high school where a student made a poster prom invitation that many found racist are considering disciplinary action, the Washington Post reports. Emory Law Associate Professor Fred Smith Jr. says the school may not have grounds, especially in light of the student wasn't on campus at the time. "Just like the rest of us, students have the ability to say things that are offensive. And the reason why we have free speech is to protect unpopular views," he said. "Given that he was off of the school campus, the mere fact that his speech was offensive would strike me as an insufficient basis for the school to punish him."

The neo-Nazi group, the Nationalist Socialist Movement, will hold a rally in Newnan, Ga., on April 21, and many have objected to the city granting a permit for the event. Some say hate speech should not be protected. "The safe thing for a government actor to do is not to engage in any kind of content regulation," said Emory Law Associate Professor Fred Smith Jr. "Even when people are going to say something most people in the community would find odious, our constitutional tradition is that people absolutely nonetheless have to be able to say those things."

It's important for citizens to participate in the lawmaking process by lobbying for changes they want to see, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor said Tuesday at Emory Law, during an appearance that included a conversation with her former law clerk, Professor Fred Smith Jr. "I believe with all my heart that unless we become engaged in our country and become active participants in making a difference in the world we're in, that we will be nothing but bystanders otherwise, and nobody should live their life being a bystander," she said.

The late Justice William Brennan is said to have described the secret to success on the U.S. Supreme Court with five fingers outstretched. With five votes on a nine-member court, a justice could do anything, Jonathan Ringel writes for the Daily Report. Justice Sonia Sotomayor suggested a similar approach when she told a packed Emory University audience Tuesday how she handles harsh criticism of her opinions. Of colleagues who have occasionally blasted one of her positions, she said, "I could have strangled them, but I need their vote for the next case."

Despite the fact they believe former President Obama was denied his right to appoint the next U.S. Supreme Court justice, Emory Law's Visiting Professor Fred Smith Jr. writes he hopes Democrats will not play tit for tat at confirmation hearings. "Judge Gorsuch is a brilliant jurist. And while I will likely often disagree with him on the rights of the accused, the right scope of extra-textual concepts like 'sovereign immunity,' or how broadly to understand statutes like the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, he should be treated with respect and receive a fair hearing," he says.

The Supreme Court's decision upholding the University of Texas' affirmative action program has little direct impact on Georgia public colleges--but Indirectly, it's likely to increase discussions about how to increase campus diversity, an Atlanta Journal-Constitution story says. "Today's opinion in some ways just upholds the status quo," said Visiting Professor of Law Fred Smith. "Whether public colleges in Georgia want to look at more ways to increase diversity is not so much a constitutional question, so much as a policy question."

The ACLU is challenging a ruling that shaved four weeks from Georgia's standards concerning abortion--from 24 to 20. The organization says it did not receive proper notice of an Oct. 30 decision in time to appeal. Sovereign immunity has protected the state from litigation previously, but may not this time, said Emory Law Visiting Professor Fred Smith Jr. A phrase in Georgia's constitution may prevent the principle from being applied in cases where a law's constitutionality is being questioned, he tells WABE.