The Supreme Court will hear oral argument on Monday in a case that one legal expert has called the “most important Supreme Court case about homelessness in at least 40 years.” The issue before the court is the constitutionality of ordinances in an Oregon town that bar people who are homeless from using blankets, pillows,… Read More
Supreme Court to hear Trump’s bid for criminal immunity
In the final argument scheduled for its 2023-2024 term, the Supreme Court will hear argument on Thursday in former President Donald Trump’s historic bid for criminal immunity. The question before the justices is whether Trump can be tried on criminal charges that he conspired to overturn the results of the 2020 election. The court’s answer… Read More
Justices divided over Jan. 6 participant’s call to throw out obstruction charge
The Supreme Court on Tuesday was divided over whether charges against a former Pennsylvania police officer who entered the U.S. Capitol during the Jan. 6, 2021, attacks should stand. Joseph Fischer argued that the law he was charged with violating, which bars obstruction of an official proceeding, was only intended to apply to evidence tampering… Read More
Court allows Idaho to generally enforce ban on gender-transition care for minors
The Supreme Court on Monday cleared the way for Idaho to temporarily enforce a state law criminalizing gender-transition care for minors against anyone who is not part of a lawsuit currently challenging that ban. In a brief order, the justices granted the state’s request to limit the scope of an earlier order entered by a… Read More
Court declines to intervene in lawsuit against Black Lives Matter organizer
The Supreme Court on Monday declined to intervene in a lawsuit filed by a Louisiana police officer against a leader of the Black Lives Matter movement who organized a protest at which the police officer was seriously injured. The court’s denial of review in Mckesson v. Doe was part of a list of orders issued… Read More
Court rules for property owner in building fee dispute
California homeowner George Sheetz won a victory at the Supreme Court on Friday in his challenge to the constitutionality of a fee that he was required to pay the county to receive a permit to build his home. In a unanimous decision authored by Justice Amy Coney Barrett, the justices agreed with Sheetz that conditions… Read More
Jan. 6 defendant asks Supreme Court to throw out obstruction charge
The Supreme Court will hear oral argument on April 16 in the case of a former police officer from Pennsylvania who entered the Capitol during the Jan. 6, 2021, attacks. Joseph Fischer, who was charged with (among other things) assaulting a police officer, disorderly conduct in the Capitol, and obstruction of a congressional proceeding, has… Read More
Supreme Court appears likely to allow abortion drug to remain available
The Supreme Court on Tuesday signaled that it was likely to allow mifepristone, one of two drugs used in medication abortions, to remain widely available in the United States. During roughly 90 minutes of oral arguments, a majority of the justices appeared ready to throw out the dispute over the FDA’s expansion of access to… Read More
Abortion access again before Supreme Court
Since the Supreme Court overturned the constitutional right to an abortion in 2022, 14 states have enforced total bans on abortion and seven have imposed previously unconstitutional restrictions. On Tuesday, the justices will hear arguments in a case seeking to roll back access to mifepristone, the drug used in medication abortions, which account for more… Read More
South Carolina Republicans ask justices to let district ruled a racial gerrymander go forward
Telling the justices that if they do not intervene they will create “confusion and uncertainty over this year’s elections,” a group of Republican lawmakers from South Carolina came to the Supreme Court this week, asking the justices to block a ruling by a federal court holding that one congressional district in the map adopted by… Read More