Covering the Supreme Court and the Judiciary in (mostly) Plain English

The Supreme Court heard oral argument today in Janus v. American Federation of State, Municipal, and County Employees, a challenge by an Illinois child-support specialist to the fees that he is required to pay to the union that represents him, even though he does not belong to any union. Although this is the first trip… Read More

This morning the Supreme Court issued orders from last week’s conference. The justices granted review in three new cases today, but the bigger news concerned one particular case in which they declined to intervene – at least for now. Last month the federal government asked the Supreme Court to step into a dispute over whether… Read More

This morning the Supreme Court released its April argument calendar, which includes oral argument in Hawaii’s challenge to the travel restrictions imposed on nationals from eight countries in President Donald Trump’s September 24, 2017, order. A few hours later, a second set of challengers asked the justices to join their case with Hawaii’s and consider… Read More

The Supreme Court today released its oral argument calendar for April, the final sitting of the court’s October Term 2017. The justices will close out their regularly scheduled arguments on April 25 with Trump v. Hawaii, the challenge to the president’s September 24, 2017, order restricting travel to the United States by nationals of eight… Read More

The Supreme Court ruled today that U.S. victims of a 1997 terrorist attack in Jerusalem cannot rely on a provision of the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act to seize a collection of Iranian antiquities held by the University of Chicago. The decision put an end to the latest efforts by the victims and their families to… Read More

This morning the Supreme Court released orders from the justices’ private conference last week. The court did not act on the federal government’s petition for review of a dispute over whether the Trump administration can terminate the program known as “Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals,” which allows undocumented immigrants who came to the United States… Read More

Republican legislators scored a partial victory on redistricting tonight as the Supreme Court agreed to block part of a decision by a three-judge federal court invalidating the state’s legislative maps. The lower court had ruled that several state legislative districts were the product of racial gerrymandering, while others violated state law, but today the justices… Read More

The Supreme Court today declined to intervene in a partisan-gerrymandering challenge to Pennsylvania’s federal congressional maps. Justice Samuel Alito, who hears emergency appeals from the geographic district that includes Pennsylvania, rejected requests from Republican legislators and voters to put a ruling by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court on hold while they appeal the state court’s finding… Read More

In 1986, when Congress passed the Stored Communications Act, the World Wide Web did not yet exist; that would not happen until three years later, when British scientist Tim Berners-Lee invented it in Switzerland. Electronic mail did exist, but – although Queen Elizabeth II had used it to send a message in 1976 – it… Read More

The Supreme Court today received yet another request to intervene in a state’s redistricting battle – this time from Republican legislators in Pennsylvania, who asked the justices to temporarily block a ruling by the state’s supreme court invalidating the state’s federal congressional map. A divided Pennsylvania Supreme Court had ordered the legislature to draw new… Read More