During a 2020 Democratic presidential primary debate, then-candidate Joe Biden pledged that, if elected, he would nominate a Black woman to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court. With Justice Stephen Breyer expected to retire at the end of this term, California Supreme Court Justice Leondra Kruger is one of the frontrunners to succeed him. If… Read More
Stephen Breyer, pragmatic liberal, will retire at end of term
Justice Stephen Breyer, a devoted pragmatist and the senior member of the Supreme Court’s liberal wing, will retire from the court at the end of the 2021-22 term, NBC News reported Wednesday. Over nearly 28 years on the court, Breyer shunned rigid approaches to legal interpretation, often seeking functional rulings with an eye toward real-world… Read More
Justices take up cases on power of district courts and regulation of wetlands
The Supreme Court on Monday morning issued orders from the justices’ private conference on Friday, Jan. 21. In addition to taking up the issue of race in college admissions (covered here), the justices added two other cases to their docket for next term. One involves the power of federal district courts; the other tests the… Read More
Court will hear challenges to affirmative action at Harvard and University of North Carolina
The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to reconsider the role of race in college admissions. In a brief order, the justices agreed to take up two cases asking them to overrule their landmark 2003 decision in Grutter v. Bollinger, holding that the University of Michigan could consider race as part of its efforts to assemble… Read More
Justices will review scope of McGirt decision, but won’t consider whether to overturn it
Less than two years ago, the Supreme Court ruled in McGirt v. Oklahoma by a vote of 5-4 that a large portion of eastern Oklahoma, which was reserved for the Creek Nation in the 19th century, remains a reservation for purposes of a federal law that gives the federal government sole power to try certain… Read More
Majority turns down request to send Texas abortion litigation back to federal district court
The Supreme Court on Thursday afternoon rejected abortion providers’ request to order a federal appeals court to send their challenge to a Texas law banning almost all abortions in the state promptly back to the friendlier confines of a federal district court in that state. The providers argued that failing to do so would “derail… Read More
Court rebuffs Trump’s bid to block release of documents related to Jan. 6 riot
In a major victory for the congressional committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, the Supreme Court turned down a request by former President Donald Trump to block the release of presidential records that the committee is seeking. The ruling clears the way for the National Archives to turn over several… Read More
Government faces skeptical bench in defending campaign-finance law challenged by Ted Cruz
Sen. Ted Cruz is no stranger to the Supreme Court. In the 1990s, he served as a law clerk to the late Chief Justice William Rehnquist, and between 2003 and 2010 he returned as a lawyer to argue nine cases there. On Wednesday, Cruz was before the court in a different capacity, challenging a federal… Read More
Over Gorsuch dissent, justices deny review in dispute over definition of “minister” for tax-exemption purposes
After adding five cases to its merits docket for the spring on Friday, the Supreme Court on Tuesday morning issued more orders from the justices’ private conference last week. As expected, the justices did not grant any new cases. Perhaps most notably, they once again did not act on a pair of petitions challenging the… Read More
Justices debate speech and religion in spat over flag-flying at Boston city hall
The Supreme Court heard oral argument on Tuesday in a free speech case arising from Boston’s practice of allowing outside groups to fly their flags on one of the three flagpoles in front of city hall. A group that was denied permission to fly a “Christian flag” argued at the Supreme Court that it would… Read More