On Wednesday the Supreme Court will hear oral argument in a challenge to a Maine program that pays for some students to attend private schools. Two families that want to send their children to Christian schools in the state argue that the state’s exclusion of schools that provide religious instruction from the program violates the… Read More
Separation of church and school? Justices will weigh Maine’s ban on funds for religious education
Majority of court appears poised to uphold Mississippi’s ban on most abortions after 15 weeks
This post was updated on Dec. 1 at 5:15 p.m. It has been nearly 30 years since the Supreme Court’s decision in Planned Parenthood v. Casey, which reaffirmed the constitutional right to abortion that the court first recognized in Roe v. Wade. Only one justice who participated in Casey is still on the court now:… Read More
Roe v. Wade hangs in balance as reshaped court prepares to hear biggest abortion case in decades
When he ran for president in 2016, then-candidate Donald Trump promised to nominate Supreme Court justices who would vote to end the constitutional right to an abortion. During his four years in office, Trump placed three justices – Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett – on the court, cementing a 6-3 conservative majority…. Read More
Court will consider effort by North Carolina legislators to intervene to defend state voter-ID law
In a surprise pre-Thanksgiving order, the Supreme Court on Wednesday added one new case to its merits docket for the 2021-22 term. In Berger v. North Carolina State Conference of the NAACP, the justices will weigh in on an effort by Republican legislators in the state to intervene to defend the state’s voter-ID law. The… Read More
Justices set January argument calendar
After closing out 2021 with a pair of argument sessions tackling high-profile issues like abortion, gun rights, and religion, the justices will ring in 2022 with a decidedly lower-profile set of cases. In an argument calendar released on Wednesday, the Supreme Court announced that it will hear oral arguments in eight cases over five days,… Read More
Justices grant arbitration case, won’t take up Volkswagen emissions cases
Ten years ago, in AT&T v. Concepcion, the Supreme Court ruled that the Federal Arbitration Act requires courts to put arbitration agreements “on an equal footing with other contracts.” Concepcion involved a state law that treated arbitration clauses unfavorably. On Monday, the court agreed to hear a lawsuit from a fast-food worker who alleges that… Read More
From barbecue restaurants to highway beautification, justices mull implications of sign-ordinance case
The Supreme Court heard oral argument on Wednesday in a challenge to a Texas city’s ordinance that treats signs differently depending on whether they have a connection to the site where they are located. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit ruled that the ordinance violates the First Amendment, but during over 90… Read More
In First Amendment challenge to city billboard rules, justices will be sign language interpreters
In 2015, the Supreme Court unanimously agreed that an Arizona town could not impose different restrictions on the display of temporary signs based on the messages they conveyed. The justices did not agree on the rationale for their ruling in Reed v. Town of Gilbert, however, and Justice Elena Kagan warned that the Supreme Court… Read More
Court debates inmate’s request for prayer and touch during execution, but a key justice remains silent
The Supreme Court on Tuesday appeared divided over a Texas inmate’s plea to have his pastor touch him and pray out loud while he is being executed. The justices have wrestled with the question of spiritual advisers at executions for two and a half years, but Tuesday’s oral argument in Ramirez v. Collier was the… Read More
Justices puzzled by interaction of state-secrets privilege and federal surveillance statute
The Supreme Court heard oral argument on Monday in Federal Bureau of Investigation v. Fazaga, a lawsuit filed by three Muslim Americans alleging that the FBI and its agents discriminated against them based on their religion during a surveillance program in southern California. The question before the court is whether the case should be dismissed… Read More