The Supreme Court agreed to postpone the execution of John Ramirez, who was scheduled to die on Wednesday night in Texas. The last-minute respite will allow the justices to fully consider Ramirez’s request that his pastor be allowed to physically touch Ramirez and audibly pray in the execution chamber while Ramirez is put to death…. Read More
Justices to hold in-person arguments in the fall
The Supreme Court announced on Wednesday that the justices will return to the courtroom for oral arguments this fall. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, however, the arguments will not be open to the public. Instead, the court will provide live audio of the arguments, as it has done since May 2020. The announcement about the… Read More
Texas inmate seeks stay of execution over request for pastor to minister to him in final moments
A Texas inmate asked the Supreme Court on Tuesday to block his execution, arguing that the state’s refusal to allow his spiritual adviser to lay his hands on him and pray out loud in the execution chamber violates both the Constitution and a federal law protecting the religious freedom of people in prison. The request… Read More
Supreme Court leaves Texas abortion ban in place
Nearly 24 hours after a Texas law that bans nearly all abortions in the state went into effect, the Supreme Court on Wednesday confirmed what it had previously only implied through its failure to act the night before: The court rejected a request to block enforcement of the law, which abortion providers say will bar… Read More
Texas abortion ban goes into effect after justices fail to act
The Supreme Court on Tuesday night took a step that anti-abortion activists have hoped for, and abortion-rights supporters have feared, since the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg nearly a year ago. By failing to respond to a plea for them to intervene, the justices allowed a Texas law that bans nearly all abortions to… Read More
Abortion providers ask court to block Texas ban on abortion beginning at six weeks of pregnancy
A Texas law that bans abortions anytime a fetal heartbeat is detected will “immediately and catastrophically reduce abortion access in Texas” if it is allowed to take effect on Wednesday, a group of abortion providers told the Supreme Court on Monday. They asked the justices to intervene on an emergency basis and block the enforcement… Read More
Court lifts federal ban on evictions
Just under two months after a divided court allowed an earlier moratorium to remain in place, the Supreme Court on Thursday night blocked the Biden administration from enforcing the latest federal moratorium on evictions, imposed because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The justices divided along ideological lines, with the court’s three liberal justices – Stephen Breyer,… Read More
Court won’t block order requiring reinstatement of “remain in Mexico” policy
The Supreme Court on Tuesday night rejected the Biden administration’s plea for a reprieve from a district-court order requiring it to reinstate a Trump-era program known as the “remain in Mexico” policy, which requires asylum seekers to stay in Mexico while they wait for a hearing in U.S. immigration court. The court was divided on… Read More
Justices issue summer orders, add two new immigration cases to merits docket
The Supreme Court added two new immigration cases to its docket for the 2021-22 term on Monday morning, granting a pair of petitions filed by the federal government. The relatively rare mid-summer additions came as part of the court’s regularly scheduled summer order list, which also included a series of routine orders that (among other… Read More
Alabama real estate agents ask justices to freeze eviction moratorium
A group of Alabama real-estate agents and landlords returned to the Supreme Court on Friday, asking the justices to block the Biden administration’s latest ban on evictions during the COVID-19 pandemic. The request came just under two months after the justices, in a 5-4 vote, declined to lift an earlier iteration of the eviction moratorium…. Read More