An already thin February argument calendar will likely become even lighter before the session begins on Feb. 22. Acting Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar asked the Supreme Court on Monday to remove two cases scheduled for argument during the February session from the argument calendar, citing changes in policy that President Joe Biden announced on his… Read More
Justices announce low-key March argument session
The Supreme Court on Monday released the calendar for its March argument session, scheduling arguments on issues including student-athlete compensation, union organizing, Medicaid work requirements and the seizure of guns from the home of a man believed to be suicidal. The justices will hear oral argument in seven cases over six days –a lighter load… Read More
Roberts will not preside over impeachment trial
When the Senate’s impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump begins next month, one familiar face from Trump’s first impeachment won’t be there: Chief Justice John Roberts. Instead, Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), who serves as the president pro tempore of the Senate, will preside over the trial. As Frank Bowman explained in an article for… Read More
Justices vacate rulings on Trump and emoluments
The Supreme Court on Monday morning released orders from the justices’ private conference on Friday, Jan. 22. The justices once again did not act on several high-profile petitions for review, including the challenge to Nevada’s limits on religious gatherings, the challenge to the constitutionality of a Mississippi law that bans most abortions after the 15th… Read More
Justices divided in procedural battle between Baltimore, oil companies in climate fight
In a speech at Harvard Law School in 2015, Justice Elena Kagan told the audience that “we’re all textualists now” – that is, that any effort to interpret a statute begins (and often ends) with the language of the statute. That principle may ultimately prove dispositive in BP v. Mayor and City Council of Baltimore,… Read More
Argument analysis: Justices sympathetic to FCC in media ownership dispute
The Supreme Court heard oral argument on Tuesday morning in a dispute arising from the Federal Communications Commission’s attempts to deregulate local media ownership. After nearly an hour and a half of debate, the justices seemed inclined to uphold the FCC’s efforts – even if not on the ground that big broadcasters would prefer. FCC… Read More
Justices do not act on high-profile cases
The Supreme Court issued orders on Tuesday morning from the justices’ private conference last Friday, Jan. 15. The order list was most notable for what the justices did not do: Not only did they not grant any new cases, but they did not act at all on any of the high-profile cases that they considered… Read More
Case preview: Clash over media ownership rules arrives at the court
On Tuesday the Supreme Court will hear oral argument in the latest chapter of a long-running battle between the Federal Communications Commission and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit over the FCC’s efforts to deregulate media ownership. Although the case is a technical one, the court’s eventual ruling could affect who owns… Read More
Case preview: Justices to consider procedural issue in major climate-change lawsuit
The Supreme Court will hear oral argument on Tuesday in a lawsuit brought by the city of Baltimore against companies that produce fossil fuels, seeking to hold them responsible for their role in global warming. The justices won’t weigh in on the merits of the city’s claims or the companies’ defenses; instead, the court will… Read More
Justices grant FDA request to block mail delivery of abortion pills
The Supreme Court on Tuesday granted a request from the Food and Drug Administration to reinstate a federal requirement that a pill used to induce abortion in the early stages of pregnancy be picked up in person from a health care provider. A federal district judge had suspended that requirement last summer because of the… Read More