The Supreme Court on Monday morning issued orders from the justices’ private conference last week. The justices added two new cases, consolidated for one hour of oral argument, to their merits docket for the term. Monday’s list was also the first set of regularly scheduled orders in which the court’s newest justice, Amy Coney Barrett,… Read More
Pennsylvania Republicans seek Supreme Court order to keep later-arriving ballots separate and uncounted (updated)
Claiming that it “is currently unclear whether all 67 county boards of elections” in Pennsylvania are following instructions to segregate mail-in ballots that arrive after Election Day, Republicans on Friday asked the Supreme Court to order election boards to keep those ballots separate and to refrain from counting them while the Republicans’ legal challenge to… Read More
Pennsylvania election officials and Democrats respond to Trump campaign’s plea to join Supreme Court proceedings on ballot deadline
Pennsylvania election officials urged the Supreme Court to deny the Trump campaign’s motion to join the Pennsylvania Republican Party’s appeal of a state court ruling that requires election officials to count mail-in ballots received by Nov. 6. The campaign went to the court on Wednesday afternoon, telling them that the outcome of the presidential election… Read More
Trump campaign asks to enter Pennsylvania mail-in ballot challenge
Telling the court that “the vote in Pennsylvania may well determine the next President of the United States,” the campaign of President Donald Trump went to the Supreme Court on Wednesday afternoon. In a 10-page filing in Republican Party of Pennsylvania v. Boockvar, the president’s campaign asked to join the Pennsylvania Republican Party’s appeal of… Read More
Argument analysis: Justices sympathetic to faith-based foster-care agency in anti-discrimination dispute
If the justices – like many of us – were up late on Tuesday night watching election returns, it was hard to tell when they took the virtual bench on Wednesday morning to hear oral argument in an important case involving a clash between religious freedom and laws and policies that protect LGBTQ rights. When… Read More
Justices will consider constitutionality of ACA’s individual mandate again
Since Congress passed the Affordable Care Act in 2010, the Supreme Court has reviewed six cases testing various parts of the law or the regulations that flow from it. One week after Election Day, the court will hear oral argument in a seventh. The newest challenge, California v. Texas, will be the second time the… Read More
Justices debate requirements for life sentences for juveniles
The Supreme Court heard oral argument on Tuesday on what states must do before imposing a sentence of life without the possibility of parole for defendants who were under the age of 18 when they committed their crimes. After nearly an hour and half of oral argument by telephone, it was not clear how the… Read More
Court to consider life sentences for juveniles – again
The Supreme Court ruled in 2012 in Miller v. Alabama that mandatory life-without-parole sentences are unconstitutional for defendants who were under the age of 18 when they committed their crimes. Four years later, in Montgomery v. Louisiana, the court made clear that Miller’s ban on mandatory life-without-parole sentences applies retroactively to convictions that had become… Read More
Justices issue orders from Oct. 30 conference
The Supreme Court issued orders on Monday from the justices’ private conference last week. Although Justice Amy Coney Barrett joined the court last week, she did not participate in the conference; a statement from a Supreme Court spokeswoman indicated that Barrett sat out the conference to give her more time to prepare for oral arguments…. Read More
Court rules for inmate in qualified immunity case
In their orders on Monday, the justices struck down a ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit that had blocked a Texas inmate’s lawsuit against prison officials. The inmate, Trent Taylor, was forced to spend six days naked in cells that contained feces from previous occupants and overflowing sewage. Taylor alleged… Read More