Covering the Supreme Court and the Judiciary in (mostly) Plain English

A divided Supreme Court on Wednesday turned down a request by the Trump administration to lift an order by a federal judge in Washington, D.C., that had directed the State Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development to pay nearly $2 billion in foreign-aid reimbursements for work that has already been done. In a… Read More

The Supreme Court on Tuesday signaled that it was likely to shut down a lawsuit brought by the Mexican government, seeking to hold seven major U.S. gun makers and a gun wholesaler responsible for violence committed by Mexican drug cartels with U.S.-made weapons. A majority of the court appeared to agree with the gun makers… Read More

Just two weeks after the Trump administration designated six Mexican cartels as foreign terrorist organizations, Mexico will come to the Supreme Court on Tuesday in its effort to hold U.S. gun makers liable for cartel violence committed with U.S.-made weapons. Mexico is seeking billions of dollars from seven major U.S. gun makers and one gun… Read More

The Supreme Court on Monday added one new case, involving the double jeopardy clause and the Hobbs Act, to its docket for the 2025-26 term. The justices opted not to intervene in a First Amendment challenge to a “bias response” teams on a university campus, with Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito indicating that they… Read More

The Trump administration on Wednesday reiterated its request for the Supreme Court to lift an order by a federal judge in Washington, D.C., that instructed President Donald Trump to temporarily reinstate the head of an independent federal agency tasked with protecting whistleblowers from retaliation. Last week the justices declined to freeze the order by U.S…. Read More

Chief Justice John Roberts on Wednesday night temporarily froze an order by a federal judge in Washington, D.C., that would have required the Trump administration to pay nearly $2 billion in foreign-aid reimbursements for work that has already been done. In a brief order issued just a few hours before the midnight deadline for the… Read More

The Supreme Court on Wednesday was sympathetic to an Ohio woman who alleges that she was the victim of reverse discrimination. Marlean Ames contends that she lost out on a promotion that she wanted, and then was demoted, simply because she is straight. With Ames and her employer in what Justice Neil Gorsuch described as… Read More

The Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled that a group of Virginia drivers challenging a state motor vehicle law was not entitled to reimbursement of their attorney’s fees even though a federal district court issued an order in their favor that temporarily prohibited the state from enforcing the law and the state’s legislature repealed the law…. Read More

The Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled that Richard Glossip, who is on death row in Oklahoma for his role in the 1997 murder of motel owner Barry Van Treese, should get a new trial. In a decision by Justice Sonia Sotomayor, the majority agreed that prosecutors violated their obligation to correct false testimony, and that… Read More

The court’s 2024-25 term will close out its scheduled oral arguments on April 30 with a Catholic online school’s effort to become the nation’s first religious charter school. The court’s April argument calendar, which it released on Monday, features several other significant social issues, including whether a group of Maryland parents can opt to have… Read More