Solicitor General Noel Francisco today notified the Supreme Court that President Donald Trump has issued a new proclamation restricting travel to the United States by citizens from eight countries. The proclamation came on the same day that part of Trump’s March 6 executive order (often known as the “travel ban”) expired, which would have allowed… Read More
Planned Parenthood asks justices to step into abortion dispute
Arguing that two Missouri abortion requirements are “virtually identical” to the Texas regulations that the Supreme Court struck down in 2016, Planned Parenthood asked the Supreme Court to reinstate a lower court’s order blocking the state from enforcing the requirements. After the Supreme Court’s decision in Whole Woman’s Health v. Hellerstadt in 2016, Planned Parenthood… Read More
Looking ahead to the September 25 conference — Part 4
On Monday, September 25, the justices will meet for their first conference after their summer recess, which is also known as the “long” conference. At that conference, they will consider more petitions than they do at any time of the year (usually somewhere around 2,000) but will grant relatively few – last year, the number… Read More
Justices stay lower-court rulings striking down Texas redistricting maps, ordering new ones
Just a few hours after it put an order by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit on hold in the litigation over President Donald Trump’s “travel ban,” the Supreme Court blocked two more lower-court orders, which had invalidated two of Texas’ federal congressional districts and the state’s maps for the lower house… Read More
In travel-ban case, justices block lower-court ruling on refugee admissions
At least for now, the federal government will be able to rely on President Donald Trump’s March 6 executive order, often known as the “travel ban,” to bar roughly 24,000 refugees from entering the country. In late June, the Supreme Court allowed most of the order – which froze the issuance of visas for travelers… Read More
Challengers urge justices to sit out Texas redistricting battle for now
The Supreme Court should (and indeed must) stay out of the battle over Texas redistricting right now. That was the message in a 38-page filing submitted to the court today by the individuals and groups that had challenged the federal congressional redistricting maps adopted by the Texas legislature in 2013. Last month a three-judge federal… Read More
Looking ahead to the September 25 conference – Part 3
On September 25, the justices will meet for their first conference after their summer recess, which is also known as the “long” conference. At that conference, they will consider more petitions than they do at any time of the year (usually somewhere around 2,000) but will grant relatively few – last year, the number was… Read More
Supreme Court releases November argument calendar
The Supreme Court today released the calendar for the November sitting, which actually begins on Monday, October 30. The calendar is a relatively light one: The justices will hear oral arguments in eight cases over six days, with six of those eight days featuring only one argument each – a departure from the court’s general… Read More
Alito grants stay in Texas House redistricting case
Justice Samuel Alito acted quickly this afternoon to grant a request by Texas officials to block a lower court’s order that had invalidated the state’s maps for the Texas House of Representatives, the lower house of the Texas legislature. Today’s order putting the lower court’s ruling on hold came shortly after state officials filed their… Read More
Alito puts Texas redistricting case on hold
In a one-sentence order issued this afternoon, Justice Samuel Alito blocked an order by a federal district court in Texas that had invalidated two congressional districts in that state. Officials in Texas had asked the district court to put its order on hold to give it time to appeal to the Supreme Court, but the… Read More