The Supreme Court today ruled that a U.S. court does not need to take at face value a foreign government’s word about how that country’s laws operate. Instead, the justices explained, although courts should “carefully consider” what a foreign government says about its own laws, they are not bound by those views; they can also… Read More
Opinion analysis: “Respectful consideration,” but not deference, required on foreign-law questions
Opinion analysis: Court strikes down Minnesota ban on “political” apparel at the polls
When Minnesota voters go to the polls in November, they’ll likely have more wardrobe options than the last time the state held an election. That’s because this morning the Supreme Court ruled that a state law prohibiting voters from wearing clothing or other apparel containing political messages to the polls violates the First Amendment. Minnesota… Read More
No new grants today
This morning the Supreme Court issued orders from the justices’ private conference last week. The justices did not add any new cases to their merits docket for the next term. The justices’ failure to act on Arlene’s Flowers v. Washington, a closely watched case involving issues similar to Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission,… Read More
Opinion analysis: Court rejects constitutional challenge to state law on insurance policies after divorce
This morning the Supreme Court ruled that a Minnesota woman should not receive the money from her ex-husband’s life insurance policy even though she was still his beneficiary when he died in 2011, four years after their divorce. The man’s children had argued that they should get the money because a state law passed in… Read More
Opinion analysis: Justices rule for Ohio in voter-registration dispute (Updated)
[NOTE: This post was updated with additional analysis at 12:55 p.m.] The Supreme Court today rejected a challenge to one of the practices used by Ohio to remove voters from the state’s voter rolls. By a vote of 5-4, the justices agreed that the practice under question – which cancels the registration of voters who do… Read More
Justices throw out lower-court ruling in teen abortion case
The justices handed the federal government a partial victory today in Azar v. Garza, in which it had asked them to nullify a ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit that cleared the way for a pregnant teenager to obtain an abortion. The teenager, known in the litigation as… Read More
Opinion analysis: Court rules (narrowly) for baker in same-sex-wedding-cake case
[NOTE: This post was updated with additional analysis at 2:17 p.m.] The Supreme Court ruled today in favor of Jack Phillips, a Colorado baker who refused to make a custom cake for a same-sex couple because he believed that doing so would violate his religious beliefs. This was one of the most anticipated decisions of… Read More
Justices stay out of Arkansas abortion case
The Supreme Court issued orders this morning from the justices’ private conference last week, and the big news out of today’s order list was what the justices did not do: They did not add any new cases to their merits docket for next term, and they did not ask the U.S. solicitor general to weigh… Read More
Opinion analysis: Justices decline to extend Fourth Amendment’s “automobile exception”
When two Virginia police officers searched for the motorcyclist who had eluded them by driving away at speeds of up to 140 miles per hour, they probably would not have imagined that the case would end up at the U.S. Supreme Court. But that’s exactly what happened, and today the justices ruled that the officers… Read More
Justices grant four new cases
This morning the Supreme Court added four new cases to its docket for next term, on topics ranging from federal pre-emption to the rules governing attorney’s fees for Social Security claimants. The justices once again did not act on a petition by the federal government to nullify a ruling that cleared the way for an… Read More