Until recently, 53-year-old Divna Maslenjak lived in Akron, Ohio, with her husband, Ratko. Ethnic Serbs who were raised in what is now Bosnia, the couple came to the United States with their children as refugees, fleeing ethnic strife in the former Yugoslavia. Divna became a U.S. citizen seven years later, but in October of last… Read More

When the Supreme Court heard oral argument this morning in Trinity Lutheran Church of Columbia v. Comer, a Missouri church’s challenge to its exclusion from a state program that provides grants to nonprofits to allow them to resurface their playgrounds with recycled tires, all eyes were on the court’s newest justice, Neil Gorsuch. After all,… Read More

Thirty-one years ago, the Supreme Court ruled that a defendant who can show that his mental health is likely to play an important role at trial is entitled to help from a psychiatrist if he cannot afford it. Next week the justices will consider exactly what that holding meant – and in particular, whether it… Read More

Last week, Missouri Governor Eric Greitens announced that the state had reversed course on the policy at the heart of Trinity Lutheran Church of Columbia v. Comer: Going forward, the state’s Department of Natural Resources can award grants to religious groups to fund programs like the recycled rubber playground surfaces for which Trinity Lutheran applied… Read More

During his March confirmation hearing, then-Judge Neil Gorsuch repeatedly professed his belief that judges should adhere to the plain language of a law, without considering other factors such as the law’s history or what Congress might have intended when it enacted the law. After his first oral argument as a Supreme Court justice, it became… Read More

[Author’s note: An earlier version of this preview ran on August 8, 2016. The post has been updated to reflect events that occurred after the post was originally published.] One year, three months, and four days after the justices originally agreed to review it, the court will finally hear oral argument in a dispute that began… Read More

By a vote of 54-45, the Senate today confirmed Judge Neil Gorsuch to be the 113th justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. The confirmation ended the battle over the vacancy created by the death of Justice Antonin Scalia on February 13, 2016. Shortly after Scalia’s death, Senate Republicans vowed to block any nominee that then-President Barack… Read More

This morning the justices added two new cases to their merits docket for next term, but once again they did not act on perhaps the most closely watched case on their cert docket – a challenge by a Colorado man who objects to having to create cakes for same-sex weddings. Today’s two grants involve very… Read More

Most oral arguments at the Supreme Court focus heavily on principles of law. But today in Turner v. United States and Overton v. United States, the discussion focused instead almost exclusively on the facts – such as the size of the garage in which the body of 48-year-old Catherine Fuller was found and the scenarios… Read More

This morning the Supreme Court heard oral argument in the case of Jae Lee, a Korean immigrant who was charged with possession of ecstasy with intent to distribute it. Lee accepted a plea bargain after his attorney told him that he would not be deported. That advice turned out to be, as Justice Elena Kagan… Read More