UPDATE: In an unsigned order on Monday night, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit allowed medication abortions to go forward — the same relief that Planned Parenthood had sought in the Supreme Court — while litigation over the near-total ban on abortions in Texas continues. The ruling by the three-judge panel expressed… Read More

With an order that ended a day marked by twists and turns in the dispute over Wisconsin’s plan to hold its primary election tomorrow, the Supreme Court tonight granted a request by the Republican National Committee and the Republican Party of Wisconsin to block a lower-court order that had extended the deadline for absentee ballots… Read More

One day after Wisconsin Republicans asked the Supreme Court to block a lower-court ruling that extended the deadline for voters to submit absentee ballots in the state’s primary election, Wisconsin Democrats urged the justices to stay out of the dispute and allow that ruling to stay in place for now. Blocking the district court’s order,… Read More

UPDATED: Shortly before 9 p.m. EST, the Supreme Court cleared the way for Woods’ execution. In a brief order, the full court denied Woods’ petition for review and his request to put his execution on hold. The justices vacated the earlier order, entered by Justice Clarence Thomas, that temporarily blocked Woods’ execution. The justices also… Read More

This morning the Supreme Court heard oral argument in a challenge to a Louisiana law that would require doctors who perform abortions to have the right to admit patients at nearby hospitals. Like many cases involving hot-button issues, the drama inside the courtroom was matched by protests and rallies outside the Supreme Court. But unlike… Read More

In 2016, the Supreme Court struck down a Texas law that (among other things) required doctors who perform abortions in that state to have the right to admit patients at nearby hospitals. In that case, Justice Anthony Kennedy joined the court’s four more liberal justices in concluding that the law made it harder for women… Read More

In 1991, James McKinney and his half-brother killed two people while robbing the victims at their homes. McKinney was sentenced to death, but in 2015 the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit threw out his death sentences. In 2018, the Arizona Supreme Court resentenced McKinney, once again imposing the death penalty. Today a… Read More

The Supreme Court heard oral argument this morning in a case brought by the victims of the August 1998 bombings of the U.S. embassies in Tanzania and Kenya. Although the bombings killed over 200 people and injured more than a thousand others, today’s discussion before the eight justices – Justice Brett Kavanaugh was recused –… Read More

Last month the Supreme Court granted the federal government’s request for permission to enforce a rule known as the “public charge” rule, which prohibits noncitizens from receiving a green card if the government believes that they are likely to rely on public assistance. That ruling put on hold a pair of orders by a federal… Read More

UPDATE: Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg has directed the challengers to file a response to the government’s application by Wednesday, January 22, at 3 p.m. This afternoon the federal government called on the Supreme Court to intervene in a dispute over a new rule, known as the “public charge” rule, governing the admission of immigrants to… Read More