Justice Clarence Thomas revealed on Friday that conservative billionaire Harlan Crow paid for two trips in 2019, involving a hotel stay in Bali, Indonesia, and at a private club in Sonoma County, Calif. The news came as part of the justices’ annual financial disclosures, which are filed in mid-May and released in early June each… Read More
In financial disclosure Thomas adds two “inadvertently omitted” trips from billionaire Crow
Supreme Court rules U.S. must pay more for Native American tribes’ health care
The Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that the federal government must provide additional funding to cover some administrative costs incurred by Native American tribes that operate their own health-care programs. By a vote of 5-4, with Justice Neil Gorsuch – perhaps the strongest ally of Native Americans on the court – providing the deciding vote,… Read More
Justices add one new case to next term’s docket
In a list of orders released on Monday morning, the Supreme Court added one new case to its argument docket for the 2024-25 term. With roughly one month remaining before the justices’ summer recess, during which they traditionally do not grant new petitions for review, the justices now have only 10 cases on their schedule… Read More
Justices reinstate death sentence for Arizona man
By a vote of 6-3 along ideological lines, the justices ruled that a federal appeals court was wrong when it ordered post-conviction relief for Danny Lee Jones, who contended that his Sixth Amendment right to have adequate representation by his lawyer was violated during the sentencing phase of his trial. Jones was convicted and sentenced… Read More
Supreme Court rules for NRA in First Amendment dispute
The Supreme Court on Thursday reinstated a lawsuit by the National Rifle Association, alleging that a New York official violated the group’s First Amendment rights when she urged banks and insurance companies not to do business with it in the wake of the 2018 shooting at a Florida high school. In a unanimous decision by… Read More
Alito reject calls to recuse from Trump, Jan. 6 cases in light of flag controversies
Two weeks after the New York Times first reported that an upside-down American flag – popular among the “Stop the Steal” movement – flew outside the Virginia home of Justice Samuel Alito in the days following the Jan. 6, 2021, attacks on the U.S. Capitol, Alito rebuffed requests from Democratic lawmakers to recuse himself from… Read More
Supreme Court takes Clean Water Act case
The justices agreed to take up a Clean Water Act case brought by San Francisco against the Environmental Protection Agency in a scheduled list of orders on Tuesday. The case was the only addition to the justices’ docket for their 2024-25 term. And over a dissent by Justice Neil Gorsuch, the justices declined to decide… Read More
Court rules for South Carolina Republicans in dispute over congressional map
The Supreme Court on Thursday threw out a ruling by a federal district court holding that a congressional district on the South Carolina coast was an unconstitutional racial gerrymander – that is, it sorted voters based primarily on their race. In an opinion by Justice Samuel Alito, the justices cleared the way for the state… Read More
Justices turn down parents’ challenge to school support plans for trans students
The Supreme Court did not add any new cases to its merits docket for the 2024-25 term in a scheduled list of written orders on Monday morning. The justices denied review in over 60 cases, including a challenge to a Maryland county’s guidelines to provide support for transgender students. In John and Jane Parents 1… Read More
Supreme Court lets CFPB funding stand
The Supreme Court on Thursday rejected a challenge to the constitutionality of the structure used to fund the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the federal agency tasked with enforcing consumer finance laws. By a vote of 7-2, the justices reversed a decision by a federal appeals court in Louisiana, which had ruled that the agency’s funding… Read More