The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to take up a major case involving funding for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which was formed in response to the 2008 financial crisis. A federal appeals court ruled in October that the funding mechanism for the CFPB violates the Constitution, but the Biden administration, which had asked the… Read More
In lawsuit against tech companies, justices debate what it means to “aid and abet” terrorism
The Supreme Court on Wednesday appeared wary of a lawsuit seeking to hold Twitter, Facebook, and Google liable for aiding and abetting international terrorism based on ISIS’s use of the companies’ platforms. But during nearly three hours of oral argument, the justices struggled to draw a line between holding organizations responsible for supporting terrorism and… Read More
Court declines to hear case on whether defense attorneys are obligated to seek favorable plea deals
Over a dissent from two of the court’s liberal justices, the Supreme Court turned down an appeal asking them to decide whether a criminal-defense attorney is required to initiate negotiations with prosecutors when his client is likely to get a better result from a plea deal. The denial of review on Tuesday in the case… Read More
“Not, like, the nine greatest experts on the internet”: Justices seem leery of broad ruling on Section 230
The Supreme Court on Tuesday debated the scope of a 27-year-old federal law that shields social-media companies from liability for content published by others. At issue in Gonzalez v. Google is whether Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act protects internet platforms when their algorithms target users and recommend someone else’s content. Google and its… Read More
Justices request federal government’s views on Texas and Florida social-media laws
The Supreme Court on Monday asked the Biden administration for its views on a pair of controversial social-media laws enacted in Texas and Florida. Passed in response to beliefs that social-media platforms were censoring their users, particularly those expressing conservative political views, both states’ laws seek to regulate the content-moderation policies of social-media companies like… Read More
Deaf student’s lawsuit against school district draws support from justices on both the left and the right
The Supreme Court on Wednesday seemed ready to side with a deaf student who is seeking financial compensation from a Michigan school district that failed to provide him with a qualified sign-language interpreter. The student, Miguel Perez, alleges that the school district violated the Americans with Disabilities Act. Lower courts threw out his lawsuit, ruling… Read More
Court allows New York to enforce new gun-control law while legal challenge proceeds
Less than seven months after a landmark decision striking down a New York law that restricted handguns in public, the Supreme Court on Wednesday allowed the state – at least for now – to keep enforcing the gun-control law that the state enacted in response to that ruling. In a brief unsigned order on the… Read More
Justices revive Texas man’s bid to throw out conviction that state prosecutors no longer defend
The Supreme Court on Monday revived efforts by a Texas inmate to throw out his conviction and death sentence in a case in which prosecutors agree that he should get a new trial. The ruling in favor of Areli Escobar came on a list of orders released from the justices’ private conference last week. The… Read More
Court adds second challenge to Biden’s student-loan relief plan
On Dec. 1, the Supreme Court agreed to fast-track a challenge, brought by six states, to the Biden administration’s student-loan debt relief program. On Monday, the justices agreed to take up another challenge to the program, this time filed by two student-loan borrowers. Both cases will be argued in late February or early March. Biden… Read More
Court orders oral argument in N.Y.-N.J. dispute and requests government’s views on two pending petitions
The Supreme Court called for oral argument in a dispute between New York and New Jersey over New Jersey’s efforts to withdraw from a 1953 agreement involving seaport security. That announcement came on the list of orders from last week’s conference, released on Monday morning. In late June, the justices granted New York’s request to… Read More