The Supreme Court appears poised to reverse the conviction of a powerful New York political aide who took money in exchange for helping to facilitate a real estate development. Joseph Percoco was sentenced to six years in prison for violating a federal fraud law that makes it a crime to deprive members of the public… Read More
In U.S. v. Texas, broad questions over immigration enforcement and states’ ability to challenge federal policies
The Supreme Court will hear oral argument on Tuesday in a dispute over the Biden administration’s authority to set immigration policy. Texas and Louisiana are challenging a federal policy that prioritizes certain groups of unauthorized immigrants for arrest and deportation, arguing that it violates federal law. But the Biden administration and its supporters counter that… Read More
Court declines to take up petition seeking to overturn Insular Cases
The Supreme Court will not reconsider the Insular Cases, a widely criticized and racist group of early 20th-century decisions holding that the residents of U.S. territories do not automatically enjoy all of the rights protected by the Constitution. The announcement came on a list of orders released on Monday morning from the justices’ private conference… Read More
California law on sale of pork raises concerns about interstate moral disputes in a “balkanized” nation
A case about a California animal-welfare law became a springboard on Tuesday for the justices to explore how individual states might try to impose their moral views on their neighbors. As they considered the constitutionality of California’s Proposition 12, the justices wondered aloud how the case would affect hypothetical state efforts to ban products from… Read More
Conservative justices seem poised to uphold Alabama’s redistricting plan in Voting Rights Act challenge
In February, a divided Supreme Court temporarily blocked a ruling by a three-judge district court in Alabama, which had agreed that the state’s new congressional map likely violates the Voting Rights Act. After nearly two hours of oral argument on Tuesday, the justices appeared inclined to permanently set aside the district court’s ruling, even if… Read More
EPA’s authority over wetlands is at stake as justices wade back into regulatory morass
When the Supreme Court returns to the bench on Oct. 3 for the start of its new term, it will begin with a case that is not new to it. In Sackett v. Environmental Protection Agency, the justices will once again weigh in on an Idaho couple’s efforts to build on land that they own… Read More
Divided court authorizes Alabama execution, but state is unable to carry it out before midnight deadline
The Supreme Court on Thursday night cleared the way for Alabama to carry out a lethal injection of an inmate who argued that he had the right to be executed by nitrogen hypoxia, a method that supporters say is more humane. In an unsigned order that divided the justices 5-4, the court lifted an order… Read More
Jackson’s financial disclosure reveals additional income in previous years
The court’s newest justice, Ketanji Brown Jackson, omitted information regarding reimbursements and teaching income when she filed her 2014 and 2016 financial disclosures as a federal district court judge. On a newly released disclosure form, Jackson wrote that she “inadvertently omitted” the information from the previous years’ forms. Jackson’s new disclosure form, known as a… Read More
Alito’s financial disclosure shows teaching income, speaking engagements, and stock ownership
Justice Samuel Alito earned $24,000 in 2021 for teaching gigs at two law schools, and he continued to own a wide range of stocks, according to his recently released annual financial disclosure. Each justice is required to file a financial disclosure every year by May 15 with the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, which… Read More
Security fencing around court is removed, but building remains closed to public
An eight-foot-tall fence erected around the Supreme Court in the spring has come down, replaced by a network of much smaller barriers. The court put up the taller fence, described at the time by police officers as “nonscalable,” in early May, in response to protests that followed the leak of a draft opinion indicating that… Read More