Amy Howe

Mar 4 2022

Government can invoke state secrets privilege in lawsuit alleging unlawful surveillance

The Supreme Court on Friday dealt a blow to a lawsuit filed by three Muslim men who claim that they were targeted by an FBI counterterrorism investigation because of their religion. In a narrow but unanimous ruling, the justices held that a provision of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act does not trump the “state secrets”… Read More

Mar 4 2022

In 6-3 ruling, court reinstates death penalty for Boston Marathon bomber

Nearly nine years after bombings near the finish line of the Boston Marathon killed three people and badly injured hundreds more, the Supreme Court on Friday reinstated the death sentence of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, who was convicted for his role in the 2013 attacks. By a vote of 6-3, the justices reversed a 2020 ruling by… Read More

Mar 3 2022

Fractured majority allows government to withhold information on torture at CIA black sites

The Supreme Court ruled on Thursday that information about the federal government’s post-9/11 torture program at CIA “black sites” is protected by the “state secrets privilege,” a doctrine that allows the government to withhold information in litigation when disclosing it would compromise national security. The fractured decision in United States v. Zubaydah, written by Justice… Read More

Mar 3 2022

Justices allow Kentucky’s attorney general to take over legal defense of state’s abortion law

The Supreme Court ruled on Thursday that Kentucky’s attorney general should have been allowed to intervene to defend a state law restricting abortion after another state official declined to do so – even when the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit had already struck down the law. The 8-1 decision in Cameron v…. Read More

Mar 1 2022

Jackson submits Senate Judiciary questionnaire, prepares to start meeting with senators

Just four days after President Joe Biden nominated her to succeed Justice Stephen Breyer, Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson submitted her responses to a questionnaire that the Senate Judiciary Committee will use as it considers her nomination. Her responses repeat many of the details in the questionnaire that she submitted in 2021 when she was nominated… Read More

Feb 28 2022

In climate-change case, justices grapple with EPA’s role, congressional intent, and their own jurisdiction

For two hours on Monday, the justices probed the extent of the Environmental Protection Agency’s authority to regulate greenhouse gases in a case with high stakes for the Biden administration’s plans to slow climate change. By the end of the oral argument, there were no clear indications about how the court is likely to rule…. Read More

Feb 22 2022

Justices will hear free-speech claim from website designer who opposes same-sex marriage

Nearly four years after the Supreme Court declined to decide whether compelling a Colorado baker to bake a cake for same-sex couples would violate his right to freedom of speech, the justices agreed to take up a similar question in another case from Colorado, this time involving a website designer. The justices’ decision to grant… Read More

Feb 18 2022

Justices agree to review Biden’s attempt to unwind Trump-era asylum policy 

The Supreme Court on Friday afternoon agreed to decide whether the Biden administration must continue to enforce the Trump-era program known as the “remain in Mexico” policy, which requires asylum seekers to stay in Mexico while they wait for a hearing in U.S. immigration court. The justices fast-tracked the administration’s appeal, setting the case for… Read More

Feb 3 2022

Profile of a potential nominee: J. Michelle Childs

In 2020, Rep. James Clyburn of South Carolina made a key endorsement, backing then-candidate Joe Biden in the state’s Democratic primary. Less than two years later, Clyburn has made another major endorsement, urging Biden to nominate Judge J. Michelle Childs, a federal trial judge in South Carolina, to succeed Justice Stephen Breyer when he retires…. Read More

Jan 28 2022

Court sets quiet March argument calendar

The Supreme Court ended a week of momentous news on a much more low-key note, releasing on Friday afternoon the argument calendar for the justices’ March arguments. The court will hear eight hours of oral arguments over six days, on topics ranging from arbitration to international child-custody law. Here is the full list of cases… Read More

Amy L Howe
Until September 2016, Amy served as the editor and reporter for SCOTUSblog, a blog devoted to coverage of the Supreme Court of the United States; she continues to serve as an independent contractor and reporter for SCOTUSblog. Before turning to full-time blogging, she served as counsel in over two dozen merits cases at the Supreme Court and argued two cases there. From 2004 until 2011, she co-taught Supreme Court litigation at Stanford Law School; from 2005 until 2013, she co-taught a similar class at Harvard Law School. She has also served as an adjunct professor at American University’s Washington College of Law and Vanderbilt Law School. Amy is a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and holds a master’s degree in Arab Studies and a law degree from Georgetown University.
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Recent ScotusBlog Posts from Amy
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More from Amy Howe

Recent Posts

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  • Court hears challenge to ACA preventative-care coverage
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