Before departing for the summer recess, the justices on Thursday issued orders from their private conference the day before. That conference was not one of the justices’ regularly scheduled conferences; instead, it was what is sometimes referred to as the “clean-up” conference, an opportunity for the justices to dispose of the petitions for review that… Read More
Justices will hear case that tests power of state legislatures to set rules for federal elections
The Supreme Court will take up a case from North Carolina next term that could upend federal elections by eliminating virtually all oversight of those elections by state courts. On Thursday, the justices granted review in Moore v. Harper, a dispute arising from the state’s efforts to draw new congressional maps in response to the… Read More
Justices reinstate Louisiana voting map that is being challenged under Voting Rights Act
A divided Supreme Court on Tuesday blocked a district court’s order that would have required the Louisiana legislature to draw new congressional maps, including a second majority-Black district. The three liberal justices dissented from the brief, unsigned order, which effectively clears the way for Louisiana to use its original map, which the district court found… Read More
Justices earned extra money from books and teaching in 2021, disclosures show
Justice Amy Coney Barrett received $425,000 last year as part of a book deal reportedly worth $2 million, while Justice Neil Gorsuch received just over $250,000 in book royalties. The news came in financial disclosures released on Thursday by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, the administrative agency of the federal judiciary. The justices… Read More
Court allows Pennsylvania officials to count ballots that arrived in undated envelopes
The Supreme Court on Thursday cleared the way for a Pennsylvania county to count mail-in ballots that do not comply with a state law requiring voters to write the date on the ballot’s envelope. Although the case arose from a single local judicial race, it raised broader issues about how federal voting-rights protections apply when… Read More
Divided court blocks Texas from enforcing social media law
The Supreme Court on Tuesday sided with the technology industry and blocked a controversial Texas law that bars large social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter from removing posts based on the viewpoints they express. The justices divided 5-4 in an ideologically scrambled vote. Three of the court’s conservatives (Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices… Read More
Justices grant review in two cases that test jurisdiction of district courts
The Supreme Court on Monday morning added two new cases, both involving the jurisdiction of federal district courts, to the merits docket for the 2022-23 term. And the justices called for the federal government’s views in two more cases, involving a school board’s responsibility for student-on-student sexual harassment and pleading requirements in cases brought under… Read More
Court sides with Ted Cruz and strikes down campaign-finance restriction along ideological lines
The Supreme Court on Monday struck down a federal campaign-finance law that limits how and when candidates can repay loans that they make to their own campaigns. The 6-3 ruling, which held that the law violates the First Amendment, came in a case filed by Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, after his 2018 victory over Democrat… Read More
Tech industry asks court to block Texas law that targets social media companies
Two technology trade groups came to the Supreme Court on Friday night, asking the justices to block a controversial Texas law that bars large social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter from moderating speech based on the viewpoints of their users. Describing the law as an “undisguised effort to level the speech playing field and… Read More
Roberts orders leak investigation as court confirms authenticity of draft opinion
The Supreme Court on Tuesday morning confirmed that a draft opinion in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, published by Politico on Monday night, is authentic. In a press release, the court stressed that the draft opinion, in which a majority of the court appears poised to overrule the Supreme Court’s landmark decisions in Roe… Read More