In 1969, the Supreme Court ruled in Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District that public school officials can regulate speech that would substantially disrupt the school’s work. On Wednesday, the justices will consider whether Tinker also applies to speech by students that occurs off campus. In the internet era, in which cellphones and… Read More

The Supreme Court issued orders on Monday morning from the justices’ private conference on Friday, April 23. The court added three new cases to its docket for arguments next fall, including a major new case (covered in this article) on the scope of the Second Amendment right to carry a gun outside the home. The… Read More

The Supreme Court will close out its April argument session next week with two major First Amendment cases. On Wednesday, it will hear the case of a Pennsylvania student who was removed from her high school cheerleading team after posting offensive messages on social media. But on Monday, it will first hear a very different… Read More

A divided Supreme Court on Friday night granted a request by a California pastor to put COVID-related restrictions on in-home Bible study and prayer meetings on hold. The ruling, issued just before midnight, was the most recent in a series of challenges, dating back almost to the start of the pandemic, to restrictions on in-person… Read More

Tennessee filed an emergency request with the Supreme Court on Monday, asking the justices for permission to enforce a 48-hour waiting period for abortions while it appeals a federal district court’s ruling that declared the waiting period unconstitutional. Characterizing the waiting period as “materially indistinguishable” from one the Supreme Court upheld nearly 30 years ago… Read More

Yet another dispute is likely to disappear from the court’s docket after a change in position by the Biden administration. Acting Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar and lawyers for state and local governments and non-profit groups on Friday night asked the court to dismiss a trio of cases challenging regulations issued by the Trump administration in… Read More

In the latest of a line of challenges to restrictions arising from the COVID-19 pandemic, the Supreme Court ordered a California county to allow churches to hold indoor worship services. In a brief order on Friday night, the justices granted a request to block county public health restrictions imposed in light of the pandemic while… Read More

An old English maxim instructs that a man’s home is his castle – a refuge from the outside world. On Wednesday the Supreme Court will hear oral argument in a case testing how much protection the Constitution provides to the home. At issue in Lange v. California is whether, when police are pursuing someone for… Read More

The 2020 elections may be over, but the Supreme Court will soon hear oral argument in a pair of voting-rights cases from one of last year’s key battleground states, and the eventual outcome may determine how courts will assess allegedly discriminatory voting rules for years to come. The cases challenge two Arizona voting provisions: a… Read More

The Supreme Court on Thursday night ruled that the execution of an Alabama man must remain on hold unless the state allows the man, Willie Smith III, to have his pastor by his side in the execution chamber. The justices rejected a request by the state to undo a ruling by the U.S. Court of… Read More