The Supreme Court on Tuesday blocked a federal judge’s ruling that had ordered the government to end a Trump-era border policy that allows immigration officials to quickly turn away migrants seeking asylum. The justices agreed to hear argument in late February or early March on whether 19 states with Republican attorneys general can step in… Read More
Trump-era border policy will remain in place while justices hear argument on procedural question
States ask Supreme Court to keep Title 42 border policy in effect
Nineteen states came to the Supreme Court on Monday, asking the justices to keep in place a Trump-era policy that allows immigration officials to quickly expel migrants seeking asylum at the U.S. border. The states, led by Arizona, warn the justices that if the court does not block a federal judge’s order that would end… Read More
Court schedules February arguments on student-loan relief, tech companies’ liability
The Supreme Court will hear back-to-back oral arguments on Feb. 28 in a pair of challenges to the Biden administration’s student-loan forgiveness program. The student-loan challenges are the highest-profile cases on the court’s February argument calendar, which was released on Monday morning. The February calendar also includes two cases involving the scope of a federal… Read More
Justices grant review in two criminal cases and a securities lawsuit against Slack
The Supreme Court on Tuesday morning added three new cases to its merits docket for the 2022-23 term. The justices considered all three cases – involving federal securities laws, the Sixth Amendment’s confrontation clause, and the proper remedy when a defendant is tried in the wrong place – at their private conference last week. Although… Read More
Court will resume opinion announcements from the bench, but won’t provide live audio
The Supreme Court will resume its pre-pandemic practice of announcing opinions from the bench, the court’s Public Information Office said on Monday afternoon. But although the justices now provide live audio of oral arguments, the opinion announcements will not be livestreamed. Instead, consistent with the court’s pre-pandemic practice, the audio of opinion announcements will not… Read More
Justices reject industry bid to block California’s ban on flavored tobacco
The Supreme Court on Monday turned down a request from a group of tobacco companies and retailers to block a California law that bans the sale of flavored tobacco. The state enacted the law in response to an increase in tobacco use by young people, but a group of tobacco companies argued that a 2009… Read More
Court seems unwilling to embrace broad version of “independent state legislature” theory
The Supreme Court on Wednesday signaled that it may not be ready to adopt a sweeping interpretation of the Constitution, known as the “independent state legislature” theory, that would give state legislatures broad power to regulate federal elections without interference from state courts. Although some justices appeared receptive to that theory during nearly three hours… Read More
In high-stakes election case, justices will decide validity of “independent state legislature” theory
The Supreme Court will hear oral argument on Wednesday in a case that UCLA law professor Richard Hasen has called the “800-pound gorilla” of election law. The case, Moore v. Harper, is a test of the “independent state legislature” theory – the idea that the Constitution gives state legislatures nearly unfettered authority to regulate federal… Read More
Conservative justices seem poised to side with web designer who opposes same-sex marriage
The Supreme Court heard oral argument on Monday in the case of Lorie Smith, a website designer and devout Christian who wants to expand her business to include wedding websites – but only for opposite-sex couples. Smith is challenging a Colorado law that prohibits most businesses from discriminating against LGBTQ customers. Requiring her to create… Read More
Jackson issues dissent in Missouri death-penalty case a day after majority allowed execution to proceed
One day after the Supreme Court refused to block the execution of Missouri inmate Kevin Johnson, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson released an opinion, joined by Justice Sonia Sotomayor, explaining the pair’s dissent from Tuesday’s ruling. In Jackson’s view, the justices should have put Johnson’s execution on hold because he had shown that the Missouri Supreme… Read More