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

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

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

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

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

For the second time in less than a week, the Supreme Court declined to block the execution of Kevin Johnson, paving the way for Missouri to carry out his lethal injection on Tuesday night. Johnson, who is Black, argued in his final appeal that his execution should be put on hold in light of recent… Read More

The Supreme Court heard oral argument on Tuesday in a challenge to a Biden administration policy that prioritizes certain groups of unauthorized immigrants for arrest and deportation. Although some justices questioned the legality of the policy, there were also questions about whether the states challenging the policy could bring their lawsuit at all, and whether… Read More

The Supreme Court will hear oral argument on Monday in the latest in a series of cases involving the reach of federal public-corruption laws. The question before the justices in Percoco v. United States is whether an individual can be convicted of violating those laws even when he is not a government official or employee…. Read More

The Supreme Court on Wednesday declined to block the execution of Kevin Johnson, who is scheduled to die by lethal injection in Missouri on Nov. 29. There were no recorded dissents from the court’s brief order. Johnson was convicted and received the death penalty for the 2005 shooting death of William McEntee, a police officer…. Read More

Cecilia “Cissy” Marshall, the widow of the late Justice Thurgood Marshall, who was the first Black justice to serve on the Supreme Court, died on Tuesday in Falls Church, Virginia, the court announced. She was 94. Cissy Marshall was born in Hawaii. After World War II, she moved to New York City, where she took… Read More