After roughly two hours of oral argument in the Supreme Court on Tuesday, it appeared likely that the Affordable Care Act will survive yet another effort in the courts to dismantle it. Although there may be five votes to strike down the ACA’s individual mandate – the provision in the law that directs virtually all… Read More

The Supreme Court on Monday morning issued orders from the justices’ private conference last week. The justices added two new cases, consolidated for one hour of oral argument, to their merits docket for the term. Monday’s list was also the first set of regularly scheduled orders in which the court’s newest justice, Amy Coney Barrett,… Read More

Claiming that it “is currently unclear whether all 67 county boards of elections” in Pennsylvania are following instructions to segregate mail-in ballots that arrive after Election Day, Republicans on Friday asked the Supreme Court to order election boards to keep those ballots separate and to refrain from counting them while the Republicans’ legal challenge to… Read More

Since Congress passed the Affordable Care Act in 2010, the Supreme Court has reviewed six cases testing various parts of the law or the regulations that flow from it. One week after Election Day, the court will hear oral argument in a seventh. The newest challenge, California v. Texas, will be the second time the… Read More

The Supreme Court heard oral argument on Tuesday on what states must do before imposing a sentence of life without the possibility of parole for defendants who were under the age of 18 when they committed their crimes. After nearly an hour and half of oral argument by telephone, it was not clear how the… Read More

The Supreme Court ruled in 2012 in Miller v. Alabama that mandatory life-without-parole sentences are unconstitutional for defendants who were under the age of 18 when they committed their crimes. Four years later, in Montgomery v. Louisiana, the court made clear that Miller’s ban on mandatory life-without-parole sentences applies retroactively to convictions that had become… Read More

The Supreme Court issued orders on Monday from the justices’ private conference last week. Although Justice Amy Coney Barrett joined the court last week, she did not participate in the conference; a statement from a Supreme Court spokeswoman indicated that Barrett sat out the conference to give her more time to prepare for oral arguments…. Read More

In their orders on Monday, the justices struck down a ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit that had blocked a Texas inmate’s lawsuit against prison officials. The inmate, Trent Taylor, was forced to spend six days naked in cells that contained feces from previous occupants and overflowing sewage. Taylor alleged… Read More

In their orders from last week’s private conference, the justices on Monday vacated the decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit in Mckesson v. Doe, a case arising out of the Black Lives Matter movement, and sent the case back for another look – and with more information from state courts… Read More

In the past five years, the Supreme Court has ruled that the Constitution guarantees a right to same-sex marriage and that federal employment discrimination laws protect LGBTQ employees. On Nov. 4, the justices will hear oral argument in a clash between religious freedom and laws and policies that protect LGBTQ rights. The court’s decision in… Read More