Last Friday, the justices had their regularly scheduled private conference. According to the court’s Public Information Office, the meeting was a departure from their normal format: Following Center for Disease Control guidelines to combat the spread of the coronavirus, only Chief Justice John Roberts was actually in the justices’ conference room, with the rest of… Read More

This morning the Supreme Court issued its opinion in an important race-discrimination case. The justices unanimously ruled that a lawsuit brought under 42 U.S.C. § 1981, a part of the Civil Rights Act that prohibits racial discrimination in contracts, requires the plaintiff to show “but for” causation – that is, that the defendant would have… Read More

Until 1979, every jurisdiction in the United States allowed mentally ill defendants to assert what was traditionally regarded as an insanity defense – that is, to argue that because they did not understand that their actions were wrong, they cannot be held criminally responsible for those actions. Since then, five states, including Kansas, have abolished… Read More

In the past week, the coronavirus has prompted the Supreme Court to close its building to the public and postpone its March argument session, which was slated to begin on March 23. Today the justices responded again to the emergency created by the virus and its impact on U.S. workplaces by issuing an order that… Read More

This morning the Supreme Court announced that, in “keeping with public health precautions recommended in response to COVID-19,” it would postpone its March argument session, which had been scheduled to begin on March 23. The justices did not set a new date for the 11 arguments slated for the March session, which include the dispute… Read More

Shortly after the White House and Congress announced that they would close to the public due to increasing concern over the coronavirus, the Supreme Court this afternoon followed suit. In a brief notice posted on the court’s website, the court announced that it would close to the public as of 4:30 p.m. today and would… Read More

Today the Supreme Court granted the Trump administration’s application for permission to enforce the Migrant Protection Protocols, colloquially known as the “remain in Mexico” policy, while it appeals to the Supreme Court. Announced in December 2018, the policy allows the Department of Homeland Security to return immigrants seeking asylum to Mexico while they wait for… Read More

During the 2016 presidential campaign, then-candidate Donald Trump famously refused to release copies of his tax returns – a departure from the practice of nearly all major-party candidates in recent decades – and he has continued to decline to do so since then. But on March 31, the Supreme Court will hear oral argument in… Read More

In October, the Supreme Court heard oral argument in the case of Lee Boyd Malvo, one of the so-called “D.C. snipers,” and was poised to rule on the scope of its 2012 decision in Miller v. Alabama, holding that mandatory life-without-parole sentences for defendants who were under the age of 18 when they committed their… Read More

The Trump administration returned today to the Supreme Court with a request for emergency relief. In a filing by U.S. Solicitor General Noel Francisco, the administration asked the justices to allow it to enforce the Migrant Protection Protocols, also known as the “remain in Mexico” policy, which allows the Department of Homeland Security to return… Read More