Covering the Supreme Court and the Judiciary in (mostly) Plain English

The Supreme Court heard oral argument this morning in a case brought by the victims of the August 1998 bombings of the U.S. embassies in Tanzania and Kenya. Although the bombings killed over 200 people and injured more than a thousand others, today’s discussion before the eight justices – Justice Brett Kavanaugh was recused –… Read More

The Supreme Court returned from its winter recess today with just one new grant from last week’s private conference, but the newest addition to the court’s merits docket is a significant one. Next term the justices will hear oral argument in Fulton v. City of Philadelphia, a challenge by several foster parents and Catholic Social… Read More

Last month the Supreme Court granted the federal government’s request for permission to enforce a rule known as the “public charge” rule, which prohibits noncitizens from receiving a green card if the government believes that they are likely to rely on public assistance. That ruling put on hold a pair of orders by a federal… Read More

Today the Supreme Court released the calendar for its April argument session, the final argument session scheduled for this term. During the April session, which begins on April 20 and ends on April 29, the justices will hear eight hours of oral argument over six days. The session will include several high-profile cases, including a… Read More

In August 1998, truck bombs exploded outside the U.S. embassies in Tanzania and Kenya, killing more than 200 people and leaving more than a thousand others injured. Next week the Supreme Court will hear oral argument in a lawsuit brought by the victims and their family members against Sudan, seeking to recover damages for that… Read More

The congressional commission that investigated the 2008 financial crisis concluded that the United States’ consumer-protection system was “too fragmented to be effective.” In response to that finding, in 2010 Congress created the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau as part of the Dodd-Frank Act. The CFPB – whose website describes the bureau as a “U.S. government agency… Read More

Last night the Supreme Court declined to block the execution of Texas inmate Abel Revilla Ochoa, which was scheduled for yesterday. Ochoa was convicted and sentenced to death after he shot and killed his wife and two daughters, along with two other family members, in 2002. There were no recorded dissents from the ruling. Ochoa… Read More

This morning the Supreme Court issued the calendar for its March argument sitting, which begins on March 23 and continues through April 1. When they announced late last year that they would take up three disputes over access to President Donald Trump’s financial records, the justices indicated that the cases would be set for oral… Read More

Today a divided Supreme Court granted the Trump administration’s request for permission to enforce a rule known as the “public charge” rule, governing the admission of immigrants to the United States. The government had argued that it would suffer “effectively irreparable harm” if it could not implement the new rule while it appeals a pair… Read More

When he ran for president in 2016, then-candidate Donald Trump promised that, if elected, he would appoint “pro-life” Supreme Court justices, which would result in the overturning of Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 decision establishing a woman’s right to an abortion. In the three years since taking office, Trump has put two new justices… Read More