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

The Supreme Court announced today that Justice Sonia Sotomayor, who injured her left shoulder in a fall at her home earlier this month, will undergo “reverse total shoulder replacement surgery” tomorrow morning. In a press release issued this afternoon, the court’s public information office indicated that the 63-year-old justice will curtail her activities “for the… Read More

This morning the justices of the Supreme Court issued orders from their private conference last week. They added three new cases to their docket for next fall, but once again did not act on the government’s petition to nullify a ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit that cleared… Read More

It has been nearly 15 months since President Donald Trump first issued an order that banned travel to the United States by nationals of seven countries, all of which have overwhelmingly Muslim populations. After lower courts blocked the government from enforcing both the original January 2017 order and a revised order that followed it in… Read More

When a case comes to the Supreme Court, the justices are usually interpreting U.S. laws – either the U.S. Constitution or a federal statute. But in today’s global economy, resolving cases brought under U.S. law in U.S. courts can also require an understanding of foreign laws. And that’s not always easy, especially when the foreign… Read More

The 2010 census brought good news for Texas. In the 10 years since the last census, it had gained nearly four million residents, which translated into four more seats in the U.S. House of Representatives. Those changes would require the state’s Republican-controlled legislature to draw new maps for both Congress and the statehouse, which it… Read More

Nearly seven years ago, the Supreme Court agreed to decide whether corporations can be sued under the Alien Tort Statute, an 18th-century law that allows foreigners to bring lawsuits in U.S. courts for serious violations of international human-rights laws. The justices ultimately did not resolve the corporate liability question in that case, ruling instead that… Read More

This morning the Supreme Court added two new cases, consolidated for one hour of oral argument, to its docket for next term. Today’s grants mean that the justices will once again grapple with the Armed Career Criminal Act, which requires longer sentences for repeat offenders who commit crimes with guns and have been convicted of… Read More

When the Supreme Court convenes next week to hear oral argument in the challenge to President Donald Trump’s September 2017 proclamation – often referred to as the “travel ban” – restricting travel to the United States by citizens of eight countries, many of the reporters covering the hearing will be at the court for the… Read More

On Wednesday, April 25, the justices will take the bench for the final oral argument scheduled for this term. Fittingly, the case on their docket that day is one of the biggest of the year: Trump v. Hawaii, the challenge to the latest iteration of President Donald Trump’s efforts to restrict travel to the United… Read More

Since October, the Supreme Court has heard oral argument in two major redistricting battles, involving allegations of partisan gerrymandering in Wisconsin and Maryland. When the justices take the bench next Tuesday, they will hear oral argument in a third redistricting dispute, this time involving allegations that Texas lawmakers drew federal congressional and state legislative districts… Read More