At least for now, the federal government will be able to rely on President Donald Trump’s March 6 executive order, often known as the “travel ban,” to bar roughly 24,000 refugees from entering the country. In late June, the Supreme Court allowed most of the order – which froze the issuance of visas for travelers… Read More
Hawaii responds in latest travel-ban dispute
The state of Hawaii fired back this morning, urging the Supreme Court to stay out of the most recent skirmish in the battle over President Donald Trump’s March 6 executive order, often known as the “travel ban.” Yesterday the Trump administration went to the justices to ask them to block a ruling by the U.S…. Read More
Trump administration returns to the Supreme Court, gets temporary stay on travel ban refugee ruling
In late June, the Supreme Court agreed to review decisions by two lower courts blocking the Trump administration from implementing the president’s March 6 executive order. That order, often known as the “travel ban,” put a freeze on new visas for travelers from six Muslim-majority countries – Syria, Sudan, Somalia, Libya, Iran and Yemen –… Read More
Wedding cakes v. religious beliefs?: In Plain English
Colorado’s anti-discrimination law bars places of public accommodation – that is, businesses that sell to the public – from discriminating based on (among other things) sexual orientation. In 2012, Charlie Craig and David Mullins went to Masterpiece Cakeshop, a Denver-area bakery, to order a cake to celebrate their upcoming wedding. But the couple left empty-handed… Read More
Challengers urge justices to sit out Texas redistricting battle for now
The Supreme Court should (and indeed must) stay out of the battle over Texas redistricting right now. That was the message in a 38-page filing submitted to the court today by the individuals and groups that had challenged the federal congressional redistricting maps adopted by the Texas legislature in 2013. Last month a three-judge federal… Read More
Looking ahead to the September 25 conference – Part 3
On September 25, the justices will meet for their first conference after their summer recess, which is also known as the “long” conference. At that conference, they will consider more petitions than they do at any time of the year (usually somewhere around 2,000) but will grant relatively few – last year, the number was… Read More
Supreme Court releases November argument calendar
The Supreme Court today released the calendar for the November sitting, which actually begins on Monday, October 30. The calendar is a relatively light one: The justices will hear oral arguments in eight cases over six days, with six of those eight days featuring only one argument each – a departure from the court’s general… Read More
Alito grants stay in Texas House redistricting case
Justice Samuel Alito acted quickly this afternoon to grant a request by Texas officials to block a lower court’s order that had invalidated the state’s maps for the Texas House of Representatives, the lower house of the Texas legislature. Today’s order putting the lower court’s ruling on hold came shortly after state officials filed their… Read More
Alito puts Texas redistricting case on hold
In a one-sentence order issued this afternoon, Justice Samuel Alito blocked an order by a federal district court in Texas that had invalidated two congressional districts in that state. Officials in Texas had asked the district court to put its order on hold to give it time to appeal to the Supreme Court, but the… Read More
Texas asks Supreme Court to intervene in redistricting battle
In June, the Supreme Court agreed to review a ruling by a three-judge federal district court striking down the redistricting plan that Wisconsin’s Republican-controlled legislature adopted after the 2010 census. Today the state of Texas asked the Supreme Court to step into another redistricting dispute, this time a long-running battle over that state’s congressional redistricting… Read More