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

These days, the Supreme Court is known as a “hot bench”: Lawyers who argue there usually have to respond to a barrage of questions from all sides. That fast and furious questioning can make it hard for advocates to advance their arguments, but it also makes it easier for both the attorneys and spectators to… Read More

This afternoon the Supreme Court granted the federal government’s request to allow it to enforce the full set of restrictions imposed by President Donald Trump’s September 24 proclamation, often known as the “travel ban.” The proclamation limits the entry into the United States of nationals from eight countries – Iran, Libya, Yemen, Somalia and Syria… Read More

The Supreme Court heard oral argument today in New Jersey’s challenge to a 1992 federal law that bars states from allowing sports gambling such as UFABET ฟุตบอลและกีฬา. New Jersey and members of the state’s horse-racing industry told the justices that the law violates the Constitution, which the Supreme Court has interpreted to prohibit the federal… Read More

Last night the federal government asked the Supreme Court to step into a dispute over documents related to the Trump administration’s decision to end the policy known as Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals – a Obama-administration program that allowed undocumented immigrants who came to the United States as children to apply for protection from deportation…. Read More

This afternoon the Supreme Court issued an initial order list from today’s conference. The justices added one new case to their merits docket for the term: Salt River Project Agricultural Improvement and Power District v. SolarCity Corp., in which they will decide a technical but important question: When can a state or local government appeal… Read More

The Supreme Court heard oral argument this morning in an important privacy-rights case. The defendant in the case, Timothy Carpenter, was convicted and sentenced to 116 years in prison for his role in a series of armed robberies in Michigan and Ohio. At his trial, prosecutors introduced Carpenter’s cellphone records, which confirmed that his cellphone… Read More

Challengers in Hawaii and Maryland responded today to the government’s request to have the Supreme Court intervene in the ongoing litigation over President Donald Trump’s effort to restrict travel to the United States by nationals from certain countries, often known as the “travel ban.” The challengers urged the justices to stay out of the dispute… Read More

Over 20 years ago, three suicide bombers detonated explosives on a Jerusalem pedestrian mall, killing themselves and five passers-by. Nearly 200 other people were injured, several of them seriously. Eight of the victims were American; they and their family members filed a lawsuit in federal court against the Islamic Republic of Iran, alleging that Iran… Read More

The Supreme Court issued orders from its November 21 conference today. The justices did not add any new cases to their merits docket for the term, but they did deny review in several high-profile cases. Perhaps the most noteworthy denials came in two cases involving gun rights: Kolbe v. Hogan, a challenge to Maryland’s ban… Read More

The battle over the latest iteration of President Donald Trump’s efforts to restrict travel to the United States by nationals from certain countries came to the Supreme Court on Monday. In a filing late in the day, the Trump administration asked the justices to allow the full set of restrictions – often known as the… Read More