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

One of the challenges to President Donald Trump’s March 6 executive order, often known as the “travel ban,” came to an end at the Supreme Court today, at least for now. In a brief order issued this evening, the justices sent Trump v. International Refugee Assistance Project back to the U.S. Court of Appeals for… Read More

The justices this morning issued orders from their October 6 conference. They did not act on the two challenges to President Donald Trump’s March 6 executive order, often known as the “travel ban,” nor did they grant review in any new cases. However, they did call for the views of the U.S. solicitor general in… Read More

The Supreme Court released its calendar today for the December sitting, which begins on November 27. During the six days of the sitting, the justices will hear 10 oral arguments: Four of the days will feature two oral arguments each, while two days have only one oral argument scheduled each day. Highlights of the sitting include… Read More

The Supreme Court released its calendar today for the December sitting, which begins on November 27. During the six days of the sitting, the justices will hear 10 oral arguments: Four of the days will feature two oral arguments each, while two days have only one oral argument scheduled each day. Highlights of the sitting… Read More

Both sides of the dispute over President Donald Trump’s March 6 executive order weighed in on the future of the challenges today. In filings with the Supreme Court, the federal government urged the justices to dismiss the case as moot – that is, no longer a live dispute – while the challengers told the court… Read More

In a brief order entered this afternoon, the Supreme Court allowed the execution of an Alabama inmate to go forward. The state had asked the court to intervene after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit put the execution on hold; the ruling means that the execution of Jeffrey Borden can proceed as… Read More

When the justices took the bench this morning to hear oral argument in District of Columbia v. Wesby, there were two young children, dressed in their Sunday best, seated in the front row of the public section. The issues before the court in Wesby seemed like fairly dry ones: whether D.C. police officers had probable… Read More

Today may have been only the second day of the Supreme Court’s new term, but it may also prove to be one of the biggest. The justices heard oral argument in Gill v. Whitford, a challenge to the redistricting plan passed by Wisconsin’s Republican-controlled legislature in 2011. A federal court struck down the plan last… Read More

A challenge to two Missouri abortion requirements has ended its trip to the Supreme Court – at least for now. Attorneys for Planned Parenthood notified the Supreme Court tonight that they were withdrawing their request to block a ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit after that court ruled in the… Read More

Last week the Supreme Court issued orders from the justices’ private conference on September 25 – often known as the “long conference” because the justices are returning from their summer recess and must review all of the petitions that have accrued in their absence. Today the justices issued a second set of orders from that… Read More