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

The Supreme Court on Tuesday declined to block the execution of Marcellus Williams, who in 2001 was convicted and sentenced to death for the 1998 stabbing murder of Felicia Gayle. None of the forensic evidence found in Gayle’s house tied Williams to the scene and his lawyers argued there was reason to believe he was… Read More

The Supreme Court on Friday left in place a ruling by the Nevada Supreme Court that keeps the Green Party off the state’s ballot for the 2024 general election. The Green Party had asked the justices to vacate the ruling while it appealed that decision, but in a brief unsigned order, the justices declined to… Read More

An Alaska man was arrested on Wednesday after he was indicted on charges of threatening to kill and injure six Supreme Court justices and two of their family members, the Department of Justice announced on Thursday. Over a 16-month period between March 2023 and July 2024, Panos Anastasiou allegedly sent more than 465 messages through… Read More

At her swearing-in ceremony to the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia in 2013, Ketanji Brown Jackson quipped to the group assembled, “It takes a village to raise a judge.” Jackson’s new memoir, “Lovely One” – the English translation of her first and middle names, Ketanji Onyika – pays homage to many of… Read More

In just over two weeks, the Supreme Court will meet for the so-called “long conference” – the first regularly scheduled conference since early July at which it will consider new petitions for review. The justices will have hundreds of petitions before them, but last year they agreed to add only 12 cases to their docket… Read More

Justice Samuel Alito did not report any reimbursements for travel-related expenses in 2023, according to a financial disclosure form made public on Friday. The form also revealed that Alito accepted concert tickets worth $900 from a German princess. Each justice is required to file a financial disclosure every year by May 15 with the Administrative… Read More

The Supreme Court on Tuesday denied a request from Oklahoma to reinstate over $4 million in funding for family-planning projects while the state’s challenge to the termination of the grant by the federal Department of Health and Human Services continues in the lower courts. Federal law requires states to provide abortion counseling and referrals as… Read More

The Supreme Court on Wednesday temporarily barred the Biden administration from implementing one of its latest efforts to provide debt relief to Americans with student loans. In a brief unsigned order, the justices declined to allow the Department of Education to put into effect a July 2023 rule, known as the SAVE Plan, intended to… Read More

Just under two months after a divided Supreme Court ruled that former presidents have broad immunity from prosecution for their conduct in office, Special Counsel Jack Smith charged former President Donald Trump in a revised indictment alleging that Trump conspired to overturn the results of the 2020 election. The court’s July 1 ruling, written by… Read More

A divided Supreme Court on Thursday afternoon granted a request from the Republican National Committee and the Republican leaders of Arizona’s legislature to reinstate a state law that requires residents to provide proof of citizenship to register to vote using a form provided by the state. The court turned down a request, however, to reinstate… Read More