Nearly four years after the Supreme Court declined to decide whether compelling a Colorado baker to bake a cake for same-sex couples would violate his right to freedom of speech, the justices agreed to take up a similar question in another case from Colorado, this time involving a website designer. The justices’ decision to grant… Read More
Justices will hear free-speech claim from website designer who opposes same-sex marriage
Justices agree to review Biden’s attempt to unwind Trump-era asylum policy
The Supreme Court on Friday afternoon agreed to decide whether the Biden administration must continue to enforce the Trump-era program known as the “remain in Mexico” policy, which requires asylum seekers to stay in Mexico while they wait for a hearing in U.S. immigration court. The justices fast-tracked the administration’s appeal, setting the case for… Read More
In 5-4 vote, justices reinstate Alabama voting map despite lower court’s ruling that it dilutes Black votes
The Supreme Court on Monday allowed Alabama to implement a redistricting plan that is being challenged as illegal racial gerrymandering. A lower court ruled last month that the state’s new congressional map likely violates the Voting Rights Act, and it ordered the state to draw a new map. But the Supreme Court in a 5-4… Read More
Profile of a potential nominee: J. Michelle Childs
In 2020, Rep. James Clyburn of South Carolina made a key endorsement, backing then-candidate Joe Biden in the state’s Democratic primary. Less than two years later, Clyburn has made another major endorsement, urging Biden to nominate Judge J. Michelle Childs, a federal trial judge in South Carolina, to succeed Justice Stephen Breyer when he retires…. Read More
Profile of a potential nominee: Ketanji Brown Jackson
Even before taking office, President Joe Biden pledged to reshape the federal judiciary. In a December 2020 letter, during his presidential transition, he asked Democratic senators to recommend public defenders and civil rights lawyers, who have generally been underrepresented on the federal bench, for judgeships. If the president nominates Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, who currently… Read More
Court sets quiet March argument calendar
The Supreme Court ended a week of momentous news on a much more low-key note, releasing on Friday afternoon the argument calendar for the justices’ March arguments. The court will hear eight hours of oral arguments over six days, on topics ranging from arbitration to international child-custody law. Here is the full list of cases… Read More
Biden reiterates promise to nominate a Black woman, lauds Breyer as “model public servant”
Justice Stephen Breyer on Thursday confirmed news reports indicating that he intends to retire from the Supreme Court. In a brief letter to President Joe Biden, the 83-year-old Breyer wrote that he plans to step down from the court at the end of the current term, assuming that a successor has been confirmed by that… Read More
Profile of a potential nominee: Leondra Kruger
During a 2020 Democratic presidential primary debate, then-candidate Joe Biden pledged that, if elected, he would nominate a Black woman to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court. With Justice Stephen Breyer expected to retire at the end of this term, California Supreme Court Justice Leondra Kruger is one of the frontrunners to succeed him. If… Read More
Stephen Breyer, pragmatic liberal, will retire at end of term
Justice Stephen Breyer, a devoted pragmatist and the senior member of the Supreme Court’s liberal wing, will retire from the court at the end of the 2021-22 term, NBC News reported Wednesday. Over nearly 28 years on the court, Breyer shunned rigid approaches to legal interpretation, often seeking functional rulings with an eye toward real-world… Read More
Justices take up cases on power of district courts and regulation of wetlands
The Supreme Court on Monday morning issued orders from the justices’ private conference on Friday, Jan. 21. In addition to taking up the issue of race in college admissions (covered here), the justices added two other cases to their docket for next term. One involves the power of federal district courts; the other tests the… Read More