After closing out 2021 with a pair of argument sessions tackling high-profile issues like abortion, gun rights, and religion, the justices will ring in 2022 with a decidedly lower-profile set of cases. In an argument calendar released on Wednesday, the Supreme Court announced that it will hear oral arguments in eight cases over five days,… Read More
Justices grant arbitration case, won’t take up Volkswagen emissions cases
Ten years ago, in AT&T v. Concepcion, the Supreme Court ruled that the Federal Arbitration Act requires courts to put arbitration agreements “on an equal footing with other contracts.” Concepcion involved a state law that treated arbitration clauses unfavorably. On Monday, the court agreed to hear a lawsuit from a fast-food worker who alleges that… Read More
From barbecue restaurants to highway beautification, justices mull implications of sign-ordinance case
The Supreme Court heard oral argument on Wednesday in a challenge to a Texas city’s ordinance that treats signs differently depending on whether they have a connection to the site where they are located. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit ruled that the ordinance violates the First Amendment, but during over 90… Read More
In First Amendment challenge to city billboard rules, justices will be sign language interpreters
In 2015, the Supreme Court unanimously agreed that an Arizona town could not impose different restrictions on the display of temporary signs based on the messages they conveyed. The justices did not agree on the rationale for their ruling in Reed v. Town of Gilbert, however, and Justice Elena Kagan warned that the Supreme Court… Read More
Court debates inmate’s request for prayer and touch during execution, but a key justice remains silent
The Supreme Court on Tuesday appeared divided over a Texas inmate’s plea to have his pastor touch him and pray out loud while he is being executed. The justices have wrestled with the question of spiritual advisers at executions for two and a half years, but Tuesday’s oral argument in Ramirez v. Collier was the… Read More
Justices puzzled by interaction of state-secrets privilege and federal surveillance statute
The Supreme Court heard oral argument on Monday in Federal Bureau of Investigation v. Fazaga, a lawsuit filed by three Muslim Americans alleging that the FBI and its agents discriminated against them based on their religion during a surveillance program in southern California. The question before the court is whether the case should be dismissed… Read More
Court to clarify the right of death-row inmates to receive spiritual guidance during execution
On Oct. 21, when Willie Smith III was executed in Alabama for the 1991 murder of Sharma Ruth Johnson, his pastor was at his side. Witnesses reported that the pastor, Robert Wiley, put his hand on Smith’s leg and appeared to pray with him. On Tuesday, the Supreme Court will hear oral argument in a… Read More
Justices will again confront state-secrets privilege in lawsuit challenging FBI surveillance of mosques
The FBI called it “Operation Flex”: a counterterrorism investigation in southern California. When three of the Americans targeted by the FBI learned of the investigation, they filed a lawsuit in federal court, alleging that the FBI and its agents had discriminated against them based on their religion and had conducted illegal searches. That lawsuit is… Read More
Justices add four new cases to their docket, including Bivens case, but won’t reconsider Bivens itself
Fifty years ago, in Bivens v. Six Unknown Federal Narcotics Agents, the Supreme Court ruled that a private individual could sue an FBI agent for violating his Fourth Amendment rights, even when there was not a specific law authorizing a claim for damages. In the nine years after Bivens, the court recognized Bivens claims for… Read More
Majority of court appears dubious of New York gun-control law, but justices mull narrow ruling
This post was updated on Nov. 3 at 5:15 p.m. When Wednesday’s oral argument in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen drew to a close after roughly two hours of debate, it seemed likely that New York’s 108-year-old handgun-licensing law is in jeopardy. But the justices’ eventual ruling might be a narrow… Read More