The internecine battle between David Wilson, one of nine trustees on the board of the Houston Community College System, and the rest of the board has all the makings of a long-running Netflix series – Dallas meets Community, perhaps. There are allegations of greed and corruption, culminating in one trustee’s conviction on federal bribery charges…. Read More
Court declines to hear cases on religious rights, surveillance rulings
After adding two new cases to their merits docket on Friday, the justices issued more orders from their Oct. 29 conference on Monday morning. As expected, they did not add any additional cases to their docket, but they did clear away several of the high-profile petitions that they have repeatedly considered since returning from their… Read More
A community-college spat leads to a First Amendment retaliation claim
From the time he was elected to the board of trustees of the Houston Community College System in 2013, David Wilson contends, he was unwilling to go along to get along. Wilson’s repeated criticism of what he describes as the board’s “pay to play” culture led the board to censure him in 2018. On Tuesday,… Read More
Court seems inclined to let abortion providers pursue their challenge to Texas law
This post was updated on Nov. 1 at 5:45 p.m. The Supreme Court heard oral argument on Monday in two challenges to S.B. 8, the Texas law that bans almost all abortions in the state. After nearly three hours of argument by four different lawyers, the justices appeared likely to allow the case brought by… Read More
Justices agree to review EPA’s authority to regulate greenhouse gases
In a term already defined by abortion and guns, the justices on Friday agreed to hear two more politically divisive disputes, involving the Environmental Protection Agency’s authority to regulate greenhouse gases and the ability of states to defend a Trump-era immigration rule that the Biden administration has declined to defend. Climate change regulation The litigation… Read More
Supreme Court set to hear arguments in two challenges to Texas law that bans most abortions
Two months ago, Texas put in place the most restrictive abortion law since the Supreme Court decided Roe v. Wade in 1973. The law, which prohibits almost all abortions in the state, has dramatically reduced access to the procedure. On Monday, the court will hear arguments in two challenges to the law — and though… Read More
In major Second Amendment case, court will review limits on carrying a concealed gun in public
The Second Amendment guarantees “the right of the people to keep and bear arms.” On Nov. 3, the Supreme Court will hear oral argument on how that guarantee applies to carrying guns in public. The case, New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen, involves a 108-year-old handgun-licensing law in New York – but… Read More
Court won’t block Texas abortion ban, fast-tracks cases for argument on Nov. 1
The Supreme Court will hear oral argument on Nov. 1 in a pair of cases challenging the Texas law that bans nearly all abortions after the sixth week of pregnancy. In two orders issued on Friday afternoon, the court granted requests by the Biden administration and a group of Texas abortion providers to leap-frog proceedings… Read More
Texas tells justices to leave abortion plan in place, but suggests overruling Roe and Casey
Lawyers for the state of Texas urged the Supreme Court on Thursday to leave a Texas law that imposes a near-total ban on abortions in place. “Neither the federal government nor abortion providers are entitled to demand Texas write its laws to permit them to be challenged” in federal court before they are enforced, the… Read More
Biden administration asks justices to block enforcement of Texas abortion law
The Biden administration asked the Supreme Court on Monday to do what the justices declined to do last month when asked by a group of Texas abortion providers: block the enforcement of a Texas law that imposes a near-total ban on abortions performed after the sixth week of pregnancy. In an emergency request by Acting… Read More