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

This post was updated on July 1 at 3:31 p.m. In a historic decision, a divided Supreme Court on Monday ruled that former presidents can never be prosecuted for actions relating to the core powers of their office, and that there is at least a presumption that they have immunity for their official acts more… Read More

The Supreme Court on Friday afternoon declined a request from Stephen Bannon, who served as an aide to former President Donald Trump, to delay the start of his four-month prison sentence while he asks the Supreme Court to review his case. Bannon is scheduled to report to prison on Monday, July 1. After failing to… Read More

This post was updated on June 28 at 5:45 p.m. The Supreme Court on Friday upheld ordinances in a southwest Oregon city that prohibit people who are homeless from using blankets, pillows, or cardboard boxes for protection from the elements while sleeping within the city limits. By a vote of 6-3, the justices agreed with… Read More

This post was updated on June 28 at 4:22 p.m. The Supreme Court on Friday threw out the charges against a former Pennsylvania police officer who entered the U.S. Capitol during the Jan. 6, 2021, attacks. By a vote of 6-3, the justices ruled that the law that Joseph Fischer was charged with violating, which… Read More

This post was updated on June 28 at 3:46 p.m. In a major ruling, the Supreme Court on Friday cut back sharply on the power of federal agencies to interpret the laws they administer and ruled that courts should rely on their own interpretion of ambiguous laws. The decision will likely have far-reaching effects across… Read More

When the justices return to the bench on Friday morning, they will have seven decisions left to release before their summer recess. (This assumes that the court issues two opinions in the challenges to Texas and Florida laws that would regulate large social-media companies.) The justices are not expected to issue all seven opinions on… Read More

As we enter the homestretch of the Supreme Court’s term, the justices have just seven (in all likelihood) opinions to release. With the announcement of the court’s opinions in SEC v. Jarkesy and Harrington v. Purdue Pharma on Thursday, the justices have now issued all of their opinions from 2023. Only two cases – which… Read More

The Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that a multi-billion-dollar bankruptcy plan for Purdue Pharma, the maker of the opioid OxyContin, cannot move forward. By a vote of 5-4, the justices granted the federal government’s request to block the plan on the ground that it shields members of the Sackler family, which principally owns the company… Read More

The Supreme Court on Thursday temporarily blocked a rule issued by the Environmental Protection Agency to reduce air pollution from power plants and other industrial facilities in 23 states. By a vote of 5-4, the justices granted a request from three states, as well as several companies and trade associations affected by the rule, to… Read More

The Supreme Court on Thursday cleared the way for emergency abortions to go forward, at least for now, in Idaho. Less than 24 hours after Bloomberg News reported on the brief and accidental release of an opinion on the Supreme Court’s website, the justices officially announced that they had dismissed a pair of cases, Moyle v…. Read More