The Supreme Court on Thursday released the calendar for its February argument session, which begins on Feb. 22, 2021. Like the argument calendar for January 2021, the session is relatively light: It is slated to feature eight hours of argument over six days, but with the very real prospect that two cases will be removed… Read More
Missed deadline complicates Trump’s plan for census data, despite court’s ruling that allowed him to move forward
Twelve days after the Supreme Court allowed the Trump administration to proceed with a plan to change how census numbers are used to determine congressional representation, the Census Bureau confirmed that it would not meet a key year-end deadline to provide state-by-state population counts to the president. Instead, the bureau indicated on Wednesday, it aims… Read More
Court names new reporter of decisions
The Supreme Court announced on Monday that Rebecca Anne Womeldorf has been named the new reporter of decisions. She succeeds Christine Luchok Fallon, who retired in September. Womeldorf will begin her new job on Jan. 13, 2021. The reporter of decisions plays an important behind-the-scenes role in the Supreme Court’s release of opinions. She prepares… Read More
Court tosses challenge to Trump’s plan to exclude unauthorized immigrants from congressional reapportionment
The Supreme Court on Friday ruled that it was too early to resolve the legality of the Trump administration’s plan to exclude people who are in the country illegally from the state-by-state breakdown used to allocate seats in the House of Representatives. The decision puts at least a temporary end to the litigation challenging the… Read More
Citing imminent expiration, justices reject Christian school’s request for exemption from Kentucky’s in-person school closures
The Supreme Court on Thursday turned down a request from a Christian school in Kentucky and the state’s attorney general to allow in-person classes at faith-based schools, stressing that most schools in Kentucky will close for the winter holidays on Friday, Dec. 18, and are slated to reopen on Jan. 4. The justices left… Read More
Court to take on student-athlete compensation, class action cases
The justices on Wednesday added three new cases, for a total of two hours of argument time, to their list of cases slated for oral argument this term. The announcement that the justices would tackle significant issues relating to antitrust protection for the National Collegiate Athletic Association and class-action lawsuits came just two days after… Read More
Justices revive religious groups’ attempts to block COVID-related restrictions in Colorado, New Jersey
The Supreme Court on Tuesday tossed out a pair of lower-court rulings that had permitted states to enforce COVID-related restrictions at worship services. The two brief orders from the justices instruct the lower courts to take another look at religious groups’ challenges to restrictions in Colorado and New Jersey – and this time, the justices… Read More
Divided court reinstates Arizona inmate’s death sentence
The Supreme Court issued orders on Monday from the justices’ private conference last week. The justices had already granted one case, involving class certification in a securities-fraud case, from that conference on Friday, so it was no surprise that they did not add any new cases to their merits docket for this term. The justices… Read More
Justices throw out Texas lawsuit that sought to block election outcome
The Supreme Court on Friday rebuffed Texas’ request to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election in four states – Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin – that provided key electoral votes to President-elect Joe Biden. In a brief order issued just before 6:30 p.m., the justices explained that Texas lacked a legal right to… Read More
States tell justices to deny Texas request to overturn 2020 election
Four states – Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin – urged the Supreme Court on Thursday afternoon to reject Texas’ efforts to overturn the 2020 election. Using strong language rarely seen in Supreme Court filings, Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro told the justices that they should “not abide this seditious abuse of the judicial process, and… Read More