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

For the second time in less than three years, the family of Sergio Hernandez was at the Supreme Court today for oral arguments. In 2010, Sergio – who was then 15 years old – was on the Mexican side of the U.S.-Mexico border when he was shot and killed by a U.S. Border Patrol agent,… Read More

It has been more than two years since the Trump administration announced that it would end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, known as DACA, an Obama-era policy that allows undocumented young adults who came to the United States as children to apply for protection from deportation. Today the Supreme Court heard oral argument… Read More

This afternoon the Supreme Court added one new case to its merits docket for the term, granting the federal government’s petition for review in U.S. Patent and Trademark Office v. Booking.com. The case arose when Booking.com, which operates a website that allows customers to book travel and hotel accommodations, applied for a trademark. The U.S…. Read More

The Supreme Court released the calendar for the January sitting, which begins on January 13, 2020. The justices will hear eight hours of oral argument over five days; they will not sit on Monday, January 20, which is a federal holiday. On two of the five days – January 15 and 22 – the justices… Read More

When the justices return to the bench next Tuesday, they will hear oral arguments in the challenge to the Trump administration’s decision to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, known as DACA, and in a dispute over the cross-border shooting of a Mexican teenager by a U.S. Border Patrol agent. On Wednesday, they… Read More

In 2012, the Obama administration established a program known as Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), which allows undocumented young adults who came to the United States as children to apply for protection from deportation. Applicants who meet a variety of criteria – for example, who have graduated from high school or served in the… Read More

In June 2010, 15-year-old Sergio Hernandez was playing on the Mexican side of the U.S.-Mexico border when a U.S. Border Patrol agent, Jesus Mesa, fired shots across the border, hitting Hernandez in the face and killing him. Next week Hernandez’s family will be at the Supreme Court for the second time, seeking to hold Mesa… Read More

The justices refused to halt the execution of South Dakota inmate Charles Rhines, who was sentenced to death for the 1992 murder of Donnivan Schaeffer during the burglary of a donut shop in Rapid City. Rhines had been scheduled to die this afternoon, but news reports indicated that the state had postponed his execution until… Read More

This morning the Supreme Court issued more orders from the justices’ private conference last week. As expected, the court did not add any new cases to its merits docket for this term. The justices denied review in Time Warner Cable v. Sprint Communications, a dispute that arose when Sprint sued Time Warner for patent infringement… Read More

With less than two weeks to go before the Supreme Court hears oral argument in the challenge to the Trump administration’s decision to end the program known as Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, the justices today expanded the time devoted to the argument from 60 to 80 minutes. The federal government will have 40 of… Read More