Tag Archives: Supreme Court

ProPublica reports: In 2008, Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas decided to send his teenage grandnephew to Hidden Lake Academy, a private boarding school in the foothills of northern Georgia. The boy, Mark Martin, was far from home. For the previous decade, he had lived with the justice and his wife in the suburbs of Washington, D.C. Thomas had taken legal …

Politico reports: Partisan cannon fire dominated Senate Democrats’ high-profile hearing Tuesday on Supreme Court ethics, but behind the bluster, some Republicans acknowledged the high court needed to address a spate of controversies about justices’ conduct. “What I would urge the court to do is take this moment to instill more public confidence,” said South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, top Republican …

The Washington Post reports: The Supreme Court on Monday said it would take up a case that could do away with a decades-old precedent that tells judges to defer to federal agencies when interpreting ambiguous federal laws, a deference long targeted by conservatives concerned about the power of the administrative state. As the Supreme Court has become more conservative, the …

The Washington Examiner reports: Just days before the anniversary of a leak that changed the scope of trust in the nation’s highest court, Justice Samuel Alito says he has a “good idea” of who leaked the draft signaling the end of Roe v. Wade. Alito says the Supreme Court marshal tasked with investigating the leak “did a good job with …

NBC News reports: Chief Justice John Roberts on Tuesday declined an invitation from a high-ranking Democratic senator to testify at a congressional hearing on ethics rules for members of the Supreme Court. In a letter to Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Dick Durbin, D-Ill., Roberts suggested that his participation could pose a threat to judicial independence. “Testimony before the Senate Judiciary …

Politico reports: For nearly two years beginning in 2015, Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch sought a buyer for a 40-acre tract of property he co-owned in rural Granby, Colorado. Nine days after he was confirmed by the Senate for a lifetime appointment on the Supreme Court, the then-circuit court judge got one: The chief executive of Greenberg Traurig, one of …

Courthouse News reports: The Supreme Court agreed Monday to hear two cases arising from public officials blocking critical commenters on their social media accounts, after the Sixth and Ninth Circuits reached different conclusions on whether the constituents’ free speech rights were violated. The first case involves two elected members of the Poway Unified School District Board of Trustees in San …

Bloomberg News reports: Justice Clarence Thomas said he was advised he didn’t have to disclose private jet flights and luxury vacations paid for by billionaire Harlan Crow because, although a close friend, Crow “did not have business before the court.” But in at least one case, Crow did. In January 2005 the court declined to hear an appeal from an …

Congress Minutes reports: Sen. Ron Wyden is asking Harlan Crow to provide a complete account of gifts and payments that were given to Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas — marking one of the first information requests made to the GOP billionaire himself. The Senate Finance chair sent a letter to Crow on Monday, requesting a detailed list of gifts and …

Reuters reports: The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday blocked new restrictions set by lower courts on a widely used abortion pill, delivering a victory to President Joe Biden’s administration as it defends broad access to the drug in the latest fierce legal battle over reproductive rights in the United States. The justices, in a brief order, granted emergency requests by …

CNBC reports: The chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday invited Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts to testify next month before the panel about ethics reform of the court. The invitation to Roberts by Sen. Dick Dubin, D-Ill., for the May 2 appearance came in the wake of a series of revelations about Justice Clarence Thomas that have …

Reuters reports: U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito on Wednesday kept on hold limits set by lower courts on access to the abortion pill mifepristone in a challenge by anti-abortion groups to the drug’s federal regulatory approval. The decision to keep the matter on hold gives the justices more time to consider requests by President Joe Biden’s administration and the …

NBC News reports: Key Senate Democrats are eyeing a hearing about Supreme Court ethics in the wake of revelations about Justice Clarence Thomas receiving previously undisclosed gifts and luxury travel from billionaire Republican donor Harlan Crow. Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., the majority whip and Judiciary Committee chair, said the “20 years of gift travel on yachts and chartered planes was …

The Dallas Morning News reports: “I think it’s a political hit job,” Crow said. “I don’t think the media cares really much about Harlan Crow, and I think they’re right. They shouldn’t care much about Harlan Crow.” “But I think that the media, and this ProPublica group in particular, funded by leftists, has an agenda to destabilize the [Supreme] Court. …

CNN reports: Justice Clarence Thomas intends to amend his financial disclosure forms to reflect a 2014 real estate deal he made with a GOP megadonor – an acknowledgment that the transaction should have been disclosed almost a decade ago, a source close to Thomas tells CNN. The deal between Thomas and Harlan Crow, a Dallas real estate magnate and long-time …

The Washington Post reports: Over the last two decades, Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas has reported on required financial disclosure forms that his family received rental income totaling hundreds of thousands of dollars from a firm called Ginger, Ltd., Partnership. But that company — a Nebraska real estate firm launched in the 1980s by his wife and her relatives — …

The New York Times reports: Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. issued a temporary stay on Friday ensuring that a common abortion pill would remain widely available while the Supreme Court decides whether to grant a formal stay. The interim stay will expire at midnight on Wednesday. Such a stay is meant to preserve the status quo while the justices study …

Roll Call reports: Advocacy groups have urged the Senate Judiciary Committee to call Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas to testify about his relationship with a billionaire GOP donor, a move experts say would escalate conflict between two branches of government and could lead to a separation-of-powers showdown. Senate Judiciary Chair Richard J. Durbin of Illinois and other Democrats on the …

ProPublica reports: In 2014, one of Texas billionaire Harlan Crow’s companies purchased a string of properties on a quiet residential street in Savannah, Georgia. It wasn’t a marquee acquisition for the real estate magnate, just an old single-story home and two vacant lots down the road. What made it noteworthy were the people on the other side of the deal: …

The Washington Post reports: A federal appeals court late Wednesday partially blocked a decision by a judge in Texas to suspend U.S. government approval of a key abortion medication but set significant restrictions on the pill that could limit access nationwide. The court’s order maintains mifepristone’s availability for now, although it temporarily prevents the drug from being sent to patients …