Tag Archives: Supreme Court

CBS News reports: Former Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, who blazed a trail as the first woman to sit on the Supreme Court, died Friday, the Supreme Court said. She was 93 years old. O’Connor died of complications related to advanced dementia, probably Alzheimer’s, and a respiratory illness, the court said in a statement. She withdrew from public life in 2018 …

NBC News reports: The justices, in their regular private meeting to discuss which new cases to take up, are scheduled to consider three different appeals brought by defendants Joseph Fischer, Edward Lang and Garret Miller. The three men are seeking to dismiss a charge accusing them of obstructing an official proceeding, namely the certification by Congress of President Joe Biden’s …

Politico reports: Conservative judicial activist Leonard Leo’s consulting firm received $21 million in 2022 from a group that is a pillar of Leo’s aligned nonprofit network, according to a new tax filing. That group, The 85 Fund, is part of an umbrella of nonprofits under investigation by the Washington, D.C. attorney general for potentially violating tax laws. The tax filing, …

Reuters reports: The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear an appeal by former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin of his conviction for the murder of George Floyd during a 2020 arrest, which sparked widespread protests against police brutality and racism. The justices turned away Chauvin’s appeal that he filed after a Minnesota appellate court upheld his 2021 murder …

Florida Politics reports: When it comes to the last Republican President’s Supreme Court picks, Ron DeSantis’ verdict is in. They don’t measure up to real conservatives like Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito, he said Saturday in Pella, Iowa. The Governor noted that contrary to liberal picks from the past, Trump’s “Republican appointees are not in lockstep.” He saw Brett Kavanaugh …

NBC News reports: The Supreme Court on Thursday rejected Florida’s bid to enforce statewide a contentious law that targets drag show performances that, challengers say, imposes unlawful restrictions on free speech. The court, divided 6-3 with three conservatives dissenting, turned away an emergency request from Florida officials after lower courts blocked the law statewide. The majority did not explain its …

The Associated Press reports: The Supreme Court is adopting its first code of ethics, in the face of sustained criticism over undisclosed trips and gifts from wealthy benefactors to some justices. The policy was issued by the court Monday. The justices, who have hinted at internal deliberations over an ethics code, last met Thursday in their private conference room at …

The Washington Post reports: The Supreme Court on Tuesday appeared inclined to uphold a federal statute that forbids people who are the subject of domestic-violence restraining orders from possessing firearms. Justices on both sides of the court’s ideological divide seemed to think the Second Amendment does not keep legislatures from restricting firearm possession after some sort of court finding that …

NBC News reports: Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee announced plans Monday to seek subpoenas for three influential conservatives who have been a key focus of the panel’s investigation into Supreme Court ethics. In a joint statement, Committee Chairman Dick Durbin of Illinois and Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., who chairs the panel’s subcommittee on federal courts and oversight, said previous …

The New York Times reports: The terms of the private loan were as generous as they were clear: With no money down, Justice Clarence Thomas could borrow more than a quarter of a million dollars from a wealthy friend to buy a 40-foot luxury motor coach, making annual interest-only payments for five years. Only then would the principal come due. …

Courthouse News reports: Florida appealed to the Supreme Court on Tuesday in an effort to enforce restrictions on drag shows throughout the state. The state wants the justices to limit a lower court order blocking the Protection of Children Act, which bans children from “adult live performances.” A federal judge found the law was aimed at drag shows, barring it …

The Washington Post reports: The Supreme Court on Friday temporarily allowed the Biden administration to continue its efforts to get social media companies to remove posts from their platforms that the government says are misleading. The administration had asked the justices to put on hold a lower-court ruling that found top officials likely violated the First Amendment by improperly pressuring …

Roll Call reports: A group of GOP-led states and industry groups on Wednesday asked the Supreme Court to prevent the EPA from enforcing a Biden administration emissions and clean air rule. Ohio, Indiana and West Virginia filed a lawsuit to challenge the so-called Good Neighbor Rule, and last month a federal appeals court in Washington declined to stop the program …

NBC News reports: Conservative Justice Amy Coney Barrett indicated Monday she would support a code of conduct for the Supreme Court in the wake of recent claims that some justices have fallen short of required ethical standards. Speaking at the University of Minnesota Law School, Barrett said it would be “a good idea for us do it” and suggested that …

NBC News reports: The Supreme Court on Tuesday declined to consider overturning a landmark case that gives protections to news organizations facing defamation claims by rejecting an appeal brought by West Virginia coal baron Don Blankenship. Blankenship, also an erstwhile Republican Senate candidate, sued various news organizations for referring to him as a convicted felon when in fact he was …

Reuters reports: The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear a bid by anti-abortion activists to throw out more than $2 million in damages they were ordered to pay Planned Parenthood after secretly recording video of abortion providers in a scheme to try to show the illicit sale of aborted fetal tissue for profit. The justices turned away the …

Reuters reports: The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday turned away a case involving whether former President Donald Trump should be disqualified from the 2024 election under a constitutional provision barring anyone who “engaged in insurrection or rebellion” from holding public office. The justices rejected an appeal by John Anthony Castro, a Texas tax consultant who has mounted a long-shot bid …

NBC News reports: The Supreme Court on Friday waded into the divisive issue of online censorship by agreeing to decide the constitutionality of laws in Florida and Texas that seek to prevent social media companies from banning users for contentious rhetoric. The laws, backed by Republicans, have been characterized by their supporters as hitting back at alleged censorship of conservative …

USA Today reports: Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan says she hopes colleagues will adopt an ethics “code of conduct,” while a new report details a relationship between Justice Clarence Thomas and conservative political activists. New ethics rules would “go far in persuading other people that we were adhering to the highest standards of conduct,” Kagan said during a Friday speech …

ProPublica reports: On Jan. 25, 2018, dozens of private jets descended on Palm Springs International Airport. Some of the richest people in the country were arriving for the annual winter donor summit of the Koch network, the political organization founded by libertarian billionaires Charles and David Koch. A long weekend of strategizing, relaxation in the California sun and high-dollar fundraising …