Tag Archives: Supreme Court

SCOTUS Hears “Straight Discrimination” Case Today

NBC News reports: The Supreme Court on Wednesday considers the novel legal question of whether a woman can pursue a workplace sex discrimination case over claims she was discriminated against because she is straight. The court’s ultimate ruling could lower the bar for people belonging to majority groups to bring so-called reverse discrimination claims. Marlean Ames brought a claim against the …

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SCOTUS Rejects Challenge To Tennessee Drag Ban

The Hill reports: The Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear a challenge to a Tennessee law restricting some drag performances, allowing the first-in-the-nation law to remain largely intact. In a brief, unsigned order, the justices denied a Tennessee theater company’s request to intervene in its challenge to the state’s limits on drag, first enacted in 2023 by the Republican-dominated Legislature. …

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SCOTUS: Trump Can’t Fire Govt Watchdog (For Now)

The New York Times reports: The Supreme Court ruled on Friday that President Trump cannot, for now, remove a government lawyer who leads a watchdog agency while the lawyer’s challenge to his firing moves forward. But the court’s brief, unsigned order indicated that it may soon return to the issue, noting that a trial judge’s temporary restraining order is set …

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Politico: “JD Vance Thinks Trump Can Defy SCOTUS”

Politico Magazine reports: Over the weekend, Vice President JD Vance delivered a warning shot to the federal judiciary: “Judges aren’t allowed to control the executive branch’s legitimate power,” Vance wrote in a post on X. The post — which landed as several federal courts have issued orders temporarily slowing or stopping the Trump administration’s early executive orders — prompted consternation …

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Megadonor To SCOTUS: Overturn Press Protections

The New Republic reports: One of Donald Trump’s biggest donors is looking to the Supreme Court to limit tough press coverage of the MAGA leader’s administration. Republican megadonor Steve Wynn filed a petition with the nation’s highest judiciary on Friday to overturn New York Times v. Sullivan, a landmark 1964 decision that raised the standards required for a plaintiff to …

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Cruz Moves To Limit Supreme Court To Nine Justices

Courthouse News reports: Senate Republicans on Friday offered a retort to months of Democrat scrutiny on the Supreme Court, introducing a constitutional amendment that would block lawmakers from adding more justices to the high court’s bench. The proposed amendment is the GOP majority’s first major legislative foray into the yearslong debate over the Supreme Court — and one that proponents …

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REPORT: “Birthright” Order Includes “Kamala Clause”

Mint reports: Debate around the nationality of Kamala Harris resurfaced this week as US President Donald Trump sought to end birthright citizenship. The executive order signed by Trump on Monday seeks to revoke birthright citizenship for children born to foreign passport holders in the United States. Such a rule (had it existed at the time of Harris’ birth) would have …

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BREAKING: Supreme Court Upholds Ban On TikTok

NBC News reports: The Supreme Court on Friday delivered a blow to TikTok by upholding a law that could potentially lead to the video-sharing social media platform being banned in the United States. The justices rejected a free speech challenge filed by the company, meaning the law is set to go into effect on Sunday as planned. The bipartisan law …

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SCOTUS Likely To Uphold Texas’s Porn Age-Check Law

The New York Times reports: Several members of the Supreme Court’s conservative majority seemed deeply skeptical of a challenge to a Texas law that seeks to limit minors’ access to pornography, peppering a lawyer for the challengers with exceptionally hostile questions. The lawyer, Derek L. Shaffer, said the law violated the First Amendment by requiring age verification measures like the …

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TODAY: SCOTUS Hears Challenge To Porn Age-Checks

The Associated Press reports: A Texas anti-pornography law is going before the Supreme Court on Wednesday in a collision of free speech rights, regulation of online content and the protection of children. Texas is among more than a dozen states with similar laws aimed at blocking young children and teenagers from viewing pornography. The adult-content site Pornhub has stopped operating …

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TikTok Preps To Shut Down For US Users On Sunday

Reuters reports: TikTok plans to shut off its app for U.S. users on Sunday, when a federal ban on the social media app could come into effect, The Information reported on Tuesday, unless the Supreme Court moves to block it. If TikTok shuts off for all U.S. users, the outcome would be different from that mandated by the law. The …

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SCOTUS: Big Oil Must Face Climate Change Lawsuit

Courthouse News reports: The Supreme Court turned down an appeal from fossil fuel giants on Monday, rejecting an attempt to skirt a climate change lawsuit seeking to hold companies liable over claims of deceptive marketing about the effect of greenhouse gases. Companies such as Sunoco, Exxon Mobil, Chevron and BP said they are facing dozens of lawsuits, leaving a vital …

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SCOTUS Justices Appear Likely To Uphold TikTok Ban

Forbes reports: Justices on the Supreme Court signaled Friday they may uphold the federal law banning TikTok unless it divests itself from ByteDance, expressing skepticism of TikTok’s opposition to the law during oral arguments, increasing the likelihood the popular video app could be banned Jan. 19 unless TikTok starts separating from its Chinese-owned parent company. TikTok and content creators on …

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Ethics Experts: Alito Should Recuse From Trump Case

The Washington Post reports: Some judicial ethics experts and Democratic lawmakers say Supreme Court Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. should recuse himself from a decision on whether President-elect Donald Trump’s sentencing in New York can go forward on Friday, citing a phone call between the two men earlier this week. Alito said in a statement that he took the call …

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Samuel Alito Slammed For Taking Call From Trump

ABC News reports: Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito spoke to Trump by phone Tuesday to recommend one of his former law clerks for a job in the new administration. “William Levi, one of my former law clerks, asked me to take a call from President-elect Trump regarding his qualifications to serve in a government position,” Alito said in a statement …

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Judicial Organization Declines To Refer Thomas To DOJ

NBC News reports: A judicial organization that sets national policy for federal courts has rejected a request from two Democratic lawmakers to refer Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas to the Justice Department over free travel and gifts from wealthy benefactors that were largely omitted from his financial disclosure forms. The group, the Judicial Conference, sent identical letters Thursday to Sen. …

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Roberts Decries “Illegitimate” Criticism Of Judiciary

NBC News reports: Chief Justice John Roberts on Tuesday blasted what he called “illegitimate activity” aimed at undermining the independence of the judiciary. While facing criticism of contentious court rulings is part of the job for judges, some recent actions have crossed the line, Roberts said in his annual end-of-year report. He outlined four areas of concern: violence, intimidation, disinformation …

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Free Speech Advocates: TikTok Ban Is Authoritarian

Reuters reports: A U.S. law against Chinese-owned TikTok evokes the censorship regimes put in place by the United States’ authoritarian enemies, free-speech advocates told the Supreme Court on Friday. In an amicus filing, PEN America, Columbia University’s Knight First Amendment Institute, and the Free Press urged the country’s highest court to strike down the federal TikTok law to ban it …

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Senate Dems Issue Scathing Report On SCOTUS Ethics

Politico reports: Senate Democrats wrapped up their extensive investigation of Supreme Court justices’ ethics practices Saturday, issuing a report blasting two conservative justices for accepting expensive gifts from wealthy benefactors and slamming Chief Justice John Roberts for a lackadaisical response to ethical lapses by his colleagues. “Now more than ever before, as a result of information gathered by subpoenas, we …

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Supreme Court Agrees To Hear TikTok Ban Challenge

CBS News reports: The Supreme Court on Wednesday said it will take up a challenge to a new law that could lead to a ban on TikTok in the U.S, setting up a showdown over access to a widely popular app used by tens of millions of Americans. Arguments will be heard by the high court on Jan. 10, an …

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