Tag Archives: Supreme Court

“Justice Thomas clearly had the best argument of the day. He recognized the case that they were deciding was actually completely moot. They shouldn’t even had a decision and yet, they kind of went out of their way to decide the case. “I think that was the wrong route. And it was — it’s frustrating. It’s particularly frustrating when you …

From the ACLU: The Moore v Harper case hinges on a legal proposition known as the “independent state legislature theory.” The theory asserts that, when it comes to making state laws that apply to federal elections — from drawing congressional district lines, to determining the who-what-when-where of casting a ballot — only the state legislature itself has the power to …

NBC News reports: The Supreme Court on Monday dismissed Louisiana’s appeal seeking to prevent the state’s congressional map from being redrawn over claims that it unlawfully dilutes the influence of Black voters. The move via a brief unsigned order was expected after the Supreme Court’s ruling on June 8 that buttressed a key part of the landmark Voting Rights Act …

The Washington Post reports: The Supreme Court on Friday ruled for the Biden administration in an important immigration case, saying Texas and Louisiana lacked the legal standing to challenge the executive branch’s priorities on who should be deported. At issue is a Biden administration policy that says the Department of Homeland Security should focus on arresting recent border crossers and …

Pro Publica reports: In early July 2008, Samuel Alito stood on a riverbank in a remote corner of Alaska. The Supreme Court justice was on vacation at a luxury fishing lodge that charged more than $1,000 a day, and after catching a king salmon nearly the size of his leg, Alito posed for a picture. To his left, a man …

Florida Politics reports: Ron DeSantis says he can do better than the three jurists former President Donald Trump picked for the U.S. Supreme Court. “Well, actually, I would say we’ll do better than that. I mean, I respect the three appointees he did, but none of those three are at the same level of Justice (Clarence) Thomas and Justice (Samuel) …

The Guardian reports: Alabama discriminated against Black voters when it drew its seven congressional districts last year, the Supreme Court has ruled, a decision that is a major victory for the Voting Rights Act. The decision in the case, Allen v Milligan, means that Alabama will have to draw its congressional map to include a second majority-Black district. Black voters …

The Washington Post reports: Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas has asked for more time to file annual financial disclosures following criticism that he failed to report luxury travel and real estate deals with a Texas billionaire and Republican donor. Thomas’s 2022 filing was highly anticipated after ProPublica reported on the justice’s financial dealings with his close friend and benefactor, the …

NBC News reports: A crude joke that Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., used to mock what he said was then-2016 presidential candidate Donald Trump’s “small hands” will be the centerpiece of a Supreme Court ruling on whether a California lawyer can trademark the phrase “Trump too small.” The court on Monday agreed to consider whether Steve Elster could register the trademark …

CBS News reports: The Supreme Court on Thursday curtailed the Environmental Protection Agency’s authority to regulate certain wetlands that qualify as “waters of the United States” under the Clean Water Act, curbing what has long been seen as a key tool to protect waterways from pollution. The high court ruled against the agency in a long-running dispute with Idaho landowners …

USA Today reports: Chief Justice John Roberts told an audience he is committed to ensuring the “highest standards of conduct” at the Supreme Court as pressure has mounted from congressional Democrats for changes in the wake of a series of scandals involving Justice Clarence Thomas. Without offering specifics or addressing the recent controversies directly, Roberts framed the ethics debate as …

Bloomberg News reports: Harlan Crow, the Texas billionaire and GOP megadonor with close ties to Clarence Thomas, refused to answer questions from a Senate committee about his years of gifts to the Supreme Court justice. Crow’s lawyers in a letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee argued that Congress does not have “the authority to investigate Mr. Crow’s personal friendship” with …

The Washington Post reports: Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis previewed more of his 2024 pitch Monday night with a new emphasis on the next president’s ability to push the Supreme Court further to the right, calling for new justices in the mold of Clarence Thomas and “improvements” to others such as Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., a Republican appointee who …

Bloomberg News reports: The US Supreme Court left in place a broad liability shield for social media companies for content posted by users, insulating Twitter Inc., Facebook Inc. and Google LLC from claims that they provided assistance to Islamic State terrorists. Acting in a case involving Google, the court said it wouldn’t rule on efforts to limit the immunity internet …

NBC News reports: The Supreme Court on Wednesday declined for now to block a new law in Illinois that bans assault-style weapons such as the AR-15 semiautomatic rifle, which has been used in multiple mass shootings. The decision in a brief unsigned order means the Illinois law enacted in the wake of a July 4 shooting in the city of …

Politico reports: The Supreme Court has agreed to take up a case that could empower members of the House and Senate minority to compel the Executive Branch to cough up information to congressional investigators. The justices agreed Monday to hear the case, which began with a Democrat-led effort in 2017 to obtain records related to former President Donald Trump’s lease …

Axios reports: The Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade was followed by a “sharp increase” in violence directed against abortion providers and patients, according to a new report from the National Abortion Federation. The report found that states that protect abortion access saw a “disproportionate” increase, including a ninefold increase in reported cases of stalking, a doubling of …

The Washington Post reports: The Senate Judiciary Committee in a letter Monday asked billionaire Harlan Crow to provide a full accounting of the free travel and other gifts he has made to Supreme Court Judge Clarence Thomas or any other justice, marking an escalation of the powerful committee’s efforts to convince the Supreme Court to adopt stricter ethical standards for …

“This is absolutely dreadful. This is an attack on Justice Thomas, a good man who has risen from poverty in the Jim Crow south to a position as one of the most respected jurists in our nation’s history. “They don’t like that. They don’t like the fact he has the audacity to be a conservative as a black man. This …

The Hill reports: Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) on Sunday said the “tangled web” around Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, who is facing criticism over his financial disclosures, “just gets worse.” “This tangled web around Justice Clarence Thomas just gets worse and worse by the day. I don’t know what’s going to come up next. I thought I’d heard it all, …