Articles Posted in US Supreme Court

Recently, an eight-justice U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments on a case involving Mississippi gopher frogs, which are believed to be in danger of extinction and are limited to a small handful of habitats. To address this issue, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has designated 1,500 acres in Louisiana as a…

Though much of the nation's attention is focused on the US Senate's confirmation vote tomorrow on nominee Brett Kavanaugh, the Supreme Court's sitting eight justices heard the first oral arguments of the 2018–2019 term this week.Oyez has posted the aligned audio and transcripts from this week’s oral arguments at the Supreme Court. You can browse summaries of the cases, read transcripts of the arguments, and listen to the audio of the argument on the Oyez website.

The US Supreme Court hears the first arguments of the 2018–2019 term on October 1, 2018. With 40+ cases already on its docket and 22 of them already scheduled for argument, the Court is on track to have another busy year. Upcoming Cases of Interest There are several upcoming cases of interest that cover a…

The Supreme Court issued an order  yesterday upholding a US Federal District Court decision  that requires, effective immediately, more transparency in the naming of of donors to non-profit groups which run advertisements for or against political candidates. The lawsuit, brought by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) against the conservative group…

The dispute between Catholic Social Services (CSS) and the city of Philadelphia over foster care will not be handled by the Supreme Court.

With the November elections looming, North Carolina may be required to reorganize its congressional districts. Three federal judges in the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled this week that the legislature had violated the Constitution by gerrymandering districts to favor Republicans over Democrats, as openly acknowledged by Republican state legislators. The judges…

President Trump has announced Brett Kavanaugh as his pick to replace Justice Anthony Kennedy on the U.S. Supreme Court. Kavanaugh is a conservative jurist who has served for over a decade on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. He previously worked in the George W. Bush White House, and also worked with Kenneth Starr's team in the effort to impeach former President Bill Clinton in the 1990s. Notably, Kavanaugh has published scholarly commentary suggesting that Congress should pass a law insulating a sitting president from criminal indictment until after leaving office or being impeached, convicted, and removed from office; he has also written that civil lawsuits should be deferred while the president is in office. Some speculate that these writings could have influenced Trump's decision to nominate Kavanaugh given the mounting legal scrutiny Trump is facing. If Kavanaugh is confirmed by the Senate, he is expected to vote with the Court's conservative majority on issues including abortion, union rights, civil rights, and gun control. 

As often happens in June, the Supreme Court released some of its most highly anticipated decisions of the term (many of them decided 5–4 along predictable divisions). This year was no different.

The Supreme Court has ruled that the government usually will need a warrant to collect large amounts of locations data about the customers of cellphone companies.

In one of the most highly anticipated decisions of the term, the US Supreme Court held today that states may require sellers who have no physical presence within the state to collect and remit sales taxes on goods sold to buyers in the state. Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote the opinion for the majority, and Justices Clarence Thomas, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Samuel Alito, and Neil Gorsuch joined. The decision overrules two prior cases in which the Court established and upheld the so-called "physical-presence rule" for sales tax, citing drastic changes in the reality of shopping and commerce.