Tennessee can continue ban on absentee ballot distribution, 6th Circuit says

A split federal appeals court last week rejected a free speech challenge to a Tennessee law that limits the distribution of absentee ballot applications.

Oct 11, 2023 8:46 AM CDT

Louisiana man’s jokes about sheriff’s department are protected free speech, 5th Circuit says

A federal appeals court has ruled in favor of a Louisiana man who was arrested after posting on Facebook that a local sheriff’s department had ordered its deputies to shoot people who were infected with COVID-19.

Aug 28, 2023 11:43 AM CDT

Maine’s top court affirms suspension of lawyer who asked staffer to take his CLE classes

The Maine Supreme Judicial Court has affirmed a one-year suspension of an attorney who asked his assistant to take his continuing legal education classes.

Aug 28, 2023 10:50 AM CDT

6th Circuit sides with OSHA over power to set workplace safety standards

Is Congress’ delegation to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration to set workplace safety standards constitutional?

Aug 24, 2023 1:07 PM CDT

Judges’ educational trips look more like ‘luxury vacations,’ Fix the Court says

Dozens of U.S. federal appeals court judges have attended judicial education seminars that closely resemble “luxury vacations” in recent years, a court transparency group said in a new report.

Aug 22, 2023 9:33 AM CDT

Alabama can enforce ban on transition treatment for transgender minors, 11th Circuit says

A federal appeals court on Monday ruled that Alabama can enforce a ban on puberty blockers and hormone treatments for transgender youths.

Aug 22, 2023 8:57 AM CDT

‘Offensive’ murals can be covered, despite federal law protecting artists, 2nd Circuit says

Murals that are deemed to be “offensive” can be covered up, despite an artist’s objections that such actions violate their rights, according to a ruling by the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals at New York.

Aug 21, 2023 12:08 PM CDT

Federal judge considers ‘burning’ legal question—does ‘attorney fee’ need apostrophe and ‘s’?

U.S. Magistrate Judge Andrew M. Edison of the Southern District of Texas uses a footnote to address “one of the burning legal questions of our generation.” Is the proper term “attorney fees,” “attorneys fees,” “attorney’s fees” or “attorneys’ fees”?

Aug 9, 2023 3:54 PM CDT

It’s been more than 10 years since a Black lawyer argued SCOTUS case for US

Lawyers in the U.S. solicitor general's office who argued before the U.S. Supreme Court have been overwhelmingly white and men over the last 12 terms.

Jul 25, 2023 1:04 PM CDT

Employers not liable for spread of COVID-19 to workers’ homes, California high court says

Employers are not responsible for the spread of COVID-19 from their employees to their employees’ family members, according to a ruling from the California Supreme Court.

Jul 7, 2023 9:55 AM CDT

Judge’s ‘Beowulf’ and Whistler’s mother references raise concerns with Maryland justices

An appeals judge who compared a Black defendant to a monster in the epic poem Beowulf used language that could be interpreted as evoking racial stereotypes, according to the Maryland Supreme Court.

Jun 1, 2023 10:40 AM CDT

‘The Shadow Docket’ shines light on an increasingly uncommunicative Supreme Court

In The Shadow Docket: How the Supreme Court Uses Stealth Rulings to Amass Power and Undermine the Republic, University of Texas law professor Stephen Vladeck argues that the U.S. Supreme Court is expanding its powers at the expense of the rule of law and public transparency.

May 17, 2023 8:40 AM CDT

BigLaw partner calls solicitor general’s brief ‘a hot mess’ in SCOTUS filing; was it unseemly?

Twitter critics were quick to scold a partner at Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison after he called a brief by U.S. Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar “a hot mess” in a U.S. Supreme Court filing.

May 4, 2023 10:02 AM CDT

ABA asks Supreme Court to review Alabama case involving fixed bail amounts

Apr 3, 2023 4:00 PM CDT

Supreme Preparation

For first-time advocates before the U.S. Supreme Court, it can come as a shock when they realize how close they are to the justices—so close some are just out of their sight line. In the words of Supreme Court veteran Neal Katyal, Chief Justice John Roberts “sees everything—he sees you sweat.”

Apr 1, 2023 12:00 AM CDT