Will the Supreme Court ‘peck away at’ capital punishment?

Oct 1, 2015 8:05 AM CDT

Those convicted as juveniles who are serving life without parole hope the court will go back in time

It's been three years since the U.S. Supreme Court declared that mandatory sentences of life without parole for juveniles convicted of murder were cruel and unusual punishment. Yet states remain divided over whether prisoners currently serving those sentences—many of them well into adulthood—should get a second chance.

Sep 1, 2015 4:50 AM CDT

Supreme Court’s Abercrombie ruling marks a setback for employers

Aug 1, 2015 3:20 AM CDT

Judges may not seek campaign cash, but they may express their gratitude, SCOTUS determines

Thirty-nine states use some form of election to choose their judiciaries. Of those, 30 states largely prohibit solicitation of campaign funds by active judges and judicial candidates. Florida, like a number of other states, has experimented with popular election and so-called merit selection. Today, appellate judges in the state are…

Jul 1, 2015 6:30 AM CDT

June is busting out all over with big-time SCOTUS decisions

U.S. Supreme Court terms have ended with a bang in recent years. In 2012, a last-day-of-the-term decision upheld most of the Affordable Care Act. In 2013, the justices struck down a key provision of the federal Defense of Marriage Act on their final day. And last June, the court held…

Jun 1, 2015 5:35 AM CDT

Dental board ruling may drill into state bar associations’ immunity

A U.S. Supreme Court decision on state regulation of teeth-whitening services has some bar groups frowning and advocates for alternative ways of providing legal services breaking into smiles.

May 1, 2015 6:55 AM CDT

SCOTUS to review a handful of cases on the rights of same-sex couples

When the U.S. Supreme Court convenes April 28 to weigh issues over the constitutionality of same-sex marriage, expect the counsels' tables to be a little crowded. The justices agreed to hear cases from Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and Tennessee, some of which are made up of multiple plaintiffs represented by a…

Apr 1, 2015 6:09 AM CDT

Although the ACA is 1,000 pages long, its future may depend on a single phrase

The Affordable Care Act is some 1,000 pages long, and it survived largely intact in a 193-page 2012 U.S. Supreme Court decision that upheld President Barack Obama's signature health reform law as an exercise of Congress' taxing powers. Now, a mere eight words in the statute—and one Internal Revenue Service…

Mar 1, 2015 6:00 AM CST

Business-method and software patents may go through the looking glass after Alice decision

Feb 1, 2015 2:40 AM CST

Does the First Amendment allow church to violate town’s sign code? SCOTUS to decide

The Good News Community Church in Gilbert, Arizona, would never be mistaken for a Christian mega-congregation.

Jan 1, 2015 2:50 AM CST

Court to weigh whether employers must accommodate pregnant workers with the same limits as others

Dec 1, 2014 2:20 AM CST

The Sashimi Provision

Nov 1, 2014 3:20 AM CDT

A ‘Facial’ Challenge: Inmate’s right to wear a beard is among cases coming up this term

Oct 1, 2014 3:50 AM CDT

Home-care aides don’t owe union fees, but court stops short of overruling a key precedent

Sep 1, 2014 9:00 AM CDT

Supreme Court justices regularly seek to change the errors of their ways

Aug 1, 2014 9:00 AM CDT