U.S. Supreme Court

Supreme Court ethics legislation will advance after Alito revelations, committee chairman says

New revelations about a U.S. Supreme Court justice’s undisclosed free trip to Alaska have apparently prompted Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Dick Durbin to announce that his panel will mark up ethics legislation for the high court next month.

Jun 21, 2023 3:10 PM CDT

Alito uses op-ed page to defend undisclosed free Alaska trip on private jet

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito defended his free 2008 vacation to an Alaskan fishing lodge in a column published Wednesday in the Wall Street Journal, about five hours before ProPublica reported on the trip.

Jun 21, 2023 10:43 AM CDT

Could Trump pardon himself? DOJ considered self-pardons in Nixon era

If former President Donald Trump is convicted on federal charges and then wins reelection, would he have the power to pardon himself?

Jun 21, 2023 8:56 AM CDT

Indian adoption law upheld by Supreme Court, but equal protection issue remains undecided

The U.S. Supreme Court has upheld a federal law giving preferences to tribes in Native American adoptions but left consideration of challengers’ equal protection argument for a future case in which plaintiffs have standing to raise it.

Jun 15, 2023 10:23 AM CDT

Did pending Supreme Court case affect special counsel’s decision to move Trump grand jury to Florida?

Updated: A “little-noted” case pending before the U.S. Supreme Court may have changed the special counsel’s calculus on where to bring charges against former President Donald Trump, according to a blog post by Just Security.

Jun 9, 2023 11:49 AM CDT

2 SCOTUS justices delay financial disclosure; which justice listed $1,200 in flowers from Oprah?

The U.S. Supreme Court’s newest justice, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, had “the most glamorous disclosures” on forms released Wednesday for seven of the high court’s justices, according to SCOTUSblog.

Jun 9, 2023 8:59 AM CDT

Supreme Court gives Jack Daniel’s a chance to prove infringement in ‘Bad Spaniels’ trademark parody case

There is no “special First Amendment protection” for product parodies that use trademarks as their own trademarks, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled Thursday in a case involving Jack Daniel’s and the maker of a parody dog toy.

Jun 8, 2023 1:42 PM CDT

In ‘stunning development,’ Supreme Court rules Alabama election map violates Voting Rights Act

The U.S. Supreme Court has struck down a congressional voting map that dilutes Black voting strength in Alabama, stating that it would “decline to recast” its caselaw as urged by the state.

Jun 8, 2023 11:39 AM CDT

SCOTUS faces ‘a catastrophic loss of institutional legitimacy,’ warns author

In his new book, The Supermajority: How the Supreme Court Divided America, Michael Waldman identifies three times that the U.S. Supreme Court caused a public backlash against itself—and warns that the court may be well along the path to a fourth massive public backlash.

Jun 7, 2023 8:55 AM CDT

Chemerinsky: Social media and internet companies likely face more free speech challenges at the Supreme Court

Sometimes there is great significance in what the U.S Supreme Court doesn’t do, and that was definitely so for two cases it handed down May 18 about the internet and social media.

Jun 6, 2023 8:57 AM CDT

SCOTUS will consider First Amendment right to trademark ‘Trump too small’ without Trump’s consent

The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to consider whether the First Amendment was violated when the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office refused to register a trademark for the slogan “Trump too small.”

Jun 6, 2023 8:46 AM CDT

Jackson is lone dissenter as Supreme Court allows company to sue union in state court

The U.S. Supreme Court’s newest justice was the only dissenter Thursday, when the high court allowed a concrete company to sue a union local in state court for alleged destruction of corporate property.

Jun 1, 2023 12:15 PM CDT

New book details Justice Antonin Scalia’s early life

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, who died in office in 2016, remains a revered figure among conservatives for his pugnaciousness, quick wit and his commitment to deciding cases based on “textualist” readings of statutes and an “originalist” interpretation of the Constitution. But Scalia’s combativeness also was polarizing.

Jun 1, 2023 1:10 AM CDT

If SCOTUS rules against racial preferences, this 4th Circuit decision presents next issue

If the U.S. Supreme Court restricts the consideration of race in college admissions, there is another looming issue: whether schools can use race-neutral tools that boost diversity.

May 31, 2023 11:59 AM CDT

Brown v. Board of Education should be renamed, group plans to tell Supreme Court

A lawyer in Camden, South Carolina, plans to ask the U.S. Supreme Court to rename Brown v. Board of Education for the first case taken to federal court in a quest to eliminate the separate-but-equal doctrine.

May 31, 2023 9:50 AM CDT