SCOTUSblog

06/23/2021

https://www.scotusblog.com/2021/06/court-rules-for-high-school-cheerleader-in-first-amendment-dispute-over-snapchat-profanity/

A Pennsylvania school district on Wednesday may have won the war over regulating off-campus student speech, but it lost the battle over a cheerleader’s profanity-laden complaint on Snapchat. The justices ruled that the First Amendment allows schools to regulate at least some student speech that oc...

06/23/2021

BREAKING: In major First Amendment case on student speech, the Supreme Court rules 8-1 in favor of a former high school student who was disciplined by her public school after sending a vulgar message on Snapchat complaining about the school's cheerleading squad. Here is the opinion delivered by Justice Breyer in Mahanoy Area School District v. B.L.

Justice Thomas dissented.https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/20pdf/20-255_g3bi.pdf

06/16/2021

06/16/2021

https://www.scotusblog.com/2021/06/unanimous-ruling-on-crack-cocaine-disparity-is-heavy-on-text-light-on-history/

Sometimes, deep, conflicting social currents clash in titanic movements and romantic prose. Other times, they are submerged under rather drier land; underground rivers in a desert of language. On Monday, the Supreme Court, in a unanimous decision, held that decades of roiling political turmoil surro

06/07/2021

With D.C. gearing up for its parade this week, here's a sneak peek at our new banner, illustrated as always by the incomparable . It'll be up on the SCOTUSblog homepage tomorrow.

05/04/2021

https://www.scotusblog.com/2021/05/in-final-case-the-court-will-hear-this-term-profound-issues-of-race-incarceration-and-the-war-on-drugs/

Academics naturally believe that even obscure cases in their field are underappreciated; each minor tax or bankruptcy case quietly frames profound issues of justice. But, doubtful readers, rest assured that Terry v. United States – which the Supreme Court will hear on Tuesday in the final argument...

04/28/2021

The Supreme Court on Wednesday appeared conflicted over a school district’s plea to be allowed to discipline students for their speech outside of school. Some justices expressed concern about whether allowing schools to regulate off-campus speech could sweep in too much speech by young people, while others worried that – particularly in the internet era – a contrary rule would give too little weight to the harmful effects that some speech, such as cyberbullying, can have at school even when it happens off campus.
https://www.scotusblog.com/2021/04/justices-ponder-narrow-ruling-in-student-speech-case/

The Supreme Court on Wednesday appeared conflicted over a school district’s plea to be allowed to discipline students for their speech outside of school. Some justices expressed concern about whether allowing schools to regulate off-campus speech could sweep in too much speech by young people, whi...

03/10/2021

https://www.scotusblog.com/2021/03/cases-testing-trumps-public-charge-immigration-rule-are-dismissed/

Just over two weeks after the Supreme Court announced that it would review the Trump administration’s “public charge” rule, which governs the admission of immigrants into the United States, the case (as well as two others presenting the same question) was dismissed on Tuesday, at the request o...

03/02/2021

The Supreme Court is hearing oral argument this morning in what could be a hugely important voting rights case. https://www.scotusblog.com/2021/02/justices-to-consider-whether-arizonas-voting-rules-discriminate-against-minorities/

The 2020 elections may be over, but the Supreme Court will soon hear oral argument in a pair of voting-rights cases from one of last year’s key battleground states, and the eventual outcome may determine how courts will assess allegedly discriminatory voting rules for years to come. The cases cha

02/24/2021

SCOTUS hears oral argument this morning on whether, when police are pursuing someone for a misdemeanor, that is always an “exigent circumstance” that will allow the officer to follow the suspect into a house without a warrant. https://www.scotusblog.com/2021/02/justices-to-consider-whether-hot-pursuit-justifies-entering-the-home-without-a-warrant/

An old English maxim instructs that a man’s home is his castle – a refuge from the outside world. On Wednesday the Supreme Court will hear oral argument in a case testing how much protection the Constitution provides to the home. At issue in Lange v. California is whether, when police are pursui...

02/23/2021

The court heard oral argument this morning At 10:00 a.m. EST, ton whether a federal appellate court can consider an asylum seeker’s testimony as credible in its own review when immigration courts fail to make an explicit credibility determination. Read more about the case from Eunice Lee. https://www.scotusblog.com/2021/02/court-to-assess-when-to-treat-asylum-seekers-testimony-as-credible/

In asylum cases before the immigration and federal courts, responsibility for making credibility determinations rests with the immigration judge. Immigration laws recognize that in asylum proceedings — as in other contexts — the trier of fact who directly hears a person’s testimony can best as...

02/22/2021

BREAKING: After four months of inaction, SCOTUS in a one-sentence, unsigned order declines Trump's request to further postpone enforcement of a Manhattan DA subpoena for his financial records. The order clears the way for a NY grand jury to obtain the records & review them in secret.https://www.supremecourt.gov/orders/courtorders/022221zor_2cp3.pdf

02/19/2021

As part of our ongoing symposium, LaShawn Warren argues that the upcoming voting rights case in Arizona echoes Shelby County v. Holder from 2013—only this time Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act hangs in the balance.

"This provision prohibits state and local governments from imposing voting laws that result in racial or language discrimination. It also allows people and organizations to challenge those voting restrictions in court. That’s exactly what happened in Arizona."

https://www.scotusblog.com/2021/02/voting-discrimination-is-getting-worse-not-better/

This article is part of a symposium on the upcoming argument in Brnovich v. Democratic National Committee. Our case preview is here. LaShawn Warren is executive vice president of government affairs at The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, which filed an amicus brief in support of t

02/17/2021

Leading up to the March 2 oral argument, we’ll feature a symposium on the Arizona election rules challenge that could have major implications for voting rights across the US.

The first piece from Christopher Keiser warns about the risk of Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act effectively becoming a disparate-impact statute.

“Any racial disparity in the usage of a particular voting practice thus becomes a violation of federal law...”

https://www.scotusblog.com/2021/02/section-2-of-the-voting-rights-act-equal-opportunity-vs-disparate-impact/

This article is the first entry in a symposium on the upcoming argument in Brnovich v. Democratic National Committee. Our case preview is here. Christopher Kieser is an attorney at the Pacific Legal Foundation. He filed an amicus brief on behalf of the foundation and other groups in support of th

02/11/2021

Three months after the justices heard oral argument in the constitutional challenge to the Affordable Care Act, the Biden administration on Wednesday told the Supreme Court that it should uphold the entire law, a shift from the position taken by the Trump administration. https://www.scotusblog.com/2021/02/biden-administration-notifies-court-of-new-position-on-affordable-care-act/

Three months after the justices heard oral argument in the constitutional challenge to the Affordable Care Act, the Biden administration on Wednesday told the Supreme Court that it should uphold the entire law, a shift from the position taken by the Trump administration. With the process of writing

02/08/2021

Check out our new banner from Art Lien.

02/03/2021

The Supreme Court on Wednesday ruled in favor of Germany in a lawsuit brought by the heirs of several Jewish art dealers who are seeking compensation for what they describe as the forced sale of medieval Christian relics under the N**i regime. https://www.scotusblog.com/2021/02/jurisdictional-win-for-germany-in-lawsuit-seeking-to-recover-art-taken-by-nazis/

The Supreme Court on Wednesday ruled in favor of Germany in a lawsuit brought by the heirs of several Jewish art dealers who are seeking compensation for what they describe as the forced sale of medieval Christian relics under the N**i regime. In Federal Republic of Germany v. Philipp, the justices

02/02/2021

An already thin February argument calendar will likely become even lighter before the session begins on Feb. 22. Acting Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar asked the Supreme Court on Monday to remove two cases scheduled for argument during the February session from the argument calendar, citing changes in policy that President Joe Biden announced on his first day in office. https://www.scotusblog.com/2021/02/biden-administration-asks-justices-to-take-immigration-cases-off-february-calendar/

An already thin February argument calendar will likely become even lighter before the session begins on Feb. 22. Acting Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar asked the Supreme Court on Monday to remove two cases scheduled for argument during the February session from the argument calendar, citing cha

01/28/2021

Two pending Supreme Court immigration cases may already be moot as a result of President Biden's executive orders. But Acting SG Elizabeth Prelogar still must decide whether to maintain the Trump administration’s legal positions in others.
https://www.scotusblog.com/2021/01/trumps-legal-positions-will-test-bidens-acting-solicitor-general/

“We didn’t change position in a single case. Not one.” That was the determination of Neal Katyal when he took the helm of the Office of the Solicitor General on the first days of President Barack Obama’s administration in 2009. The solicitor general’s office is charged with setting and def...

01/24/2021

New year, new do!

SCOTUSblog got some new internet digs. Come check out our site redesign. We built it with you in mind.

http://scotusblog.com

Comprehensive Supreme Court news coverage and commentary: Find out about the justices, the cases, what's happened and what's next

01/19/2021

This morning the court heard oral argument in the latest chapter of a long-running battle between the Federal Communications Commission and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit over the FCC’s efforts to deregulate media ownership. Although the case is a technical one, the court’s eventual ruling could affect who owns local newspapers and radio and television stations – which could in turn influence how Americans get their news from those outlets.

https://www.scotusblog.com/2021/01/case-preview-clash-over-media-ownership-rules-arrives-at-the-court/

On Tuesday the Supreme Court will hear oral argument in the latest chapter of a long-running battle between the Federal Communications Commission and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit over the FCC’s efforts to deregulate media ownership. Although the case is a technical one, the court....

01/15/2021

Some Supreme Court justices, including Chief Justice John Roberts, have received both doses of the coronavirus vaccine, and the court says plans are in place for all nine justices to become fully vaccinated. https://www.scotusblog.com/2021/01/justices-are-in-the-process-of-getting-covid-vaccines-some-have-received-both-doses/

Some Supreme Court justices, including Chief Justice John Roberts, have received both doses of the coronavirus vaccine, and the court says plans are in place for all nine justices to become fully vaccinated. Kathy Arberg, a spokesperson for the court, declined to say how many justices (or which o

01/15/2021

Will we see a retirement on the Supreme Court this year?

Listen to the latest SCOTUStalk with our co-founders and as they talk about what has happened this past year and what may be in store in the future.

https://www.scotusblog.com/2021/01/looking-back-and-looking-ahead-during-a-transitional-term-for-the-court/

01/11/2021

The Supreme Court will issue additional orders from its Jan. 8 conference at 9:30 a.m. EST.

At 10 a.m., it will hear oral argument in Pham v. Guzman Chavez about the right of certain noncitizens who are contesting their deportations to be released on bond while in the process of removal from the US.

Gabriel Chin explains the Guzman Chavez case in more detail.

https://www.scotusblog.com/2021/01/case-preview-justices-will-confront-statutory-puzzle-on-bond-eligibility-for-noncitizens-contesting-deportation/

Pham v. Guzman Chavez, which will be argued on Jan. 11, addresses the right of certain noncitizens to be released on bond while they are in the process of removal from the United States. The migrants at issue are a subgroup of a subgroup: those who have previously been ordered removed, and are statu

01/10/2021

The Supreme Court added 14 cases to its docket this week. Here’s an overview.

https://www.scotusblog.com/2021/01/justices-grant-review-in-14-new-cases-but-dont-act-on-hot-button-issues/

The Supreme Court took a big step on Friday night toward filling up its merits docket for the rest of the 2020-21 term, granting review in 14 new cases for a total of 12 hours of argument. The justices will weigh in on the First Amendment rights of students and charitable organizations, as well as s

01/04/2021

Check out our new banner from Art Lien. It’s winter in the district. Time to bundle up!