The 15-judge U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit voted on Monday afternoon to review before the full bench, instead of a three-judge panel, the legality of President Trump’s 90-day suspension of entry into the U.S. of any foreign nationals from six Mideast nations.  That action, taken by an unspecified majority vote, could speed up… Read More

A federal judge in Maryland who last month blocked enforcement nationwide of one key part of President Trump’s revised restrictions on immigration refused on Monday to prevent enforcement of two other significant parts — both dealing with refugees seeking to enter the U.S.   District Judge Theodore D. Chuang of Greenbelt, MD, explained that he had no… Read More

After 421 days, and after two bitter partisan clashes in the U.S. Senate, the vacant seat on the U.S. Supreme Court has a new occupant: Justice Neal M. Gorsuch, who will be 50 years old in August. Becoming history’s 113th member of the court, he succeeds the late Justice Antonin Scalia, praised by Gorsuch at… Read More

A 17-year-old transgender youth in Virginia will go to his high school graduation in June without knowing whether he will win his high-profile lawsuit seeking legal equality at school.  In the meantime, however, he has won glowing praise from two federal judges for his personal crusade. “Despite his youth and the formidable power of those… Read More

UPDATED Friday 12:10 p.m.   Shortly after the Senate confirmed Gorsuch as the Supreme Court’s ninth Justice (213th in history), the court announced that he will take one oath in a private ceremony at the court on Monday morning and will take a second oath in a public ceremony at the White House later that… Read More

In a flurry of parliamentary votes over a span of two hours on Thursday, the U.S. Senate completed its transformation into a markedly different body – at least in the way it exercises its constitutional role to provide “advice and consent” to Supreme Court nominations. It is far from clear, however, whether or how the… Read More

The clerk of a federal appeals court that is now reviewing President Trump’s immigration order disclosed on Tuesday that an attempt, apparently from outside of the case, has been made to try to get a ruling in favor of presidential authority on the issue. For the past several days, similar e-mail messages calling for that… Read More

For the first time, a federal appeals court has ruled that a 1964 civil rights law, as now understood, protects gay and lesbian employees from discrimination in the workplace based on their homosexuality. The Supreme Court has never ruled on the issue, but it is now likely to reach the Justices because of the split… Read More

Two federal appeals courts have now ordered quick review of President Trump’s immigration restrictions, setting up the prospect that the controversy could reach the Supreme Court as early as this month. The last time the Justices faced a major constitutional dispute over immigration, last June, they split 4-to-4. If that should happen again, even on… Read More

The leaders of the two parties in the U.S. Senate, appearing separately on a TV talk show on Sunday morning, indicated that each has control of enough votes to assure that the Supreme Court nomination of Judge Neil M. Gorsuch will not be approved in the coming week without a showdown over Senate filibuster rules…. Read More