The top state election official in Michigan asked the Supreme Court on Friday to put back into effect, for this year’s election, a law banning voters from casting one vote for all of a party’s candidates on the ballot — that is, voting a straight ticket.  The request noted that 40 other states forbid that… Read More

The state Democratic party in Ohio and some of its county organizations and voters asked the Supreme Court on Thursday to reinstate five days of early voting in this year’s general election — the so-called “Golden Week” that had been heavily used by black and low-income voters, who tend to support Democratic candidates. Enacted eight years… Read More

The Supreme Court on Wednesday put off for almost a month any action on the Obama administration’s long-stalled 2014 immigration policy, and that may lead to added delay in a Texas federal court where a trial on the policy’s legality is due to be held — at some point. More than six weeks ago, the… Read More

With the Supreme Court’s four more liberal Justices staying together in favor of freer access to voting for black citizens, the Court on Wednesday afternoon left intact a federal appeals court ruling that nullified five new restrictions in North Carolina.  The issue, in essence, split the Court 4-to-4; the order can be found here. It… Read More

In a split decision, a federal appeals court in Washington, D.C., cleared the way on Tuesday for a war crimes commission at Guantanamo Bay to try a Saudi national on terrorism charges, including the bombing of a U.S. Navy vessel, the U.S.S. Cole, in a harbor in Yemen, in 2000.  The case of Abd Al-Rahim… Read More

Without comment, the Supreme Court on Monday turned down a plea by the Libertarian Party’s nominees for president and vice president to get a place on the November 8 election ballot in Ohio, under the party’s name.   The Court’s order is here. Presidential nominee Gary Johnson and running mate William Weld will appear on… Read More

A county school board in Virginia asked the Supreme Court on Monday to reject the Obama administration’s view that illegal discrimination based on sex also forbids bias against transgender people.  The petition challenging that view can be found here. The Court is not expected to act on the new case for several weeks.  For now, a ruling… Read More

The Founders who wrote the Constitution wanted the powers of the national government’s three branches to be kept separate, but not entirely free of being checked by each other’s powers. Even so, any citizen seeking to get one branch to act against another faces a number of significant obstacles – not least, proving that he… Read More

North Carolina’s “bathroom bill” (H.B. 2), the most prominent symbol of government rules being challenged by transgender people, cannot be enforced against three residents of the state while the measure’s validity is being tested in the courts, a federal judge in Winston-Salem ruled on Friday. The 83-page rulling by U.S. District Judge Thomas D. Schroeder marked… Read More

The Supreme Court on Friday issued its final round of regular summer orders, and the list indicated that the Justices had taken no action on the Obama administration’s plea to schedule a new hearing on the legality of the broad new immigration policy.   Presumably, that plea will be taken up later, but maybe not… Read More