Lyle Denniston

Oct 30 2022

Historic confrontation over race

Very few Supreme Court decisions in American constitutional history can match the dramatic intensity and cultural breadth of its 1954 ruling in Brown v. Board of Education, ending racial segregation in the nation’s public schools.  But, with an anxious nation once again asking itself what it should be doing now about race, the Supreme Court… Read More

Oct 22 2022

Senator Graham’s Supreme Court case — explained

Seeking shelter under a hallowed legal tradition that has its origins in the “Glorious Revolution” in England (1688-1689), Republican Senator Lindsey Graham is now asking the U.S. Supreme Court to keep him out of a witness chair in Atlanta, GA.  A local prosecutor wants to question the South Carolina Senator, under oath, as she builds… Read More

Oct 17 2022

The Trump documents case — explained

For ten weeks, the legal controversy over former President Donald Trump’s claim that he owns White House records that he took home with him has been unfolding in five different courts, including the Supreme Court, and is still weeks away from being decided.  It is highly complex, from a legal standpoint, but can be explained… Read More

Oct 13 2022

Trump rebuffed by the Court

Acting quickly and with no dissents noted, the Supreme Court refused on Thursday to give former President Donald Trump access to secret documents that the FBI had taken from his Mar a Lago resort in Florida in August.  The action, done with no explanation, was not a surprise. As a result, those classified materials will… Read More

Oct 11 2022

A look at Andy Warhol’s art

In a hearing Wednesday, the Supreme Court will become something of an art critic, evaluating whether a famous work by Andy Warhol was truly creative.  It would have to be, in order to be legal under U.S. copyright law.  At a second hearing, the Court will consider when a supervisor in a business has a… Read More

Oct 10 2022

California’s way of life and the Court

The Supreme Court is closed today for a legal holiday, but resumes its hearings tomorrow with one of the most important cases in years on the power of states under the Constitution to define their own way of life.  The sometimes bold and daring state of California, not surprisingly, is at the center of that… Read More

Oct 4 2022

Trump appeals again to Supreme Court

Former President Donald Trump asked the Supreme Court on Tuesday to restore full control to a Florida federal judge of the historic dispute over his access to thousands of government documents, giving him a chance to regain possession even of highly classified secret data. If the Justices grant the new Trump plea, it would push… Read More

Oct 3 2022

Major test of minorities’ right to vote

In a hearing Tuesday, the Supreme Court will again examine two of the most contested issues in American politics: how to make voting equal for minorities and how to draw fair election districts.  In a second hearing, the Justices will examine military veterans’ right to disability benefits. The Court will broadcast “live” the audio of… Read More

Oct 2 2022

Opening day at the Court: property rights

Opening day of the Supreme Court’s new term on Monday will focus on hearings about two kinds of property rights: the right to build on private property when that might lead to pollution of a nearby waterway (a modern dispute about the environment) and the right of state governments to take ownership of private financial… Read More

Sep 30 2022

New challenge to Judge Cannon

On Friday night, the Biden Administration’s Justice Department asked a federal appeals court to speed up its review of a federal case over government seizure of secret documents from former President Donald Trump’s Mar a Lago resort in Florida. The after-hours filing with the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals was clearly aimed at shutting down… Read More

Lyle Denniston continues to write about the U.S. Supreme Court, although he “retired” at the end of 2019 following more than six decades on that news beat. He was there for three revolutions – civil rights, women’s rights, and gay rights – and the start of a fourth, on transgender rights. His career of following the law began at the Otoe County Courthouse in his hometown, Nebraska City, Nebraska, in the fall of 1948. His online, eight-week, college-level course – “The Supreme Court and American Politics” – is available from the University of Baltimore Law School, and it is free.

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