The Supreme Court opens its next round of hearings tomorrow by examining anew two basic legal questions: how does a court decide if a legal right has been forfeited, and who speaks for a state government when its laws are challenged in federal courts?  The first grows out of workers’ claim that they were cheated… Read More

Can Congress, by passing a new law, nullify a part of the Constitution? The answer would seem to be obvious, since Article V’s provisions for the amending process do not allow any such thing. But that appears to be a question looming in a case now making its way through the federal courts – possibly… Read More

The prospect that former President Trump could face criminal charges for his efforts to stay in office, including his role in encouraging the violent attack on the Capitol last year, has gained new impetus as a result of the work of the January 6 investigating committee. It was only a first step, but lawyers for… Read More

The Supreme Court on Wednesday holds the final hearing of the current sitting. It will be a test of whether Border Patrol agents can be sued for damages based on claims that they violated a person’s constitutional rights.  After tomorrow, the Court next holds hearings on March 21. The “live” audio (no video) of the… Read More

Tuesday will bring a study of health law at the Supreme Court, in two unrelated cases.  The first hearing arises out of the opioid epidemic; it focuses on prosecution of doctors for over-prescribing pain-killing drugs.  The second examines the legal duty of health insurance plans to cover treatment of patients with kidney disease. The “live”… Read More

The Supreme Court’s hearings this week begin on Monday with four combined cases raising core questions about how the federal government today regulates air pollution in a strategy to reduce global warming as a hazard to human health and the environment. The “live” audio (no video) can be heard at Quick Links on the Supreme… Read More

On Wednesday, the Supreme Court will hear a plea by a group of conservative state governments seeking to revive a Trump Administration anti-immigrant policy that actually has its origins in a dark era in American history, 140 years ago.  The case is the only one scheduled for hearing tomorrow. The “live” audio (no video) can… Read More

The Supreme Court, on holiday today, resumes public hearings tomorrow after a mid-term recess.  Tuesday’s hearings focus on the rights of Native Americans.  One case deals with tribes’ authority to operate gambling enterprises, the other is a test of constitutional protection of individual tribal members from being tried twice for the same criminal acts. The… Read More

Picking up on a hint from two conservative Supreme Court Justices, a federal judge in Arkansas ruled Thursday that individual voters and private groups promoting their rights cannot sue in federal court to enforce the last significant part remaining of the 1965 Voting Rights Act.  Only the U.S. Attorney General can do so, the judge… Read More

With the ongoing debate over putting a women’s equality guarantee into the U.S. Constitution now being renewed in all three branches of the national government, advocates now face months of uncertainty on what this year will bring.  Even so, they are seeking to stir up new interest in an issue that, for almost 99 years,… Read More