Lyle Denniston

Mar 1 2021

Will voting be made harder for minorities?

On Tuesday, the Supreme Court will hold a hearing in one of the most significant cases in years on the meaning of a key part of the federal Voting Rights Act.  As before, the audio portion (not the video) of the one-hour hearing in two combined cases will be broadcast on c-span.org/supreme court Hearing starts… Read More

Feb 28 2021

Small dispute, large meaning

On Monday, the Supreme Court takes a look at a present-day version of a constitutional debate that has been raging for generations over presidential power to appoint officials in the U.S. government.  The Court will be hearing three appeals combined for a one-hour hearing.  The audio will be available on c-span.org/supremecourt Hearing starts at 10… Read More

Feb 23 2021

How private is a private home?

Wednesday’s hearing in the Supreme Court involves a single case.  It focuses on the authority of police to enter a private home without a warrant authorizing entry.   As usual, the audio (but not the video) portion of the hearing will be broadcast at c-span.org/supremecourt Hearing, scheduled for one-hour, starts at 10 a.m.: Lange v. California… Read More

Feb 23 2021

New threat to voting rights

With Republican-controlled legislatures in many states moving quickly to cut back voting rights, especially mail-in balloting and voting before election day, three Supreme Court Justices on Monday sent a strong signal that these efforts may survive future court challenges.  In arguing that the Court should now step in to resolve disputes that arose in the… Read More

Feb 22 2021

Prosecutor to see Trump tax returns

Former President Trump’s two-year courthouse battle to keep secret his financial records and his tax returns came close to ending Monday morning, in a one-sentence order issued by the Supreme Court.  There was no sign of any dissent, and there was no explanation. This does not mean that the public will be able to view… Read More

Feb 21 2021

Water and law flow together at Court

After its customary four-week, mid-winter recess, the Supreme Court re-starts its hearing schedule tomorrow, focusing on a long-running feud between Florida and George.  Only one case is set for hearing Monday.  As it has done for months, because of the pandemic, the Court will continue to hold its hearings remotely.  Again, it will broadcast the… Read More

Feb 7 2021

Impeachment II: What will it mean?

America has lived under its Constitution for 232 years, so it is quite rare to have a constitutional event that has never happened before.  On Tuesday, America will begin witnessing two of those first-ever events, occurring simultaneously. That is the day the U.S. Senate is scheduled to begin the trial of former President Trump on… Read More

Jan 18 2021

Broadcasting, appeals issues at the Court

Today is a legal holiday, so the Supreme Court is not in session.  Because of that and Inauguration Day on Wednesday, the Court will hold only one day of hearings this week, on Tuesday.  The first of two cases involves government limits on ownership of radio and TV broadcast stations.  The second case would be… Read More

Jan 16 2021

Census due to count all immigrants

A part of government anti-immigrant policy that President Trump and his aides pursued throughout their four years in office reached its end on Friday in a federal courthouse in California.  The aim was to exclude up to 11 million undocumented immigrants from being counted in the 2020 census.  Trump’s legal team told a federal judge… Read More

Jan 12 2021

How best to remedy cheating of consumers?

On Wednesday, the Supreme Court will complete this week’s hearings with review of the legal tools that the Federal Trade Commission can use against those who use deceptive credit schemes to cheat consumers.  The hearing will be conducted remotely because of the pandemic.  The audio portion of the hearing, but not the video, is expected… 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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