Lyle Denniston

May 18 2020

Electoral College, the Senate and the Founders

No matter how the U.S. Supreme Court rules on the current constitutional controversy over voting by electors in the Electoral College, members of that body will meet in their own states next December to cast crucial votes for the presidency.  The Court has not been asked to strike down the College. Only in a fairly… Read More

May 12 2020

How fares the President in court?

As the Supreme Court takes on more cases involving President Trump, it is becoming clearer that he is often benefiting from the Justices’ customary respect for the other two branches of government. Even as the Justices review further the legality of actions by the sitting President, the Court is predictably reluctant to inquire about motives… Read More

May 2 2020

The Supreme Court on TV — sort of

Over the next two weeks, the Supreme Court will be heard “live” doing its work for the first time in history, but the television audience will not actually see the Justices, their courtroom, or the lawyers appearing to present arguments.  This will be an audio presentation only, of six days of hearings, some involving highly… Read More

Dec 19 2019

Appeals court puts Obamacare’s fate deeper in doubt

The long-running dispute over the constitutionality of the massive federal health insurance law – the Affordable Care Act, or “Obamacare” – headed into a new, and even more uncertain, phase on Wednesday after a federal appeals court issued a eagerly-awaited ruling.   Dividing 2-to-1, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit found unconstitutional a… Read More

Dec 13 2019

Justices to rule on privacy of Trump’s finances

Setting itself a constitutional task that could have a huge impact on presidential politics in 2020, the Supreme Court on Friday afternoon agreed to rule on three appeals by President Trump seeking to deny access by congressional and state investigators to his personal and business records, including tax returns. The decisions in the three cases… Read More

Nov 25 2019

Two rulings, mixed results, on Trump vs. Congress

Two new court decisions – both historic, but both leaving a good deal of uncertainty – emerged Monday in constitutional controversies arising out of Congress’s investigations of President Trump and his senior White House aides.  It will take months for the full impact of both rulings to become clear, so these disputes will still be… Read More

Nov 24 2019

Important week in court for Trump (UPDATED)

UPDATE Monday morning, 11/25/19:  The Supreme Court took no action, among its regular orders list, on either of the cases involving President Trump’s tax returns.  That does not rule out an order or orders at any time, later Monday or later in the week. ——————— The historic, months-long constitutional battle growing out of official investigations… Read More

Nov 4 2019

Trump tax returns case to reach Justices shortly

President Trump’s lawyers plan, within the next ten days, to go to the Supreme Court with a plea to rule – before the Justices’ current term ends this summer – that no court has power to order that his personal and business tax returns be handed over to a state criminal investigation. That appeal follows… Read More

Oct 21 2019

Might Justices rule this term on Trump tax returns fight?

Lawyers for President Trump and a state prosecutor in New York have reached an agreement to put before the Supreme Court in its current term the historic constitutional dispute over disclosure of the President’s tax returns.  The two sides notified the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in New York City on Monday… Read More

Oct 4 2019

Where is the Supreme Court going on abortion?

Returning to an abortion rights issue that it had decided earlier but with a bench that is now changed, the Supreme Court agreed on Friday to hear new appeals on states’ power to limit the activities of doctors who terminate women’s pregnancies. The case has the potential to bring about a major shift in the… 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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