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

Arguing that North Carolina officials are well on their way toward fully carrying out a federal appeals court ruling that nullified five state restrictions on voting rights, the Obama administration and advocacy groups urged the Supreme Court on Thursday to leave the lower court ruling intact. The state of North Carolina has asked the Justices… Read More

The presidential and vice presidential candidates of the Libertarian Party, claiming their poll numbers show considerable support with voters, asked the Supreme Court on Tuesday to place their names on the ballot in Ohio for the November 8 election.   State officials have been told to reply by tomorrow afternoon.

Ruling that the Obama administration has violated federal laws against sex bias in education, a federal judge in Fort Worth, Texas, on Sunday night issued a sweeping, nationwide order against the policy on the rights of transgender students. U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor, rejecting all of the arguments of government lawyers in favor of that… Read More

Already deeply immersed in religious controversy, the Supreme Court soon will be asked to clarify the duty of members of the military services to obey orders, even if they believe that doing so would violate their religious faith. A new case based on the rights protected by the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (or RFRA) is… Read More

UPDATED Tuesday 6:11 p.m.   The Chief Justice has called for responses to this application.  The Justice Department and civil rights groups are to file by 4 p.m. next Thursday, August 25.  North Carolina officials, arguing that the Supreme Court intended for states that were freed from federal supervision to pass new voting rules, asked… Read More

Giving no explanation, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit refused on Monday to assemble all 28 of its active judges for a new review of the constitutionality of California’s main gun-control laws.  The high-stakes dispute is very likely to move on to the Supreme Court.

For more than five years, reality TV star Kody Brown and the four women to whom he is married, either legally or “spiritually,” have been trying to gain a constitutional right to that relationship. Their lawyer plans to move the case on to the Supreme Court this fall but, on the path to the Justices,… Read More