Covering the Supreme Court, lower courts, and the law

On Wednesday, the Supreme Court’s single hearing will focus on a case that is quite narrow but is unfolding against a broad historical background on Congress’s power to control the work of the federal courts, including the Supreme Court.  Some critics now want to use that power to rein in an unpopular Court. The Court… Read More

In Tuesday’s single hearing, the Supreme Court will have a historic encounter with United States policy on immigration.  The hearing will be in the language of legal decorum, but not far in the background will be a dark theory of xenophobia – the bitter resentment of foreigners among us. The Court will broadcast “live” the… Read More

Tomorrow, the Supreme Court returns to the bench for a new round of hearings.  Up first are two hearings on the troubling but all-too-familiar topic: public corruption.  The two cases were decided on the same day in a lower court and raise closely related issues. The Court will broadcast “live” the audio (no video) of… Read More

Last of three parts on Moore v. Harper It may appear to be mere chance that the Supreme Court has before it the cases that it most wants to decide; the selection of cases is a kind of lottery: lawyers decide what to file, and the Court picks and chooses what to review.  Since 1929,… Read More

Second of three parts on Moore v. Harper The dominant mode of constitutional interpretation now applied by the Supreme Court’s conservative majority is finding meaning of the basic document in American history and tradition.  That, however, does not involve an open-ended inquiry into the past: it is said to be focused on the meaning that… Read More

First of three parts on Moore v. Harper Probably no constitutional debate is less settled, after 235 years, than this: Did those who wrote America’s basic charter create a democracy or a republic?  The debate goes on, even though history shows clearly that the Founders decided that the nation should have both.  Establishing a democracy,… Read More

Just days after Americans went to the polls this month in a hotly contested national election, politicians, scholars of law and history, and interested citizens are already starting to think about elections in 2024 and wondering what the state of the democracy will be then.  That is two years away, but before then the U.S…. Read More

On Wednesday, the Supreme Court will hold one of its longest hearings of the current term, and the time probably will be needed: four separate cases, being heard together, will draw the Justices into deep controversy over a lengthy list of fundamental constitutional questions.  All of those issues come down to this: who will raise… Read More

The Supreme Court is the place to get answers to some historic legal questions.  But, occasionally, the Court uses its ultimate authority just to settle some very basic, nuts-and-bolts legal questions.  That’s what it will be doing at two hearings on Tuesday, exploring who has a right to  sue to enforce rights. The Court will… Read More

On Monday, the Supreme Court continues its November sitting with hearings on the constitutional legitimacy of the way two federal agencies – part of the “Fourth Branch” of government – use their power to regulate business activity.  This is not new for the Court: it has been wrestling with this question since the 1890s. The… Read More