Covering the Supreme Court, lower courts, and the law

Daniel Thurer, a Swiss jurist and scholar of international law at the University of Zurich, wrote in a 2011 book: “Wars have always been fought in accordance with certain norms.  It is one of the astonishing facts of history that, to a great extent, wars were not chaotic affairs – despite outward appearances to the… Read More

On Wednesday, for the fourth time in two weeks, the Supreme Court again explores the dispute-settling mechanism of arbitration. In any group of cases about that, it is likely that California will be involved in at least one of them. The state has a history of acting on its firm belief that, if there is… Read More

The Supreme Court turns on Tuesday to the meaning of a constitutional amendment added 227 years ago, the Eleventh Amendment.  Ratified in 1795, it was the first change in the Constitution after the Bill of Rights, and marked the first time that a Supreme Court decision was overturned by a constitutional amendment.  It comes up… Read More

The Supreme Court continues its current round of hearings on Monday with a pair of cases on down-to-earth issues of how law affects workers who toil at blue-collar jobs. Both cases turn on seemingly mundane questions of law: is a railroad train being used when a worker is injured on it while it is temporarily… Read More

On Wednesday, the Supreme Court returns to the never-ending project – of judges, legislators, lawyers and legal scholars – to make lawsuits less expensive, fairer and, candidly, less subject to manipulation by crafty lawyers. This case, the only one set for hearing tomorrow, projects that endeavor onto the international stage, involving both U.S. federal courts… Read More

The one case on the Supreme Court’s hearing calendar for Tuesday involves the meaning of a four-decades-old international treaty that seeks to sort out in which country a child will live, when the parents feud over that issue. That treaty has grown more important as globalization has led to more marriages of spouses from different… Read More

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