Covering the Supreme Court, lower courts, and the law

Lawyers for the pro football team in the nation’s capital on Wednesday asked a federal appeals court to move promptly to clear the team’s right to federal legal protection for its name, the “Redskins.”  In a brief letter filed with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, the team contended that the Supreme… Read More

Setting the stage for the Supreme Court to make up its mind quickly about President Trump’s controversial curb on immigration, Administration lawyers submitted their final written arguments at midday Wednesday.  In a new legal point, they sought to rely on a two-day-old ruling by the Justices to support their claim for vast power for the… Read More

Lawyers for the state of Hawaii argued in a Supreme Court filing Tuesday that President Trump himself has undercut his own argument that his efforts to delay immigration are needed to protect national security – the main public rationale for the disputed White House executive order. In the next-to-last filing scheduled to be made before… Read More

Facing for the first time the constitutionality of a 71-year-old law governing the right to use a specific label for a product, service or activity – a trademark, a unanimous Supreme Court struck it down as a form of government censorship.  The law required the government to refuse to register a trademark if officials thought… Read More

Finding that the modern Internet, and especially its social media sites, are bringing about a “revolution in thought,” the Supreme Court on Monday created broad constitutional shelter for exchanging or exploring ideas electronically.   In a unanimous decision, the Justices struck down a sweeping North Carolina law that flatly banned convicted sex offenders from all access… Read More

Declaring that high government officials cannot be sued personally for wrongdoing in the name of national security, a divided Supreme Court on Monday spared three former top Justice Department officials from legal claims based on mistreatment of Muslims rounded up in the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. It is up to Congress to decide… Read More

  The Supreme Court on Monday stepped, somewhat hesitantly, into the long-standing constitutional controversy over partisan gerrymandering, accepting a major test case for review but giving itself several ways to avoid deciding it. At issue is the question of whether the process of drawing new election district boundaries is unconstitutional if one political party specifically… Read More

The Trump Administration late Thursday gave itself permission to deport more than 4 million undocumented immigrants, the parents of children who are U.S. citizens or have a legal right to permanently stay in the country. The parents previously had been protected by the Obama Administration. The action nullified a major part of President Obama’s deferred… Read More

In a nine-minute, tightly choreographed ritual, Neil M. Gorsuch took the oath of office again as a Supreme Court Justice, with President Trump and the First Lady watching silently in a front row in the VIP section of the court’s ornate chamber.  At the end of the oath, he recited the words, “So help me… Read More

President Trump moved on Wednesday to keep his restrictions on immigration in operation, if the Supreme Court now allows government officials to start enforcing those limits. In a new presidential order, issued to clear up an ambiguity that had surfaced in court cases, the President extended the planned expiration dates for the restrictions. As a result,… Read More