Covering the Supreme Court, lower courts, and the law

A federal appeals court agreed on Tuesday to delay the case involving the legality of the Washington, D.C., pro football team’s trademarks on its name, the Redskins.  Those trademarks have been ordered cancelled under a law that forbids such protection for marks that are “disparaging” to someone. The team had failed in an attempt to… Read More

Four day ago, the Supreme Court’s most publicly visible Justice, who has gained unusual star power – Ruth Bader Ginsburg, strayed again into non-legal controversy.  And, on Friday she backtracked again, demonstrating anew the hazards of unguarded comments off the bench. In an interview with the Yahoo! broadcast personality Katie Couric during a book-promotion tour… Read More

Basing its decision on the Founders’ belief that concentrated government power threatens Americans’ liberty, a federal appeals court has ruled that the Constitution forbids a federal regulatory agency from being run by a single director. This is the latest challenge to the power of independent federal agencies – a challenge that has been running for… Read More

The Supreme Court, taking on for a second time a dispute over actions by top government officials in the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, agreed on Tuesday afternoon to decide whether those officials may be sued for allegedly violating the rights of foreign nationals rounded up and jailed during a sweeping terrorism investigation. Former… Read More

The Supreme Court’s second day of hearings in its new Term moved it directly into some of the most significant controversies they will face in coming months, and it was plain that the outcomes are hardly going to be bold.  In a case of huge significance for those who buy and sell stocks, and in… Read More

Without comment, the Supreme Court on Monday turned down the Obama administration’s request for a new hearing on the legality of the President’s ambitious immigration policy.  That sets the stage for the case to move forward to a trial in a Texas federal courtroom.  It likely will mean that there will be no final decision… Read More

A special judicial ethics tribunal in Alabama refused on Friday to allow the state’s controversial and currently suspended chief justice, Roy Stewart Moore, to resume his duties on the bench any time over the final years of his elected term.  Unless his former colleagues on the state supreme court salvage his career, it would be over, because he… Read More

Still somewhat hobbled without a ninth Justice to complete its bench, the Supreme Court returns to work in public next week with no way of knowing when that vacancy will be filled, and which president will name the occupant – President Obama, or his successor.   The future of the court, not just in the next… Read More

The Supreme Court, selecting the first round of new cases to be heard in the Term opening formally next Monday, agreed on Thursday to rule on the constitutionality of a federal law that bars trademarks that would send an offensive message about someone.   A federal appeals court struck down the law, finding it violated… Read More

With no sign of any dissent, the Supreme Court on Tuesday refused to temporarily bar the Securities and Exchange Commission from continuing to use its administrative law judges to review claims of fraud in the investment markets.  Without explanation, the Court turned down a request by a New York City investment firm to stop an… Read More