Covering the Supreme Court, lower courts, and the law

With the Supreme Court’s four more liberal Justices staying together in favor of freer access to voting for black citizens, the Court on Wednesday afternoon left intact a federal appeals court ruling that nullified five new restrictions in North Carolina.  The issue, in essence, split the Court 4-to-4; the order can be found here. It… Read More

In a split decision, a federal appeals court in Washington, D.C., cleared the way on Tuesday for a war crimes commission at Guantanamo Bay to try a Saudi national on terrorism charges, including the bombing of a U.S. Navy vessel, the U.S.S. Cole, in a harbor in Yemen, in 2000.  The case of Abd Al-Rahim… Read More

Without comment, the Supreme Court on Monday turned down a plea by the Libertarian Party’s nominees for president and vice president to get a place on the November 8 election ballot in Ohio, under the party’s name.   The Court’s order is here. Presidential nominee Gary Johnson and running mate William Weld will appear on… Read More

A county school board in Virginia asked the Supreme Court on Monday to reject the Obama administration’s view that illegal discrimination based on sex also forbids bias against transgender people.  The petition challenging that view can be found here. The Court is not expected to act on the new case for several weeks.  For now, a ruling… Read More

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