Supreme Court
Determined To Avoid Presidential Paralysis, SCOTUS Endorses Presidential Impunity
We need not conjure "extreme hypotheticals" to understand the danger posed by an "energetic executive" who feels free to flout the law.
Why the Media Covered for Biden
Plus: A listener asks whether Bruce Springsteen's song Born in the U.S.A is actually patriotic.
Learning to Like the "Loneliest Justice"
That some legal commentators are surprised by Justice Barrett may say more about Court commentary (and the way she was caricatured when nominated) than it does about Justice Barrett.
From "Deference" to "Respect" - The Real Import of Loper Bright
The decision to overturn Chevron removes an agency trump card, but does not instruct courts to ignore agency opinions--and they won't.
SCOTUS Will Decide Whether the FDA's 'Regulatory Switcheroos' on Vaping Were 'Arbitrary and Capricious'
The 5th Circuit ruled that the agency violated the Administrative Procedure Act when it rejected applications from manufacturers of flavored nicotine e-liquids.
Presidential Immunity As a Question of Executive Power
There is no textual basis for "immunity" as such, but there are structural reasons why some degree of insulation is inevitable.
Goldsmith on the Trump Immunity Decision
A thoughtful, sober take on Trump v. United States.
Judges Block Indiana and Mississippi Age Verification Laws for Porn, Social Media
And the Supreme Court agrees to weigh in.
Two SCOTUS Cases Show How an Unaccountable Administrative State Hurts 'Ordinary People'
Contrary to progressive criticism, curtailing bureaucratic power is not about protecting "the wealthy and powerful."
Sotomayor Is Right: The Supreme Court Should Reevaluate Absolute Immunity for Prosecutors
The doctrine makes it nearly impossible for victims of prosecutorial misconduct to get recourse.
A Law Professor's Beef With a First Amendment 'Spinning Out of Control': Too Much Speech of the Wrong Sort
Even as he praises judicial decisions that made room for "dissenters" and protected "robust political debate," Tim Wu pushes sweeping rationales for censorship.
The Supreme Court Didn't Destroy the Regulatory State. It Stood Up for Due Process.
Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson says these cases will "devastate" the regulatory state. Good.
Why the End of Chevron Could Be a Win for Immigrants
“Immigration is an area of the law where the partisan alignments break down over Chevron.”
Gorsuch Apes NIMBY Government Lies in Supreme Court's Grants Pass Decision
Plus: A disappointing first round of "Baby YIMBY" grant awards, President Joe Biden endorses rent control, and House Republicans propose cutting housing spending.
Weekend at Biden's
Plus: Trump immunity ruling, cosmopolitan thinking on immigration, cringe Kamala, and more...
Supreme Court's Presidential Immunity Ruling Could Shield Outrageous Abuses of Power
By requiring "absolute" immunity for some "official acts" and "presumptive" immunity for others, the justices cast doubt on the viability of Donald Trump's election interference prosecution.
Social Media Moderation Is Speech, Says Supreme Court
The Court is remanding these two cases for more analysis—but it made its views on some key issues clear.
Ketanji Brown Jackson Joins Conservative Justices in Upending Hundreds of January 6 Cases
Her concurrence is a reminder that the application of criminal law should not be infected by personal animus toward any given defendant.
SCOTUS Rejects a Legal Interpretation Underlying Capitol Riot Charges
The decision also negates two counts of the federal indictment accusing Donald Trump of illegally interfering in the 2020 presidential election.
Supreme Court Rules That Punishing the Homeless for Sleeping Outside Isn't 'Cruel and Unusual'
Homeless advocates say the court's decision in Grants Pass v. Johnson gives local governments a blank check to "to arrest or fine those with no choice but to sleep outdoors."
SCOTUS Repudiates Doctrine That Gave Agencies a License To Invent Their Own Authority
The Court says Chevron deference allows bureaucrats to usurp a judicial function, creating "an eternal fog of uncertainty" about what the law allows or requires.
Why Are Liberals Suddenly Denouncing the Right to a Jury Trial?
Justice Sonia Sotomayor called the Supreme Court ruling in SEC v. Jarkesy "a power grab." She's right, but in the wrong way.
SCOTUS Stays Enforcement of EPA's "Good Neighbor" Air Pollution Rule (Updated)
In a 5-4 decision, the male justices side with the state and industry challengers and the female justices side with the Environmental Protection Agency
Divided Over Purdue Pharma Deal, SCOTUS Unites in Accepting a Dubious OxyContin Narrative
The majority and the dissenters agree that the drug was "central" to "the opioid crisis," even though there is little evidence to support that thesis.
SCOTUS Rules SEC's In-House Handling of Securities Fraud Cases Violates the Right to Trial by Jury
The decision rejects a system in which the agency imposes civil penalties after investigating people and validating its own allegations.
SCOTUS Allows Emergency Abortions in Idaho
The decision reverses the Court's previous stay of a lower court decision blocking part of the law.
He Faced a Terrorism Probe, Went to Jail on a Gun Charge, and Now Is Charged With Drug Possession
Although the FBI never produced evidence that Ali Hemani was a threat to national security, it seems determined to imprison him by any means necessary.
SCOTUS Declines To Punish the Feds for Suppressing Social Media Speech
The verdict in Murthy v. Missouri is a big, flashing green light that jawboning may resume.
Supreme Court Sends Message with Narrow Standing Holding in Murthy v. Missouri
Even if one thinks the federal government crossed the line in pushing more aggressive social-media-platform content moderation policies, plaintiffs must still satisfy the traditional requirements of Article III standing.
A Government Veto on Speech at the Supreme Court
Murthy v. Missouri challenges government efforts to suppress dissenting viewpoints on social media.
Has SCOTUS Replaced One Kind of Unbridled Discretion With Another in Second Amendment Cases?
Although critics say the Court’s current approach is unworkable, it has been undeniably effective at defeating constitutionally dubious gun regulations.
The Supreme Court Isn't as Radical as You Think
There is a great deal of panic surrounding the "extreme" nature of the current Court. But that is often not based in reality.
Supreme Court to Consider State Ban on Gender Dysphoria Treatments for Minors (Updated)
The Court's grant of certiorari is limited to only one of the issues in this litigation.
Dobbs Recentered Women in the Abortion Debate
Two years after the Dobbs decision, Americans are increasingly concerned with how abortion bans affect women with wanted pregnancies.
The Supreme Court's Dubious Use of History in Department of State v. Munoz
Justice Amy Coney Barrett's majority opinion includes significant errors, and violates some of her own precepts against excessive reliance on questionable history.
The Supreme Court Again Strengthens the Right to a Jury Trial in Criminal Sentencing
Paul Erlinger was sentenced to 15 years in prison based largely on a determination made by a judge—not a jury.
SCOTUS Dodges a Crucial Problem With Disarming People Based on Restraining Orders
The Court says "a credible threat" justifies a ban on gun possession but does not address situations where there is no such judicial finding.
Supreme Court OT2023 in the Final Stretch
The justices are rushing to close out the term before the end of June.
SCOTUS Makes It Easier for Victims of Retaliatory Arrests To Vindicate Their First Amendment Rights
The justices ruled that "objective evidence" of retaliation does not require "very specific comparator evidence."
The Supreme Court May Be on the Brink of Radically Restricting Bureaucrats' Power
Chevron deference, a doctrine created by the Court in 1984, gives federal agencies wide latitude in interpreting the meaning of various laws. But the justices may overturn that.
Critics Fundamentally Misconstrue the Supreme Court's Bump Stock Ruling
The case hinged on the ATF’s statutory authority, not the Second Amendment.
Abortion, Guns, and Hunter Biden.
Plus: A listener asks the editors about the Selective Service.
Supreme Court OT2023 at the Middle of June
The justices still have over one-third of the term's cases remaining.
Supreme Court Upholds the Rule of Law by Rejecting the Trump Administration's Bump Stock Ban
Six justices agreed that federal regulators had misconstrued the statutory definition of a machine gun.
The 'Bombshell' Secret Alito Recording Was Not a Bombshell
The justice's benign comments set off a lengthy news cycle and have been treated as a scandal by some in the media. Why?
