Pressuring Justice Breyer to Retire
More and more progressive commentators want to see a Supreme Court vacancy this year.
Supreme Court
SCOTUS Hears a Crack Sentencing Case That Shows How the Drug War Piles One Cruel Absurdity on Top of Another
Tarahrick Terry was sentenced to more than 15 years in prison after he was caught with less than four grams.
Cops Who Killed a Man While Holding Him in a Hog-Tie Position Got Qualified Immunity. The Appeals Court Wasn't Having It.
Up for debate was whether or not it was "clearly established" that officers cannot apply injurious force to a subject who isn't resisting.
Gorsuch and Kavanaugh Butt Heads in Major Immigration Case
“Our only job today, is to give the law’s terms their ordinary meanings and, in that small way, ensure that the federal government does not exceed its statutory license.”
"The Right to Bear Arms" by Stephen Halbrook: Book Review
A book that may may help decide the Supreme Court's upcoming right to carry case.
This School Punished a Cheerleader for an Off-Campus Snapchat. Does That Violate the First Amendment?
The Supreme Court weighs the power of school officials to punish students for off-campus speech.
Immigrant Seeking to Challenge Removal Prevails with Unusual Supreme Court Line-up
The Supreme Court's 6-3 decision in Niz-Chavez v. Garland is not what you might have expected, but it may be a sign of things to come.
SCOTUS Will Decide Whether the Right To Bear Arms Extends Beyond Your Doorstep
New York, like several other states, limits public carrying of handguns to the favored few.
Supreme Court Refuses to Intervene in "Public Charge" Case -- For Now
The Biden Administration's effort to moot challenges to the Trump Administration's "public charge" rule scores an initial (yet potentially temporary) victory.
SCOTUS Just Agreed To Hear a Major New Second Amendment Case
The Supreme Court will hear arguments next term in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Corlett.
Warrantless Border Searches Draw Call for Supreme Court Action
The feds say they can paw through your phone and laptop any time you enter or leave the country.
Supreme Court Addresses Life Sentences for Juveniles and Exhaustion for Social Security Claimants' Appointment Clause Challenges
SCOTUS released three decisions this morning, as we await big decisions concerning religious liberty, the Affordable Care Act, and some meaty administrative law questions.
Can Cops Pull You Over for Hanging an Air Freshener From Your Rearview Mirror? You'd Better Check.
Bans on dangling objects are just one example of the myriad petty rules that give police the power to stop nearly any driver at will.
The Government Seized This Innocent Man's Car Without Due Process. SCOTUS Won't Hear the Case.
"How can an ordinary person afford to wait years after the government takes their car?"
Is Stephen Breyer About To Retire? His Clerk-Hiring Spree Suggests Otherwise.
Progressive activists are pushing the 82-year-old justice to step down.
Congressional Democrats Want To Vote Themselves Into a Supreme Court Majority
Plus: U.S. will finally withdraw troops from Afghanistan, Mastercard caves to religious groups on porn, and more...
Prohibited Prayer and the Limits of Public Health Authority
The Supreme Court reaffirms that COVID-19 regulations must comply with the First Amendment.
Supreme Court Blocks California's COVID-19 Restrictions on Private Prayer Groups
The majority reminds the 9th Circuit that the First Amendment puts limits on COVID-19 policies.
Lessons of the Legal and Political Struggle for Same-Sex Marriage
Drawn from William Eskridge and Christopher Riano's comprehensive new book on the subject.
Joe Biden, Who Says He's 'Not a Fan of Court Packing,' Just Created a Presidential Commission to Study Court Packing
The Presidential Commission on the Supreme Court of the United States will examine “the membership and size of the Court.”
Biden Releases Names of Members of His Supreme Court Commission [Updated]
It's a genuinely bipartisan and cross-ideological group. And one that isn't good news for advocates of court-packing.
Justice Breyer Warns Against Court-Packing
In this he echoes a number of other liberals, including the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
Justice Breyer Warns Against Expanding SCOTUS (UPDATED)
A liberal justice throws cold water on a pet progressive cause
Justice Thomas Wonders When Supreme Court Will Have To Consider Social Media's Private Deplatforming Power
A moot case about Trump blocking tweets leads to concerns that tech companies have too much control over speech.
Is SCOTUS Getting Ready to Reverse the Sixth Circuit in a Habeas Case Yet Again?
Today's grant of certiorari in Brown v. Davenport suggests we will see yet another Supreme Court reversal of a Sixth Circuit grant of a habeas petition.
The Right to an Abortion Isn't Going Away
While overturning Roe v. Wade would lead to new restrictions in many states, legal access to abortion would be unaffected in most of the country.
Seems Like Old Times for the Sixth Circuit at SCOTUS
This morning's summary reversal of a habeas petition grant in Mays v. Hines.
Shooting a Fleeing Suspect Who Escapes Still Triggers the Fourth Amendment, Says SCOTUS
"The application of physical force to the body with the intent to restrain is a seizure, even if the person does not submit and is not subdued."
A New Five-Justice Block on the Supreme Court?
In two decisions today, Chief Justice Roberts and Justice Kavanaugh aligned with the Court's liberals.
Sonia Sotomayor Questions Warrantless Gun Seizure in Big Fourth Amendment Case
“There was no immediate danger,” Sotomayor said, yet the police “decided on their own to go in and seize the gun.”
The 9th Circuit Says the Right To Bear Arms Does Not Extend Beyond Your Doorstep
According to the dissent, the appeals court "has decided that the Second Amendment does not mean what it says."
My "The Hill" Article on Cedar Point Nursery v. Hassid
My article considers the implications of a major takings case currently before the Supreme Court.
Additional Issues in Cedar Point v. Hassid
In this post, I consider some additional issues that came up in the recent Supreme Court oral argument in an important takings case.
Supreme Court Hears Oral Argument in Major Takings Case - Property Owners Seem Likely to Prevail
The Court seems likely to rule in favor of property rights in Cedar Point Nursery v. Hassid.
Supreme Court Agrees To Hear Fight Over Boston Bomber's Death Sentence
President Joe Biden campaigned on ending the federal death penalty, but he’s been quiet about it since taking office.
Meanings, Intentions, Original Law
Another way to understand what originalists are doing.
'If You Wear a Federal Badge, You Can Inflict Excessive Force on Someone With Little Fear of Liability,' Complains Judge Don Willett
A federal judge protests the Supreme Court’s “rights-without-remedies” Bivens doctrine.
Is the Supreme Court Preparing to End Qualified Immunity?
Experts disagree on whether this is likely or not. The answer remains unclear. But, either way, reform advocates should pursue both litigation and legislative reform. The two approaches are mutually reinforcing, not mutually exclusive.
Testifying on "What's Wrong with the Supreme Court: The Big Money Assault on Our Judiciary"
Presenting an alternative view as a minority witness before the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Cops Who Assaulted and Arrested a Man for Standing Outside His Own House Got Qualified Immunity. SCOTUS Won't Hear the Case.
The Supreme Court delivers another blow to a victim of egregious police abuse.
Biden Justice Department Sides Against Free Speech Advocates in Big First Amendment Case
The federal government weighs in on Mahanoy Area School District v. B.L..
A Promising Qualified Immunity Decision From a Potential Biden SCOTUS Nominee
Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson denied qualified immunity to the officers involved in Patterson v. United States.
California's Requirement That Nonprofits Disclose Donor Information Poses a Grave Threat to Freedom of Association
A broad coalition of groups is asking the Supreme Court to overturn the state's policy.
Biden Should Nominate Judges Who Battled the Government in Court
More criminal defense lawyers, public defenders, and civil rights litigators may soon be appointed to the federal bench.
Ayanna Pressley Revives Justin Amash's Bill To End Qualified Immunity
The Ending Qualified Immunity Act of 2021 would no longer let state actors violate your rights without consequence.
So Long as You Carry a Cellphone, the Government Can Track You
A phone in your pocket may as well be a GPS beacon strapped to your ankle.
SCOTUS Rules Against an Innocent Man Who Was Choked and Beaten by Cops, but He May Still Get His Day in Court
The justices did not address one of James King's key arguments, which the 6th Circuit will now consider.
'Everything Has Been Criminalized,' Says Neil Gorsuch as He Pushes for Stronger Fourth Amendment Protections
The justice weighs in during oral arguments in Lange v. California.
