SCOTUSblog

SCOTUSblog

SCOTUSblog analyzes the cases before the U.S. Supreme Court and posts breaking news of court decisions. Supreme Court decisions are often posted here before the high court puts them on its own Web site.

Author: Lawyer-contributors are U.S. Supreme Court litigators from Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld (SCOTUSblog founder Tom Goldstein as well as partner Patricia Millett) and from Howe & Russell (Amy Howe, Kevin Russell, Kristina Moore and Eliza Presson). Also contributing is law professor David Stras of the University of Minnesota, who also contributes to Empirical Legal Studies. Journalist Lyle Denniston handles breaking news of court decisions and makes other posts to the site. He has covered the court for the Baltimore Sun, American Lawyer magazine and the Boston Globe.

Blawg Related Categories: Appellate Practice • Constitutional Law • U.S. Supreme Court • Georgetown University • University of Minnesota • Law Professor • Partner • Solo / Small Firm

Recent Posts from SCOTUSblog


  • Reimagining the Court

    Photo by Abdul El-Tayef/WPPI Photography On Friday, George Washington University Law School held a conference entitled “Rethinking the Law Governing the Structure and Operation of the Supreme Court.” Each of four panels examined a different…

  • Tuesday Round-up

    In his Sidebar column in the New York Times, Adam Liptak discusses the implications of a possible Court decision that would – as the Chief Justice suggested at oral argument – eschew a bright-line rule…

  • Amici filings in 2d Amendment case

    Most of the amici briefs on the top side (or neutral) in the granted case on the application of the Second Amendment to state and local laws were filed on Monday.  Thanks to the Second Amendment…

  • Amici filings in “material support” cases

    Four top-side amici briefs and one bottom-side amicus brief are now available in the consolidated cases on the constitutionality of various provisions of the federal law criminalizing “material support” for terrorist organizations.  The briefs supporting Humanitarian…

  • Court to Hear Student Loan Bankruptcy Case

    Below, Stanford Law School’s Bryan Henderson previews United Student Aid Funds, Inc. v. Espinosa, one of two cases to be heard by the Supreme Court on Tuesday, December 1.  Check the United Student Aid Funds…

  • Brief: Court should address torture now

    Lawyers for four former detainees at Guantanamo Bay urged the Supreme Court Monday to face, head-on, the question of whether it is unconstitutional for U.S. officials to torture individuals being held captive.  In a reply…

  • This Week at the Court

    For the second week in a row, no oral arguments are scheduled.  The Justices will hold their private conference on Tuesday, grants from which will likely be announced on Monday, November 30.  If any orders…

  • Monday Round-up

    In the Wall Street Journal, Anne Tergesen discusses both the recent rise in age-discrimination claims and the Supreme Court’s recent decision in Gross v. FBL Financial Services Inc. (2009), which requires plaintiffs alleging age discrimination…

  • Friday Round-up

    At the WSJ Law Blog this morning, Ashby Jones previews McDonald v. City of Chicago, in which the Court will examine the constitutionality of a Chicago gun-control ordinance and, more generally, the Second Amendment’s applicability…

  • Will the Court Take On Judicial Takings?

    Below, Elisabeth Oppenheimer of Stanford Law School previews Stop the Beach Renourishment v. Florida Department of Environmental Protection (08-1151), which will be heard by the Supreme Court on Wednesday, December 2.  Check the Stop the…