Judiciary

Supreme Court justices weigh in—cautiously—on Trump’s attacks on the judiciary

“We need trained and passionate and committed lawyers to fight this fight,” U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor said at an event in Washington, D.C., for the American Bar Association’s Tort Trial and Insurance Practice Section.

May 14, 2025 2:00 PM CDT

The Next Day

Today is the next day I never imagined we would see. Attacks on the rule of law, judges, lawyers and the profession. The apparent disregard of due process. And now attacks on the ABA. All of this from our own government. The frequency and intensity show no sign of lessening.

May 14, 2025 10:00 AM CDT

Florida judge is accused of sharing ‘objectively unrealistic’ fake recording with editorial board

A judge in Broward County, Florida, is facing ethics charges for citing a book she never read and providing a fake recording she didn’t fully review or vet to bolster her claim that the judiciary has an image crisis.

May 13, 2025 12:08 PM CDT

ICE moves detainees to Texas facility where judge declined to halt deportations

As the Trump administration battles to use a wartime law to speed deportations of alleged gang members, it has moved dozens of detained Venezuelans to the one court district in the nation where a federal judge for now has declined to stand in its way.

May 9, 2025 3:09 PM CDT

David Souter, former US Supreme Court justice, dies at 85

David Souter, the former U.S. Supreme Court justice who dismayed Republicans by siding with liberals on some of America’s most contentious social issues after his appointment by President George H.W. Bush, has died. “Justice David Souter served our court with great distinction for nearly twenty years,” Chief Justice John Roberts said in a statement. “He brought uncommon wisdom and kindness to a lifetime of public service.”

May 9, 2025 8:50 AM CDT

Chief justice says courts must be free to check ‘excesses’ of Congress, White House

Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. on Wednesday championed the independence and authority of the nation’s judicial system to serve as a check on Congress and the president at a time when federal courts are being attacked by the Trump administration.

May 8, 2025 11:40 AM CDT

‘There was in fact a defendant named Jaques Strapp,’ says judge defending his corny ‘dad jokes’

A judge accused of making inappropriate remarks on the bench told the Florida Judicial Qualifications Commission Tuesday that his comments generally were “G-rated ‘dad jokes’ that are corny but not offensive.”

May 8, 2025 11:13 AM CDT

NC justice can be sworn in after 6-month court battle over top court seat

A Republican who narrowly lost a North Carolina Supreme Court election ended his challenge to the results Wednesday, clearing the way for the Democratic incumbent to be sworn in six months after she won the race.

May 7, 2025 4:45 PM CDT

Sen. Durbin wants DOJ to probe anonymous pizza deliveries to judges

The top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday called on the Justice Department and FBI to investigate a series of anonymous pizza deliveries made to the homes of federal judges in recent months, saying they appeared to be part of a wave of threats against the judiciary.

May 6, 2025 3:15 PM CDT

Trump’s first judicial pick of second term has clerked ‘for a full third’ of Supreme Court’s justices

President Donald Trump has announced his first judicial nominee of his second term.

May 5, 2025 3:34 PM CDT

Justice Department lawyers face skeptical judges upset by ‘shoddy work’

Justice Department lawyers defending the Trump administration’s policies are encountering mounting criticism and frustration from federal judges, a sign of deepening tension between the executive branch and courts weighing its aggressive uses of power.

May 5, 2025 1:45 PM CDT

Justice Jackson rips ‘relentless attacks’ on judges

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson denounced what she called “relentless attacks” on the federal judiciary, saying efforts to intimidate judges were threatening the Constitution and the rule of law. “The attacks are not random,” Jackson said. “They seem designed to intimidate those of us who serve in this critical capacity.”

May 2, 2025 8:10 AM CDT

Magistrate judge is breathing fire over law firm’s dragon logo on legal pleadings

A lawyer who wanted his pleadings to stand out has been ordered to remove a large purple dragon watermark from each page of a lawsuit that he filed in federal court.

May 1, 2025 10:32 AM CDT

Judge who wanted parking discount should be ousted for faking document with colleague’s stamp, ethics board says

A part-time judge in King County, Washington, should be removed from office for using a fraudulent document and the “accoutrements of another judge’s judicial status” in a failed attempt to get a parking discount, according to a judicial ethics commission.

Apr 30, 2025 2:31 PM CDT

Wisconsin judge suspended over charges she helped migrant evade arrest

The Wisconsin Supreme Court on Tuesday suspended a county judge from performing her duties after she was charged with helping a migrant from Mexico briefly evade arrest.

Apr 30, 2025 10:46 AM CDT