State Government

Supreme Court keeps Texas migrant law on hold until at least March 13

The Biden administration and immigrant advocates rushed to the Supreme Court on Monday to prevent Texas from enforcing one of the harshest immigration laws in the United States, saying the new statute would disrupt more than a century of federal control over international borders.

Mar 4, 2024 1:45 PM CST

SCOTUS unanimously keeps Trump on ballot amid sparring over reach of decision; did it ‘insulate’ insurrectionists?

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Monday that Colorado can’t kick former President Donald Trump off the primary ballot because it is up to Congress, not the states, to enforce the constitutional ban on insurrectionists holding office.

Mar 4, 2024 9:08 AM CST

LGBTQ organization sues Texas AG over youth transgender records probe

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) earlier this month demanded records pertaining to the support an LGBTQ+ nonprofit provides to families seeking gender-affirming care for their transgender children—a treatment the state banned last year.

Mar 1, 2024 11:05 AM CST

Illinois judge removes Trump from primary ballot

An Illinois judge ruled Wednesday that former President Donald Trump should be removed from the state’s primary ballot because of the 14th Amendment ban on insurrectionists holding office.

Feb 29, 2024 11:15 AM CST

Texas justice complains that ‘brainwashed’ GOP colleagues from BigLaw ‘bow down to the altar of process’

Texas Supreme Court Justice John Devine complained in a September speech to voters that his colleagues from BigLaw worry too much about “standing, timeliness or whatever else,” according to a recording of his remarks obtained by the Texas Tribune.

Feb 28, 2024 9:18 AM CST

Utah Supreme Court rules for adult adoptee who wanted to unseal records for medical and genetic information

A district court misinterpreted the law when it ruled that an adult adoptee can’t obtain her 1978 adoption records to provide her doctors with information about health predispositions, the Utah Supreme Court has ruled.

Feb 28, 2024 8:42 AM CST

Alabama justice who quoted Bible in IVF case often invokes religion

In the Alabama Supreme Court ruling that said frozen embryos are people, Chief Justice Tom Parker wrote a concurring opinion that sought to define the “sanctity of unborn life,” citing heavily from scripture and theology. His opinion, which drew criticism from abortion rights activists for instilling religious beliefs into a judicial decision, was the latest in nearly 20 years on the bench in which he has repeatedly invoked religion on his way to laying the groundwork to overturn Roe v. Wade.

Feb 27, 2024 1:45 PM CST

Only 1 out of 5 defendants in this Mississippi county get court-appointed lawyers before indictment

The right to counsel is “tenuous” in a small Mississippi justice court in Yalobusha County, Mississippi, where two judges appointed lawyers for felony defendants in only 20% of the cases opened in 2022, according to an investigative report.

Feb 27, 2024 8:22 AM CST

NRA general counsel violated statutory duties but caused no monetary harm, jurors find; LaPierre liable for $5.4M

The general counsel for the National Rifle Association was among three senior NRA leaders found to have violated their statutory duties by jurors Friday.

Feb 26, 2024 12:41 PM CST

Leaving kids home alone wasn’t endangerment, state supreme court says; ‘no parent can shield a child from all risks’

A mother didn’t commit the crime of child endangerment when she left five children ages 5 to 12 home alone while she shopped for groceries at Walmart, the Iowa Supreme Court has ruled in a unanimous opinion.

Feb 22, 2024 3:22 PM CST

Lawyer’s ‘intimidating and degrading conduct’ was ‘a business model of sorts, based on fear,’ state supreme court says

The Tennessee Supreme Court has disbarred a Tennessee lawyer, citing a pattern of “egregious” communications apparently intended to intimidate and humiliate the opposing counsel to gain an unfair advantage in litigation.

Feb 22, 2024 9:53 AM CST

Defendant acquitted by reason of insanity can’t be retried, despite inconsistency, SCOTUS rules in Jackson opinion

The U.S. Supreme Court has unanimously ruled that Georgia can’t retry a defendant who was found not guilty of malice murder by reason of insanity, even though the verdict was inconsistent with jury findings on other charges.

Feb 21, 2024 3:13 PM CST

ABA law school accreditation not necessarily needed to take Indiana bar exam, top state court decides

The Indiana Supreme Court has broadened the pool of would-be lawyers eligible to take the bar exam.

Feb 21, 2024 9:10 AM CST

Frozen embryos are children, Ala. high court says in unprecedented ruling

The Alabama Supreme Court ruled Friday that frozen embryos are people and someone can be held liable for destroying them, a decision that reproductive rights advocates say could imperil in vitro fertilization (IVF) and affect the hundreds of thousands of patients who depend on treatments like it each year.

Feb 20, 2024 9:00 AM CST

Judge orders Trump to pay more than $350 million in N.Y. civil fraud trial

New York Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron on Friday ordered former President Donald Trump to pay more than $350 million in penalties, handing down a hefty penalty following a monthslong civil trial in which Trump and others were accused of financial fraud by New York Attorney General Letitia James.

Feb 16, 2024 3:26 PM CST