ABA Journal

Supreme Court Report

190 ABA Journal Supreme Court Report articles.

Roberts’ reference to memos of Blackmun on Roe v. Wade raises questions about SCOTUS justices’ private papers

The collected papers of late U.S. Supreme Court justices are typically of interest primarily to judicial biographers, legal researchers and a few journalists. On Dec. 1, during oral arguments in one of the most consequential cases of the term, a new aficionado of the genre revealed himself: Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr.

SCOTUS considers whether public tuition program for private schools can exclude religious ones

The U.S. Supreme Court’s latest case about the Constitution’s religion clauses hails from Maine, where the state has paid tuition to send some students to private schools for more than a century but for the last 40 years has limited the choices to “nonsectarian” schools.

Supreme Court revisits Second Amendment with challenge to New York concealed-gun restrictions

When two residents of upstate New York sought unrestricted licenses to carry concealed weapons for self-defense outside the home, officials denied their applications under the state’s demanding standard for such permits. Those relatively routine administrative actions have teed up the most important Second Amendment case to be heard by the U.S. Supreme Court in more than a decade.

The Supreme Court is in the building—contentious rulings behind, more major cases ahead

U.S. Supreme Court justices are hanging up their phones after a year and a half of teleconference arguments because of the pandemic and returning to the bench for the new term that begins Monday.

When the Supreme Court cites your amicus brief

When the U.S. Supreme Court releases a decision, the parties and their lawyers scan the opinions to determine whether they won or lost. Meanwhile, those who filed amicus curiae, or friend of the court, briefs in the case also want to know the outcome. But first, they are eager to find the answer to a different question: Did one of the justices cite my brief?

Will the Supreme Court reconsider a landmark defamation case?

Justices Clarence Thomas and Neil M. Gorsuch both called New York Times v. Sullivan into question in dissents from a cert denial earlier this month.

Supreme Court takes a byte out of computer crime law

A U.S. Supreme Court decision handed down earlier this month has flown a bit below radar compared with the term’s bigger cases, but it is one that might be of interest to anyone who has ever bent the truth on a dating website or on social media, shopped or checked sports scores on a work computer, or happens to be a fan of the 1983 movie WarGames.

SCOTUS abortion case complicates Breyer retirement speculation

Speculation about whether U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stephen G. Breyer might retire at the end of this term had been running rampant among legal observers this spring when the court itself threw in a wrinkle.

SCOTUS case on disclosure of nonprofit donor names raises First Amendment questions

To some observers, the case may affect campaign-disclosure laws and the court’s 2010 decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, which authorized unlimited independent political expenditures by corporations (including nonprofit ones) and unions.

As madness moves through March, SCOTUS considers NCAA case over athlete compensation

Just days before the March Madness tournament crowns a champion, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments in a high-stakes battle between the National Collegiate Athletic Association and a legal class of student-athletes from the top revenue-producing sports of football and men’s and women’s basketball.

Supreme Court considers warrantless search-and-seizure case from California

The case involves a police officer who entered a man’s garage without a warrant and questioned him after pursuing his vehicle because he heard erratic horn-lowing and loud music coming from the car.

Can black TV mogul’s discrimination suit against Comcast proceed? SCOTUS to decide

Byron Allen of Entertainment Studios Networks alleges in a $20 billion lawsuit that Comcast was motivated by racial bias in refusing to pick up his channels for inclusion on its cable systems in recent years. On Nov. 13, the U.S. Supreme Court will consider whether a race-discrimination claim may proceed.

After nearly 30 years on the court, Justice Thomas’ supporters and detractors are still debating who he really is

After Clarence Thomas’ nearly 30 years on the court, his critics and supporters are still debating who Thomas is. But at a June conversation in the courtroom before the historical society, Thomas mostly seemed at peace with himself and his role on the court.

Tension in the Court: Public collegiality belies behind-the-scenes debates

Appeals involving such divisive issues as gun control and gay and transgender rights in the workplace were granted Supreme Court review this term, but only after the point when they would be pushed into the next term for arguments and decision. Other hot-button cases involving abortion restrictions, immigration and religious exceptions to same-sex marriage were awaiting resolution as of mid-May on whether the justices would grant review.

Justice by Numbers: Proposals resurface to expand the size of the court

In recent months, a concept that has been on the fringes of political theory has suddenly gained steam, with several progressive organizations calling for an expansion of the court and pushing Democratic presidential candidates to respond to the idea.

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