Supreme Court

The morning read for Thursday, April 27

Each weekday, we select a short list of news articles, commentary, and other noteworthy links related to the Supreme Court. Here’s the Thursday morning read:

Supreme Court Wary of Windfall in Seizure of Condo for Unpaid Taxes (Adam Liptak, The New York Times)
‘Inside baseball’: Critics say academia has ‘troubling’ influence with the Supreme Court (Lucien Bruggeman, ABC News)
Supreme Court’s new ethics declaration stops short of concrete action (Josh Gerstein, Politico)
Ex-US appeals judge says Supreme Court needs

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Supreme Court

Justices dubious of creating “extra-special super-super clear statement rule” to exempt tribes from obligation to respect bankruptcy process

Monday’s arguments in Lac du Flambeau Band v. Coughlin revealed a bench deeply skeptical of the argument that Native American tribes should be exempt from the automatic stay of the Bankruptcy Code even though the federal and state governments are not.

The case involves an online payday lending operation of the Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians. Brian Coughlin borrowed money from the Band’s lending operation. When he then filed for bankruptcy the Band ignored the … Read the rest

Supreme Court

Justices to hear procedural question in Maryland prison-assault case

Kevin Younger was detained before trial at a state prison in Baltimore, Maryland. While Younger in custody, a prison official, Neil Dupree, directed three prison guards to attack Younger and other inmates. The guards beat Younger viciously, leaving him unconscious and bleeding profusely. Younger suffered permanent injuries to his face, wrist, ribs, hand, and leg.

Younger filed a federal civil rights claim against Dupree, alleging that the use of excessive force against him violated his constitutional rights. In the … Read the rest

Supreme Court

Court allows abortion pill to remain widely available while appeals proceed

The Supreme Court on Friday night granted a request from the Biden administration and a drug manufacturer to put on hold a ruling by a federal judge in Texas that suspended the Food and Drug Administration’s approval of mifepristone, part of a two-drug protocol used to end pregnancies in their early stages. The battle over medication abortions, which account for over half of all abortions performed in the United States each year, now returns to the U.S. Court of … Read the rest

Supreme Court

Supreme Court further delays ruling on access to abortion pill

In a brief order, the Supreme Court continued to place on hold a trial judge’s ruling blocking the FDA’s approval of mifepristone, one of two drugs used in medication abortions. Wednesday’s order extends the court’s “administrative stay” – i.e., a stay designed to give the justices time to consider the request – of the trial judge’s ruling until Friday at midnight. The justices are extremely likely to issue a further ruling before the administrative stay expires.

A court of … Read the rest

Supreme Court

Colorado man’s First Amendment challenge will test the scope of protection for threatening speech

There is no dispute that the Facebook messages Billy Raymond Counterman sent to local Colorado musician Coles Whalen made her feel afraid. For years, Counterman sent increasingly menacing messages in which he suggested that he had seen Whalen – who is identified only by her initials in court documents, but who has discussed the case on her website – while driving and made comments such as “Die” and “Fuck off permanently.” Whalen told a family member that she was

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Supreme Court

Washington family counselor challenges state’s ban on conversion therapy

The Petitions of the Week column highlights a selection of cert petitions recently filed in the Supreme Court. A list of all petitions we’re watching is available here.

Conversion therapy, the practice of seeking to change a gay or transgender person’s sexual orientation or gender identity through counseling, is outlawed or heavily restricted in roughly half of the country. This week, we highlight cert petitions that ask the court to consider, among other things, whether a Washington state … Read the rest

Supreme Court

Announcement of opinions for Friday, April 14

On Friday, April 14, we will be live blogging as the court releases opinions in one or more argued cases from the current term.

Click here for a list of FAQs about opinion announcements.

The post Announcement of opinions for Friday, April 14 appeared first on SCOTUSblog.

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