Justices | Judiciary.org

Justices turn away West Point admissions challenge

On Friday afternoon, the justices declined to temporarily block the U.S. Military Academy from considering race in its admissions process. In an unsigned order, the justices turned down a request from the same group that spearheaded challenges to the use of affirmative action in admissions at Harvard and the University of North Carolina, and which now argues that West Point’s use of race violates the Constitution.

Friday’s order also included a relatively unusual statement that provided a possible glimpse … Read the rest

Supreme Court

Justices take up camping ban case

The Supreme Court agreed on Friday to decide whether an Oregon city can enforce its ban on public camping against homeless people. The announcement came as part of a short list of orders released from the justices’ private conference earlier in the day adding five new cases to the court’s merits docket.

The court’s ruling in City of Grants Pass v. Johnson could affect how other cities address their own epidemics of homelessness. San Francisco, which spent over $ … Read the rest

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Justices take up abortion case pitting state against federal law

The Supreme Court on Friday afternoon granted a request from Idaho and the state’s Republican-controlled legislature to temporarily put on hold a ruling by a federal district court that would require emergency rooms in the state to provide abortions to pregnant women in an emergency. The justices agreed to weigh in on the question at the center of the dispute: whether the federal law on which the lower court relied trumps an Idaho law that criminalizes most abortions in … Read the rest

Supreme Court

Justices won’t block Illinois ban on assault-style weapons

The Supreme Court on Thursday afternoon declined to temporarily block an Illinois law that bans the purchase, sale, possession, and manufacture of assault-style weapons. In a brief unsigned order, without any explanation, the justices denied a request to intervene after two lower courts rejected requests to put the law on hold. There were no recorded dissents from Thursday’s order.

The law at the center of the case is known as the Protect Illinois Communities Act (as well as a … Read the rest

Supreme Court

Justices to review novel bankruptcy maneuver in public harms litigation

Purdue Pharma’s bankruptcy deal, which will reach the Supreme Court for oral argument on Monday, is just one of many examples of recent unorthodox civil procedure maneuvers in public harms litigation. From the Catholic Diocese and Boy Scouts in their respective abuse cases to Johnson & Johnson’s talc litigation, 3M’s earplug case, and Revlon’s hair straightener case, corporations are turning to bankruptcy court over the traditional civil litigation process. Bankruptcy and its special powers are being used to compensate … Read the rest

Supreme Court

The justices’ statements regarding the death of retired Justice Sandra Day O’Connor

The justices and retired justices of the Supreme Court have issued statements regarding the death of Sandra Day O’Connor, the first woman to serve on the court. O’Connor, who stepped down from the court in 2006, died on Friday in Phoenix, Arizona. She was 93 years old.

The post The justices’ statements regarding the death of retired Justice Sandra Day O’Connor appeared first on SCOTUSblog.

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Justices schedule major cases on deference to federal agencies

The Supreme Court will hear arguments in January in a pair of cases asking the justices to overrule a landmark decision on deference to federal administrative agencies. Relentless, Inc. v. Department of Commerce and Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo headline the calendar for the January argument session, which the court released on Friday morning.

Relentless and Loper Bright began as challenges to a federal rule that requires the fishing industry to pay for the cost of observers who monitor … Read the rest

Supreme Court

Justices clear the way for Louisiana wetlands trial against oil companies to go forward

The Supreme Court on Tuesday morning declined to put a Louisiana trial seeking compensation for the “existential threat” posed by coastal land loss on hold while the defendants in the case, a group of oil companies, seek review of a state court decision rejecting their request to transfer the case. The oil companies had argued that they cannot get a fair trial in the court where they are being sued because any awards against them will go to the … Read the rest