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Supreme Court

Western Apache group calls on court to block approval of copper mine on sacred site

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

Federal law limits the government’s ability to place a substantial burden on the free exercise of religion. Yet as long as Congress does not intentionally discriminate against a particular faith, the Supreme Court has permitted the legislative branch to manage internal government operations — for example, by allowing private development … Read the rest

Supreme Court

Republicans ask Supreme Court to block decision to count Pennsylvania provisional ballots

The Republican National Committee and the Republican Party of Pennsylvania came to the Supreme Court on Monday, asking the justices to block a ruling by Pennsylvania’s highest court requiring election boards to count provisional ballots submitted by voters whose mail-in ballots had been deemed invalid.

The RNC and the Pennsylvania Republicans argue that the state supreme court had “dramatically change[d] the rules governing mail voting.” And in so doing, they contend, the state court had violated the U.S. Constitution … Read the rest

Supreme Court

Supreme Court declines to block EPA methane, mercury rules

The Supreme Court on Friday turned down a request from Republican-led states and industry groups to block a rule from the Environmental Protection Agency that imposes more stringent standards on emissions of hazardous air pollutants from coal-fired power plants. At the same time, the justices turned down a similar request from Oklahoma and industry groups to block an EPA rule that seeks to regulate emissions of methane, a powerful greenhouse gas, from crude-oil and natural gas facilities.

Friday’s … Read the rest

Supreme Court

Supreme Court rejects Missouri’s request to block Trump’s New York gag order, sentencing

The Supreme Court on Monday turned down a plea from Missouri to block New York from imposing a gag order and sentencing former President Donald Trump in his criminal proceedings there until after the 2024 elections.

After a six-week trial, Trump was convicted in May in a New York state court on 34 counts of falsifying business records. Prosecutors contended that Trump sought to hide a $ 130,000 payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels during the 2016 election, … Read the rest

Supreme Court

Student group from Harvard and UNC cases seeks to block West Point from considering race in admissions

The same group that spearheaded lawsuits to effectively end the use of affirmative action in college admissions returned to the Supreme Court on Friday, asking the justices to temporarily bar the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, which trains officers for the U.S. Army, from considering race in its admissions process.

Students for Fair Admissions, a group founded by conservative activist Edward Blum, was at the center of the Supreme Court’s opinion last June, holding that the admissions programs … 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 consider liability for officials who block critics on social media

On Tuesday the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in a pair of cases involving liability for public officials who block critics on their personal social-media accounts. The two cases, O’Connor-Ratcliff v. Garnier and Lindke v. Freed, are the first in a series of disputes this term arising out of the relationship between government and social media.

O’Connor-Ratcliff v. Garnier

In the first case on Tuesday, the justices are reviewing a ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for … Read the rest

Supreme Court

Biden asks justices to block limits on collaboration with social media companies

The Biden administration on Thursday afternoon asked the Supreme Court to temporarily block a lower court’s order that would limit its ability to communicate with social media companies over content moderation policies. U.S. Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar told the justices that if the “unprecedented” order is allowed to stand, it would put a Louisiana district judge in charge of overseeing the executive branch’s communications with social media companies.

Shortly after receiving the government’s request, Justice Samuel Alito — who … Read the rest