Tag: challenges

Supreme Court

Court turns down challenges to school admissions, gender support plans, and gun licensing

Share

The Supreme Court on Monday morning declined to take up several hot-button issues, including a challenge by parents to a school district’s plan to provide support for transgender and non-binary students, a dispute over the admissions policy used during the 2021-22 school year for three of Boston’s elite public high schools, and the case of a Hawaii man prosecuted for carrying a handgun without a license.

The announcement came in a list of orders released from the justices’ private … Read the rest

Civil Law

NGO successfully challenges planning inspectors’ report on energy performance standards

The recent decision (20 February 2024) of the High Court in R (Rights Community Action) v Secretary of State is a rare example of an NGO succeeding in a climate change legal action under English law. In the case, Rights Community Action persuaded the High Court to overturn a finding by the Secretary of State’s Planning Inspectors that a local authority’s “net zero” policy was unlawful.

The claim arose in relation to a proposed new “garden village” development in Oxfordshire. … Read the rest

Supreme Court

Challenges to a Washington state legislative district

Share

The Relist Watch column examines cert petitions that the Supreme Court has “relisted” for its upcoming conference. A short explanation of relists is available here.

It’s been a blissful, relist-free month since the court’s last conference. The justices will have a whopping 440 petitions and applications before them on Friday. Only two of those – both involving the same underlying controversy – are one-time relists.

Washington’s bipartisan redistricting commission redrew the state’s 49 legislative districts, including Legislative District … Read the rest

Supreme Court

Self-proclaimed “blind mule” challenges expert testimony on drug-trafficking charge

Share

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.

So-called “blind mules” are people who drive across the border without knowing their car has been packed with drugs. These people often escape criminal charges because, to convict someone of trafficking drugs into the country, the government has to prove that they knew they were carrying controlled substances. This week, … Read the rest

Supreme Court

Former Marine challenges power of courts-martial to try military retirees

Share

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.

Under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, military courts-martial retain jurisdiction over retired servicemembers. Courts-martial can punish a broader range of conduct and face fewer constitutional constraints than civilian courts. Therefore, since the time of the Korean War, the Supreme Court has repeatedly limited courts-martial to “the narrowest jurisdiction deemed … Read the rest

Supreme Court

Israeli citizen challenges U.S. wire-fraud conviction for foreign financial scheme

Share

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.

The Supreme Court has issued a number of decisions in recent years limiting the reach of the federal wire-fraud statute, which outlaws the use of “the wires” – including internet and phone lines – to commit fraud. This week, we highlight cert petitions that ask the court to consider, among … Read the rest

Supreme Court

Washington family counselor challenges state’s ban on conversion therapy

Share

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

Another federal agency challenges adverse ruling by 5th Circuit

Share

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.

Next term the justices will hear the government’s appeal of a decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit that found the funding mechanism for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau unconstitutional. This week, we highlight cert petitions that ask the court to consider, among other things, whether … Read the rest