Supreme Court

Supreme Court divided over disputed civil rights attorney’s fees

Supreme Court divided over disputed civil rights attorney’s fees

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The justices on Tuesday were divided over a dispute regarding attorney’s fees for plaintiffs in civil rights cases. A federal appeals court in Richmond, Va., ruled that a group of drivers challenging a state motor vehicle law was entitled to reimbursement of their attorney’s fees because a federal district court had issued an order that temporarily barred the state from enforcing the law – and then the Virginia legislature repealed the law. During roughly 80 minutes of oral argument … Read the rest

Supreme Court

Justices divided on the constitutionality of the federal law that bans “encouraging” immigrants to remain unlawfully in the United States

Justices divided on the constitutionality of the federal law that bans “encouraging” immigrants to remain unlawfully in the United States

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Both oral advocates faced fairly cold receptions on Monday morning in United States v. Hansen when the Supreme Court heard argument on whether 8 U.S.C. § 1324(a)(1)(iv), the federal law that criminalizes “encouraging or inducing” an immigrant to come or remain in the United States unlawfully, violates the First Amendment’s guarantee of freedom of speech.  

The argument also shed more light on the newer justices’ views on the freedom of speech. The newly reconfigured Court appears less strongly … Read the rest