The U.S. Supreme Court on March 31 seemed inclined to side with a Wisconsin Catholic charity that argues that it should not have to pay unemployment tax. The nation’s highest court granted the petition in Catholic Charities Bureau v. Wisconsin … Continue reading Supreme Court seems sympathetic to Catholic charity in religious rights dispute

Anita MonCrief, March 1, 1979 – March 22, 2025 My friend, Anita MonCrief, was a tireless campaigner for what she thought was right. When she was a left-leaning activist earlier in life, she worked for the now-defunct Association of Community … Continue reading Anita MonCrief, 1979 – 2025

A federal appeals court on March 28 put on hold a lower court order that blocked efforts led by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to downsize the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). The U.S. Court of Appeals for … Continue reading Appeals court allows DOGE to continue to downsize USAID

The U.S. Supreme Court on March 26 considered whether it should uphold a lower court ruling that invalidated an $8-billion-a-year broadband subsidy for rural and low-income regions. The case is actually two cases. One is Federal Communications Commission v. Consumers’ … Continue reading Supreme Court hears challenge to tax on telephone service

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled on March 26 that state and federal law do not allow a bankruptcy trustee to take back a payment made to the IRS that may have been fraudulent. Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson wrote the 8–1 … Continue reading Supreme Court sides with IRS in bankruptcy dispute

The Supreme Court voted 7–2 on March 26 to uphold the Biden administration’s rule regulating so-called ghost guns that can be constructed at home. The majority opinion in Bondi v. VanDerStok was written by Justice Neil Gorsuch. Gorsuch was joined by … Continue reading Supreme Court upholds Biden-era ‘ghost gun’ regulation

The U.S. Supreme Court on March 25 heard two regulatory appeals centering on which courts should have authority to try lawsuits that challenge Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) actions. The court first heard EPA v. Calumet Shreveport Refining, followed by a … Continue reading Supreme Court weighs states’, refineries’ appeals against EPA

A federal appeals court on March 25 temporarily put on hold a lower court order that blocked efforts led by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to downsize the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). The U.S. Court of Appeals … Continue reading Fourth Circuit temporarily allows DOGE to continue dismantling USAID

The Supreme Court on March 24 grappled with a much-litigated racial gerrymandering case from Louisiana involving two consolidated cases: Louisiana v. Callais and Robinson v. Callais. Gerrymandering refers to the manipulation of electoral district boundaries to benefit a particular party … Continue reading Supreme Court grapples with Louisiana Voting Rights Act case

The U.S. Supreme Court on March 24 declined to hear businessman Steve Wynn’s lawsuit that sought to roll back protections for journalists in defamation lawsuits. The court denied the petition in Wynn v. The Associated Press (AP) in an unsigned … Continue reading Supreme Court won’t hear Steve Wynn’s appeal to roll back journalist protections

The U.S. Supreme Court decided on March 24 not to hear a challenge to its controversial 20-year-old ruling upholding eminent domain powers to confiscate private property for private economic development. The court denied the petition in Bowers Development LLC v. … Continue reading Supreme Court won’t hear challenge to 20-year-old eminent domain ruling

The Supreme Court on March 21 unanimously overturned former Chicago alderman Patrick Daley Thompson’s conviction for making false statements to financial regulators. Thompson is related to two former Chicago mayors. He is the grandson of Richard J. Daley, who was … Continue reading Supreme Court votes 9–0 to overturn convictions of former Chicago alderman

A book by U.S. Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett about what it’s like to serve on the nation’s highest court will be published in September. After being nominated by President Donald Trump in his first term, Barrett, now 53, … Continue reading Justice Amy Coney Barrett’s memoir to offer insight into Supreme Court and Constitution

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled 7–2 on March 21 that crimes committed through inaction can nonetheless be violent, rejecting an alleged mobster’s argument he was innocent because he did not use physical force. In oral arguments on Nov. 12, 2024, … Continue reading Supreme Court rules in mob case that crimes of violence may be committed through inaction

The Kansas Legislature gave final approval on March 19 to place a question on the August 2026 ballot that would allow voters to elect members of the state’s supreme court. The state House passed the bill authorizing the proposed amendment … Continue reading Kansans will vote next year on electing the state supreme court

Louisiana executed Jessie Hoffman on March 18, hours after the U.S. Supreme Court voted 5–4 to deny his request to halt the state’s first execution using nitrogen gas, which he argued would violate his Buddhist beliefs. Hoffman, 46, was pronounced … Continue reading Louisiana carries out first execution in 15 years after Supreme Court appeal fails

The Trump administration dropped the federal government’s appeal of a preliminary injunction that blocked the government from extending gender identity discrimination protections to the education sector. The appeal had been initiated by the Biden administration, which left office on Jan. … Continue reading Trump admin drops Biden-era appeal that sought gender-identity protection in schools

The U.S. Supreme Court on March 14 denied Alpine Securities Corporation’s emergency request to stop a Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) enforcement action aiming to bar it from the securities business. The company is arguing that FINRA, a self-regulating organization … Continue reading Supreme Court won’t halt disciplinary proceeding against securities firm

The Justice Department on March 14 dropped Biden-era lawsuits challenging state laws in Oklahoma and Iowa that empowered those states to detain and apply consequences to illegal immigrants. Despite the federal government’s new actions, the Oklahoma and Iowa laws remain … Continue reading Justice Department drops lawsuits against Oklahoma, Iowa immigration laws

The U.S. Supreme Court this week revived a lawsuit about a valuable French impressionist painting confiscated by the Nazis from a Jewish woman whose American descendant wishes to reclaim it. The issue was whether “Saint-Honoré Street, Afternoon, Rain Effect,” an … Continue reading Supreme Court revives lawsuit over Nazi-looted painting