The Supreme Court ruled 6-3 on July 1 that a retailer can challenge the fees the Federal Reserve System allows banks to charge for processing debit card transactions, despite not filing the challenge before the usual six-year cutoff. Justice Amy … Continue reading Supreme Court allows retailer to challenge debit card swipe fees

The Supreme Court’s ruling that the federal government should not have used an accounting law to charge Joseph Fischer with obstruction of an official proceeding for briefly entering the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, will affect prosecutions involving other … Continue reading Lawyers say some Jan. 6 defendants will benefit from new Supreme Court ruling

The Supreme Court ruled 6–3 on June 28 in favor of Jan. 6 defendant Joseph Fischer, a former police officer charged under an accounting law after he briefly entered the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. The new ruling is … Continue reading Supreme Court rules for Jan. 6 defendant who challenged obstruction charge

The Supreme Court, in a vote of 6–3, overturned the Chevron deference doctrine, a bureaucracy-empowering judicial doctrine that critics say led to the explosive growth of the U.S. government in recent decades. The new decision will make it more difficult … Continue reading Supreme Court overturns ‘Chevron doctrine,’ curtailing federal government power

The Supreme Court on June 28 upheld on a 6–3 vote a local ordinance banning public camping, which activists claimed unconstitutionally punished homeless people for being homeless. The majority opinion in City of Grants Pass v. Johnson was written by … Continue reading Supreme Court allows city’s ban on public camping targeting homeless encampments

The Supreme Court on June 27 decided to dismiss Idaho’s appeal against a lower court ruling that granted an exception to its strict abortion law for abortions deemed to be medical emergencies. The decision allows emergency abortions to proceed in … Continue reading Supreme Court temporarily allows emergency abortions in Idaho

The Supreme Court ruled 5–4 on June 27 that U.S. bankruptcy law does not allow courts to approve an opioid manufacturer’s bankruptcy settlement that extinguishes the claims of those alleging they were harmed by opioid use. The case is Harrington … Continue reading Supreme Court rejects Purdue Pharma’s multibillion-dollar opioid settlement

The Supreme Court voted 5–4 on June 27 to temporarily put on hold the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) “good neighbor” rule that cracks down on states whose industries are said to be contributing to smog. Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote … Continue reading Supreme Court pauses EPA’s ‘good neighbor’ rule that cracks down on smog

The Supreme Court decided this week to consider whether a retired Florida firefighter with Parkinson’s disease can sue her former employer for discrimination in the provision of post-employment benefits. The justices granted the petition for certiorari, or review, in Stanley … Continue reading Supreme Court to hear case of firefighter with Parkinson’s who sued city for discrimination

The Supreme Court voted 6–3 on June 26 to toss the conviction of James Snyder, a former small-town mayor in Indiana who was convicted of accepting an illegal gratuity. The court held that federal law prohibits bribes to state and … Continue reading Supreme Court tosses corruption conviction of former Indiana mayor

The Supreme Court threw out a challenge on June 26 to the federal government’s actions when it communicated with social media platforms about public health issues during the COVID-19 pandemic. The justices voted 6–3, finding that two Republican-led states and … Continue reading Supreme Court rules for Biden admin in social media free speech case

The Supreme Court on June 24 reversed a lower court’s ruling against bump stock purchasers after the justices overturned a federal ban on the devices days before. The regulation, which came into being during the Trump administration after a gunman … Continue reading Supreme Court rules for bump stock owners after striking down federal ban

The Supreme Court agreed on June 24 to hear a challenge by the federal government to a Tennessee law that prohibits the use of puberty blockers and medical treatments for minors who identify as transgender. The decision comes as several … Continue reading Supreme Court to hear case on state’s restrictions of transgender treatments for minors

The Supreme Court voted 6–3 last week to allow an Ohio jeweler to bring civil rights claims against police for malicious prosecution after criminal charges brought against him were dropped. The jeweler claims that local police fabricated evidence against him. … Continue reading Supreme Court allows Ohio man to sue police over alleged malicious prosecution

Two Democrat lawmakers are demanding Chief Justice John Roberts reveal what steps he has taken to investigate what they call “allegations of serious ethical misconduct” by conservative Supreme Court justices. Reps. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) of the … Continue reading Democrat lawmakers seek answers from chief justice over Supreme Court ethics

The Supreme Court ruled on June 21 that prosecutors infringed on an Arizona drug defendant’s constitutional right to confront witnesses against him by using the testimony of a substitute expert witness who didn’t actually conduct the drug tests that another … Continue reading Supreme Court finds prosecutors violated drug defendant’s rights by switching expert witnesses

The Supreme Court on June 21 denied an appeal aimed at allowing U.S. citizens whose spouses were denied immigrant visas an opportunity to challenge those denials in court. The 6–3 decision, which held that a U.S. citizen does not have … Continue reading Supreme Court holds 6–3 that certain visa decisions cannot be challenged

The Supreme Court on June 21 upheld by 8–1 a federal gun control law that bars people under domestic violence-related restraining orders from possessing firearms. The justices found that the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution isn’t violated when an … Continue reading Supreme Court upholds ban on guns for people under domestic restraining orders

The Supreme Court on June 20 ruled in favor of a former city council member in Texas who sued for retaliation after she was arrested following her criticism of city officials. The new opinion in Gonzalez v. Trevino was marked … Continue reading Supreme Court allows Texas council member to sue over arrest she claims was politically motivated

The Supreme Court on June 20 upheld a 2017 tax on “unrealized” income from overseas investments by a vote of 7–2. Unrealized income reflects theoretical profits that exist “on paper.” The investor doesn’t “realize” the income until he sells the … Continue reading Supreme Court upholds Trump-era tax on overseas income