A retired Washington state couple urged the Supreme Court on Dec. 5 to strike down a 2017 tax on “unrealized” income from overseas investments, a move some say could jeopardize current tax code provisions and handcuff Congress. Legal observers are … Continue reading Supreme Court considers constitutional limits on federal taxing power
The Supreme Court dismissed on Dec. 5 the case of a serial lawsuit filer who sued more than 600 hotels over their alleged failure to post disability accessibility information on their websites. Activists say such “testers” are only helping to … Continue reading Supreme Court dismisses disability ‘tester’ lawsuit
The Supreme Court on Dec. 5 will take up an important but little-noticed case about “unrealized” income that considers the constitutional limitations on federal taxing power. The case is significant because the court could use it to strike down the … Continue reading The Supreme Court case that could upend parts of the tax code
The Supreme Court heard the Biden administration’s objections to the bankruptcy plan filed by opioid manufacturer Purdue Pharma, which includes a controversial settlement that would shield the company’s founding family from future opioid-related liability. The government argued that opioid victims … Continue reading Supreme Court hears arguments in opioid maker bankruptcy case
The Democrat-controlled Senate Judiciary Committee voted—after three previous postponements—to subpoena two private citizens connected to conservative Supreme Court justices as part of a probe of gifts and personal hospitality provided to members of the nation’s highest court. The roll call … Continue reading Senate panel approves subpoena of billionaire Harlan Crow in Supreme Court ethics probe
A Supreme Court ruling late on Nov. 27 means that two senior Republican lawmakers in Arizona will have to testify about why they support state laws that require people to present proof of U.S. citizenship in order to vote in … Continue reading Supreme Court rules 2 Republican lawmakers must testify in voting rights lawsuit
The Supreme Court weighed on Nov. 27 how sentences under a federal three-strikes gun law should be imposed on defendants previously convicted of violent felonies or major drug offenses. Federal law prohibits convicted felons from possessing firearms. The often-litigated Armed Career Criminal Act (ACCA) was enacted in 1984 in response to concerns that a small number of repeat offenders were committing a disproportionate number of crimes. The law requires that a 15-year minimum sentence be imposed on people found guilty of illegally possessing a firearm who have three or more prior convictions for “a serious drug offense” or violent felonies … Continue reading Supreme Court looks at federal 3-strikes gun law
The Supreme Court may soon consider whether honking a car horn is a constitutionally protected form of free speech. Although Americans have long sounded the horns of their vehicles to express themselves politically, many states, including California, forbid honking the … Continue reading Supreme Court may consider if states can ban honking at political rallies
News Analysis A good governance group called the Freedom Foundation is urging the U.S. Supreme Court to consider a case that they say would safeguard Alaska state employees’ free speech rights by preserving a requirement that makes unionized employees re-register … Continue reading Supreme Court may take up case that could expand non-union members’ rights
Justice Clarence Thomas dissented from the Supreme Court’s decision this week not to review a $40 million verdict an Ohio man, Travis Abbott, won against DuPont. Mr Abbott said toxic “forever chemicals” the company released into the water supply gave … Continue reading Justice Thomas dissents in lawsuit against chemical giant DuPont
The Supreme Court will consider whether a judge or a jury gets to decide whether criminal defendants’ prior convictions justify enhanced sentencing under a federal three-strikes law. The case, Erlinger v. United States (court file 23-370), is the second Armed Career Criminal Act (ACCA) case the court has agreed to hear in its current term, which began in October. The court is expected to decide whether the Constitution requires juries to go through fact-based inquiries to figure out whether a defendant has committed multiple prior offenses on separate occasions and therefore qualifies for an enhanced sentence under the ACCA. The … Continue reading Supreme Court to decide reach of 3-strikes law
The Supreme Court agreed on Nov. 20 to take a look at whether Indian tribes should be allowed to sue the federal government over reimbursements related to administrative expenses generated by insurers. The federal Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act (ISDA) empowers Native American tribes to administer their own health care programs. Tribes receive funding from the Indian Health Service (IHS), an agency within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The statute requires IHS to reimburse tribes for some administrative expenses, which are called contract support costs. Contract support costs are defined as “any overhead expense incurred … Continue reading Supreme Court agrees to hear tribal health care reimbursement disputes
The Supreme Court refused to take up the appeal of Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis police officer convicted of second-degree murder in the death of George Floyd. The Court did not explain why it declined to grant the petition for … Continue reading US Supreme Court won’t hear appeal of Derek Chauvin
The Supreme Court will soon hear a California case challenging the power of governments to use the permitting process to force property owners to pay large development fees. The court announced last week that it will hear oral argument in the case, Sheetz v. County of El Dorado (court file 22-1074), on Jan. 9. The homeowner is suing El Dorado County, California, which is near the state’s border with Nevada, claiming the county violated his rights under the Fifth Amendment’s takings clause and the Fourteenth Amendment. The Fifth Amendment states that “private property [shall not] be taken for public use, … Continue reading Supreme Court to hear challenge to development impact fees
The U.S. Supreme Court has taken up several cases this term that pose challenges to the administrative state, following years of concerted legal and political opposition to its legitimacy. Specifically, the justices are set to reevaluate the decades-old doctrine known … Continue reading 4 Supreme Court cases that could curb the administrative state
The Supreme Court has scheduled several high-profile cases for oral argument in January 2024, including an important challenge to the power of the so-called administrative state. Conservative and Republican critics have long derided the administrative state as an unelected fourth branch of government that allows bureaucrats to make regulations that exceed the wishes of Congress. The court’s ultimate ruling could alter the current balance of power among Congress, executive agencies, and the nation’s judiciary by curbing the legal underpinnings of the modern administrative state. The authority of federal agencies has been increasingly questioned in recent years as the conservative majority … Continue reading Supreme Court schedules oral argument in challenge to bureaucrats’ power
The Supreme Court turned away Florida’s request to reinstate its law regulating drag shows, which has been blocked by the lower courts. The new order came at the end of the business day on Nov. 16. Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel … Continue reading 3 conservative justices dissent as Supreme Court refuses to reinstate drag show law
The Democrat-controlled Senate Judiciary Committee canceled for a third time a scheduled vote on issuing subpoenas against two private citizens connected to conservative Supreme Court justices. The scuttling of the committee’s business meeting on Nov. 16 came after the Supreme … Continue reading Senate Democrats again pull subpoena vote in Supreme Court probe
The Supreme Court’s three liberal justices disagreed with the court’s decision not to hear the case of an Illinois inmate who claims that for three years he was illegally denied the opportunity to exercise while in solitary confinement. In refusing … Continue reading 3 liberal Supreme Court justices dissent in cruel and unusual punishment case
The Supreme Court has accepted the appeal of an accused drug trafficker stopped at the border who claims she didn’t know that 28 kilograms of methamphetamine were hidden in the door panels of the car she was driving. The case is Diaz v. United States (court file 23-14). The Supreme Court granted the petition for certiorari, or review, without comment in an unsigned order on Nov. 13. No justices dissented. At least four of the nine justices must vote for the petition for it to move forward to the oral argument stage. The case goes back to Aug. 17, 2020, … Continue reading Supreme Court takes case of convicted meth smuggler challenging expert testimony