WASHINGTON—The Supreme Court has agreed to review the life sentence without parole of Brett Jones, a Mississippi man convicted of committing murder when he was 15. The legal issue is whether the 8th Amendment, which bars cruel and unusual punishment, … Continue reading Supreme Court to consider life without parole for juveniles
The Trump administration is taking the unusual step this week of appearing in a state court to defend the religious freedom of Catholic schools. Federal lawyers are expected to argue that federal constitutional rights are directly implicated by a state-level … Continue reading Trump administration backs Catholic church in employment dispute
The Supreme Court granted the Trump administration’s request to review a lower court ruling that would force it to make public sensitive documents from its internal deliberations about changing the regulations for power plants’ cooling water intake systems. It was … Continue reading Supreme Court to hear Trump administration’s appeal about endangered species report
The Supreme Court may soon rule on whether an appeals court decision that revived a class-action lawsuit claiming that DirecTV’s NFL Sunday Ticket, which bundles all NFL games into a package available exclusively to subscribers of the company’s satellite television service, runs … Continue reading NFL asks Supreme Court to reconsider class action over Sunday Ticket TV
WASHINGTON—A Louisiana law that requires abortionists to have hospital admitting privileges close to where the procedure takes place should be upheld because it protects women’s health, the state’s solicitor general told the Supreme Court on March 4 as protests raged outside. Oral … Continue reading Supreme Court considers law that requires admitting privileges for abortion docs
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), created in the wake of the 2008 financial crash, is unconstitutional because its director, unlike the typical federal official, isn’t accountable to the elected president of the United States who appointed the person, the Supreme Court heard. … Continue reading Constitutionality of consumer bureau challenged before Supreme Court
WASHINGTON—A Lebanese immigrant who committed felonies after receiving his green card shouldn’t be deported because he will face religious persecution and torture if removed to his native land, the man’s lawyer told the Supreme Court. The Trump administration opposes the … Continue reading Failed asylum claimant with serious rap sheet should be deported, Supreme Court hears
WASHINGTON—The Trump administration told the Supreme Court that a foreigner who entered the country unlawfully and was thrice denied asylum during administrative proceedings doesn’t have the legal right to challenge an expedited removal order in the courts. If the government … Continue reading Illegal aliens can’t appeal deportation orders to courts, Trump administration tells Supreme Court
Elected officials in California are challenging a controversial state law that deprives them of their ability to speak critically about labor unions by prohibiting statements deemed to “deter or discourage” public employees from seeking union membership. “I was elected by the … Continue reading California officials sue to strike down pro-union gag law
WASHINGTON—Employers aren’t allowed to shorten a six-year limit for retirement plan participants to sue over mishandling investments simply by mailing participants disclosure documents or posting them online, the Supreme Court has ruled. The unanimous decision is a victory for the Trump administration, which … Continue reading Supreme Court rules retirement plan liable despite disclosure
WASHINGTON—A young child born in Italy to an American mother and an Italian father who split up soon after her birth should remain in her father’s custody in that country because it’s considered her habitual residence, the Supreme Court decided. … Continue reading Supreme Court rules child to stay in Italy in father’s custody
WASHINGTON—The Trump administration urged the Supreme Court to reverse an appeals court ruling that struck down as unconstitutional an immigration law that made it a felony to encourage people to come to or stay illegally in the United States. Oral arguments were … Continue reading Supreme Court considers ban on encouraging illegals to stay in US
The “Beltway Sniper” co-defendant has withdrawn his appeal to the Supreme Court asking for reconsideration of life sentences without parole for murders committed when he was 17. Virginia has enacted legislation making him eligible to seek parole. Lee Boyd Malvo, … Continue reading Beltway Sniper sidekick drops appeal of Virginia life sentences
WASHINGTON—Plaintiffs asked the Supreme Court on Feb. 24 to rule that the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act may be applied retrospectively to impose punitive damages on the African nation of Sudan, which the United States has officially placed on its list of … Continue reading Victims ask Supreme Court to allow damages claim against Sudan for aiding terrorists
WASHINGTON—Supreme Court justices seemed skeptical of environmentalist arguments that an appeals court was right to invalidate a U.S. Forest Service permit needed for a planned $8 billion natural gas pipeline. The Atlantic Coast Pipeline proposed by Richmond, Virginia-based Dominion Energy … Continue reading Supreme Court seems sympathetic to pipeline crossing Appalachian Trail
A federal judge in Kansas who struck down a law that prevents people from “encouraging” or “inducing” illegal immigration has resigned after being reprimanded for sexual harassment. The jurist is Judge Carlos Murguia of the U.S. District Court of Kansas, … Continue reading Federal judge in Kansas resigns after sexual harassment reprimand
After being unfairly targeted for surveillance and possible criminal prosecution, a conservative nonprofit won an important legal victory against Michigan officials who are conducting a witch hunt against conservatives. The Ann Arbor, Michigan-based American Freedom Law Center (AFLC), which describes itself as … Continue reading Michigan conservatives beat leftist attorney general in court: Smeared by the Southern Poverty Law Center, the American Freedom Law Center fights back
Illegal aliens are gravitating to so-called sanctuary cities in states with small immigrant populations where they strain local finances because they consume as much as $6,000 in taxpayer-funded services annually over and above any fiscal benefit they generate, according to … Continue reading Small states with low immigrant populations hit hardest by influx of illegal aliens
Using arguments deployed by President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial legal team, Democratic lawmakers are asking a federal judge to move forward with the House Ways and Means Committee’s lawsuit that seeks Trump’s tax returns—the same lawsuit that the judge paused a month … Continue reading Democrats ask judge to move on suit seeking Trump’s tax returns
A regulatory framework that seeks to preserve free speech online needs to be adopted for social media before repressive countries like China begin influencing the rules about the free flow of information, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg told global leaders and security officials in Europe over … Continue reading Zuckerberg seeks regulations for social media to preserve free speech