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Florida executes man claiming intellectual disability after Supreme Court denies reprieve

Matthew Vadum

Florida executed a man on Dec. 18 who was convicted of killing a man and his girlfriend during a home invasion 38 years ago, after the U.S. Supreme Court denied a reprieve earlier in the day. The condemned man, Frank Athen Walls, had filed an emergency application with the court days earlier, arguing that he was intellectually disabled and that lower courts failed to properly consider his condition. Authorities pronounced Walls, 58, dead at 6:11 p.m. after he received a lethal injection at Florida State Prison near Starke, Florida. Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican, signed his death warrant on Nov. … Continue reading Florida executes man claiming intellectual disability after Supreme Court denies reprieve

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Supreme Court vacates appeals court ruling over race-based USDA program

Matthew Vadum

The Supreme Court on Dec. 15 ordered a federal appeals court to reconsider its ruling denying attorney’s fees to a white man who succeeded in blocking a Biden-era debt-relief program he alleged was racially discriminatory. The court’s decision in Holman v. Rollins took the form of an unsigned order that was issued without comment. No justices dissented. No oral argument was held in the case. The petitioner, Robert Holman, previously won a preliminary injunction halting the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) debt-relief program that he argued discriminated on the basis of race. The respondent is USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins. The … Continue reading Supreme Court vacates appeals court ruling over race-based USDA program

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Supreme Court won’t hear appeal of Christian baker who declined to make a same-sex wedding cake

Matthew Vadum

The U.S. Supreme Court declined to take up the case of a Christian baker in California who was prosecuted for declining to bake a wedding cake for a same-sex marriage celebration. The nation’s highest court turned away the petition without … Continue reading Supreme Court won’t hear appeal of Christian baker who declined to make a same-sex wedding cake

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Supreme Court won’t halt extradition of Japanese man accused of vandalizing religious sites

Matthew Vadum

The U.S. Supreme Court on Dec. 12 declined to block a lower court order directing that a Japanese citizen with U.S. permanent resident status be extradited to Japan to face charges of vandalizing religious buildings. Justice Sonia Sotomayor denied the … Continue reading Supreme Court won’t halt extradition of Japanese man accused of vandalizing religious sites

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Supreme Court will examine Trump’s authority to fire independent agency members

Matthew Vadum

The Supreme Court is poised to consider overturning a 90-year-old precedent that limits the reasons why presidents may remove members of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and independent federal agencies. A ruling in favor of the federal government would bolster the president’s ability to remove senior officials from some federal agencies. On Dec. 8, the nation’s highest court will hear the case of former FTC member Rebecca Slaughter, whom President Donald Trump fired in March. Trump’s ousting of Slaughter is part of the president’s ongoing effort to remove some personnel from independent federal agencies whose appointees traditionally have been shielded … Continue reading Supreme Court will examine Trump’s authority to fire independent agency members

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Supreme Court upholds Texas election map that favors Republicans

Matthew Vadum

The U.S. Supreme Court ordered late on Dec. 4 that a redrawn election map expected to increase Republican representation in Texas’s U.S. House delegation remain in place. The court’s new unsigned order in League of United Latin American Citizens v. Abbott was issued over the dissents of Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, and Ketanji Brown Jackson. Justice Samuel Alito filed an opinion concurring in the order. Justices Clarence Thomas and Neil Gorsuch joined the concurrence. On Nov. 21, the Supreme Court took action hours after Texas appealed a federal district court ruling striking down the election map passed earlier this … Continue reading Supreme Court upholds Texas election map that favors Republicans