The Supreme Court struck down on June 29 the use of racially discriminatory admissions policies at U.S. colleges. The 6–3 decision ends the use of so-called affirmative action in higher education, a longtime goal of conservatives. The ruling will be felt immediately as a million high school students begin applying for fall acceptance at the nation’s colleges and universities. Students may reportedly avoid stating their race or ethnicity in the Common App, which many use to apply to multiple schools at once. Chief Justice John Roberts wrote (pdf) for the court that, for too long, universities have “concluded, wrongly, that … Continue reading Supreme Court strikes down race-based admissions at colleges

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled 6–3 on June 27 against North Carolina Republicans who argued that state legislatures have sweeping authority to make the rules for federal elections in the states without interference from the courts. At issue is the once-obscure independent state legislature doctrine, under which Republicans argue that the Constitution has always directly authorized state legislatures alone to make rules for conducting federal elections in their respective states. Democrats say it’s is a fringe conservative legal theory that could endanger voting rights, enable extreme partisan gerrymandering in the redistricting process, and cause upheaval in election administration. Conservatives point … Continue reading Supreme Court rejects Republican effort to empower state lawmakers in making election rules

The Supreme Court agreed on June 26 to consider a challenge to a wealth tax that was levied on capital gains that a Washington state couple never received. The mandatory repatriation tax, also known as the Section 965 transition tax, was part of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act passed by the Republican-controlled Congress in 2017 and signed into law by then-President Donald Trump on Dec. 22, 2017. The provision taxes U.S. citizens on certain accumulated foreign earnings of foreign corporations going back 30 years, even if the earnings haven’t been distributed. This means taxing people on income that they … Continue reading Supreme Court to decide scope of Congress’s taxing power

The U.S. Supreme Court on June 26 dismissed an appeal over a long-running dispute between former President Donald Trump and congressional Democrats over the former Trump International Hotel in the nation’s capital. The dispute focused on documents related to the lease of the government property in downtown Washington that housed the hotel. Democrats claimed that Trump received a sweetheart deal and demanded documentation from the government, which refused their request. Trump left the presidency in January 2021, and The Trump Organization sold the lease to the property in May 2022 to CGI Merchant Group for an undisclosed sum. The hotel … Continue reading Supreme Court dismisses lawsuit over Trump’s former DC hotel

The Supreme Court is scheduled to decide as soon as this week if it will hear a case about whether individuals suffering from gender dysphoria are protected by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The petition (pdf) in the case Kincaid v. Williams (court file 22-633) was filed in January. The respondent, Kesha Williams, a former detainee in the county who was born male and now identifies as female, is suing the petitioner, Stacey Kincaid, a Democrat, in her official capacity as the sheriff of Fairfax County, Virginia. Williams suffers from gender dysphoria, which can be defined as “discomfort or … Continue reading Supreme Court considering if ‘Americans with Disabilities Act’ covers gender dysphoria

The Supreme Court unanimously ruled against an Alabama man whose trade secrets theft conviction in Florida for stealing proprietary fishing information from a Florida-based website was vacated because his trial took place in the wrong state. The ruling means that the government is free to retry an already convicted defendant even if he was tried in the wrong venue. For centuries the law has mandated that a criminal defendant must be tried where the crime was committed. And nowadays when crimes take place over the internet, as allegedly happened here, the legal rules determining where the crime took place are often unclear. The new … Continue reading Supreme Court won’t acquit alleged hacker in fishing data theft