The Supreme Court has agreed to hear a case about the IRS seizing bank account holder records to collect a debt from a different taxpayer. The Dec. 9 ruling comes as some federal lawmakers in the new Congress that will be seated … Continue reading Supreme Court accepts appeal about IRS seizing bank records to collect debt from another taxpayer
The Supreme Court refused an emergency application in a Dec. 12 ruling to block California’s enforcement of a voter-approved ban on flavored tobacco products, including e-cigarettes, that takes effect next week. Winston-Salem, North Carolina-based R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. had asked the high court for … Continue reading Supreme Court refuses to block California law banning flavored tobacco
The Supreme Court has agreed to take up the case of cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase, which is attempting to transfer lawsuits filed against it in the courts to arbitration panels. Although many investors are unfamiliar with cryptocurrencies, which are famously volatile … Continue reading Supreme Court to take up appeal of major crypto exchange Coinbase
The Supreme Court agreed on Dec. 9 to hear the appeal of a California man convicted of facilitating illegal immigration by promising would-be immigrants they could remain in the United States permanently if they enrolled in a non-existent “adult adoption” program. The man’s lawyers say the conviction should be overturned because he was engaged in free speech protected by the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The case comes two years after the Supreme Court ruled against San Jose, California-based immigration consultant Evelyn Sineneng-Smith who was accused of duping illegal aliens into paying her fees to file frivolous applications for visas and encouraging them … Continue reading Supreme Court agrees to hear appeal of California man convicted in fraudulent immigration scheme
Student borrowers who object to President Joe Biden’s move to forgive student loans at a cost of $1 trillion or more have asked the Supreme Court to hear their case. Biden unveiled the plan in August in a move critics … Continue reading Student loan borrowers ask Supreme Court to hear their case against Biden’s loan forgiveness program
North Carolina Republicans told the Supreme Court on Dec. 7 that the U.S. Constitution gives state legislatures preeminent authority to make the rules for presidential and congressional elections without interference from the courts. The case is important because, if the … Continue reading Supreme Court hears case that could empower state legislatures, not judges, to regulate elections
A wife whose husband defrauded a man who bought their home should not be held financially responsible because she played no part in the fraud, the woman’s attorney told a seemingly unsympathetic Supreme Court on Dec. 6. The case is Bartenwerfer v. Buckley, court file 21-908. The petitioner, Kate Bartenwerfer, who filed for bankruptcy after an ill-fated real estate deal, appealed after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit ruled she can’t escape from a debt that is non-dischargeable in a bankruptcy proceeding, even though she had nothing to do with her husband’s fraudulent conduct in the sale of their San Francisco home. … Continue reading Wife should avoid debt for husband’s fraud, Supreme Court hears
The Supreme Court seemed receptive Dec. 5 to the arguments of a Christian website designer who says Colorado’s law requiring her to create websites to celebrate same-sex weddings infringes on her constitutional rights. Although the Supreme Court has become increasingly protective … Continue reading Supreme Court sympathetic to Christian web designer who opposes Colorado law forcing her to honor same-sex weddings
The Supreme Court declined on Dec. 5 to hear the appeal of the controversial and formerly high-profile journalist Chuck Johnson, who sued the Huffington Post website over characterizing him as a white nationalist in a 2019 article. Some online businesses had watched … Continue reading Supreme Court won’t hear journalist Chuck Johnson’s libel appeal against Huffington Post
The U.S. Department of Justice asked the Supreme Court on Dec. 2 to put on hold a nationwide injunction issued by a federal judge in Texas that is blocking President Joe Biden’s student loan forgiveness initiative from proceeding. The debt relief program is already blocked as a result of another federal court order. The new application came the day after the Supreme Court turned down the government’s request to stay an order of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit that also blocked the program from moving forward. Instead, the high court ordered on Dec. 1 that that case, known as Biden … Continue reading Biden DOJ asks Supreme Court to suspend 2nd national injunction blocking student loan forgiveness program: The court refused Dec. 1 to stay the other injunction and scheduled a hearing for the new year
The legal team for a Christian website designer whom Colorado wants to compel to create sites that celebrate same-sex marriage is “very hopeful” that the Supreme Court will rule in their client’s favor. The case is of interest to many because the … Continue reading Lawyers for Colorado Christian web designer told to accept same-sex project look to SCOTUS for ruling
Two Montana property owners who claim the U.S. Forest Service cheated them by changing the terms of a decades-old public access agreement affecting their private land made their case before the Supreme Court on Nov. 30. The case is Wilkins v. U.S., … Continue reading Montana property owners tell Supreme Court that Forest Service treated them unfairly
Two states challenging the Biden administration’s decision last year to focus its deportation efforts on individuals deemed to be a threat to public safety urged the Supreme Court during oral arguments on Nov. 29 not to restore the policy. The … Continue reading Biden administration’s selective deportation policy that states say endangers communities is challenged in Supreme Court
The Supreme Court seemed receptive on Nov. 28 to arguments that federal prosecutors had gone too far in public corruption cases involving Joe Percoco, formerly a longtime aide to former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, and a man in a related Cuomo-era fraud case. The case is important because the high court could decide to curb prosecutorial powers in cases brought under the federal honest-services fraud statute, which some lawyers and civil libertarians say is vague and overbroad. Percoco argues he should not have been convicted for taking payments to influence government policy because, at the relevant time, he maintains he was only … Continue reading Supreme Court hears Cuomo ex-aide’s bribery appeal in pay-to-play scheme: Joe Percoco argues he wasn’t a state employee when he took money to influence government decision-making
A Las Vegas police officer who opposes the local police union is asking the Supreme Court to review her claim that the bargaining unit illegally extracted dues money from her paycheck. The case is one in a series of lawsuits … Continue reading Las Vegas policewoman asks Supreme Court to compel union to return forced dues payments
A lower court’s ruling striking down San Diego’s mandate requiring COVID-19 vaccinations for students will remain in effect after a California appeals court slapped down an appeal Nov. 22 lodged by the second-largest local school district in the state. San Diego’s school district … Continue reading San Diego COVID-19 vaccination mandate for students illegal, state appeals court rules
The Supreme Court agreed on Nov. 21 to hear a trademark infringement case brought by Jack Daniel’s against a dog toy maker whose chew toy product resembles a bottle of the Tennessee distiller’s storied whiskey. The novelties company sells a squeaking dog toy labeled “Bad Spaniels” in the shape of a Jack Daniel’s whiskey bottle, complete with a black-and-white label over what is supposed to represent brownish liquor. The real whiskey bottle label says the product is the “Old No. 7 brand” of “Tennessee Sour Mash Whiskey,” while the toy employs scatological humor, bearing a label that says “The Old No. … Continue reading Supreme Court agrees to hear whiskey maker Jack Daniel’s trademark lawsuit against pet toy maker
The Supreme Court decided on Nov. 21 not to take up the case of a California nursing home operator that is trying to duck a lawsuit filed in state court over the COVID-19-related death of a resident by moving it … Continue reading Supreme Court turns away nursing home appeal in COVID-19 death of California man
Cleveland State University is purging the name of the legendary late Chief Justice John Marshall from its 125-year-old law school because he was a slaveowner. Critics say tearing down statues of America’s founders and early leaders, and removing their names … Continue reading Ohio law school purges Chief Justice John Marshall from its name because he owned slaves
Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito denied being involved in an alleged leak of a religious-freedom decision eight years ago, after a New York Times article on Nov. 19 first reported the leak and alleged that Alito may have been involved … Continue reading Justice Alito strongly denies accusation of leaking 2014 opinion