The Supreme Court agreed on Jan. 24 to hear a challenge to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s long-controversial claim that the presence of surface water on private property makes it a protected wetland subject to federal regulations. The National Association of Home Builders and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce had urged the court to take up the case. A ruling against the EPA could limit the reach of the Clean Water Act and allow Americans to relieve pressure on the red-hot housing market by building more new houses without becoming entangled in federal bureaucracy. The high court agreed in an unsigned order … Continue reading Supreme Court agrees to hear challenge to controversial EPA wetlands rule

The Supreme Court announced Jan. 21 that it would consider whether its 2020 decision expanding tribal authority in Oklahoma should cancel out a non-Indian man’s conviction for abusing his part-Indian stepchild. The high court will consider whether states may prosecute non-Indians for crimes against Indians on Indian reservations but specifically refused to reconsider its 2020 ruling in McGirt v. Oklahoma, which stripped Oklahoma courts of the ability to hear criminal cases against Native Americans for crimes taking place on Indian lands. The case, an appeal from the Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma, is Oklahoma v. Castro-Huerta, court file 21-429. The Jan. 21 … Continue reading Supreme Court agrees to consider if states can prosecute non-Indians for crimes on Indian land

The Supreme Court has overturned the murder conviction of Darrell Hemphill, a New York man, on Sixth Amendment grounds after state prosecutors cut corners and used the transcript of a witness’s testimony from another trial against him instead of having the witness testify in person. The new ruling strengthens the right of criminal defendants to cross-examine prosecution witnesses. The relevant language in the Sixth Amendment, which became part of the U.S. Constitution in 1791, states, “In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right … to be confronted with the witnesses against him.” The vote in the high court’s ruling (pdf) in Hemphill … Continue reading Supreme Court overturns New York man’s murder conviction, strengthens defendants’ rights

The Supreme Court was skeptical of Biden administration arguments that striking down a campaign finance rule regulating the repayment of loans by a candidate to his own campaign would open the door to bribery in elections. The case arose after Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) lent his campaign committee money and the committee deliberately failed to categorize the unrepaid part of the loan as a campaign contribution in order to launch a First Amendment-based challenge to the rule. The appeal to the Supreme Court was brought by the Federal Election Commission (FEC) after a three-judge panel of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia unanimously … Continue reading Supreme Court appears receptive to Ted Cruz’s lawsuit against campaign finance rule

Allowing national flags and flags about historic events, causes, and organizations while refusing to raise a Christian flag outside a city hall is an unconstitutional example of government censorship, a seemingly sympathetic Supreme Court was told on Jan. 18. The hearing came as the high court has been becoming increasingly protective of religious freedoms since conservatives gained a 6–3 majority on the bench in October 2020, when Justice Amy Coney Barrett replaced the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. The case, Shurtleff v. Boston, court file 20-1800, comes from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 1st Circuit. Petitioner Harold Shurtleff runs … Continue reading Boston flew Communist Chinese flag, but refused Christian flag—case now before Supreme Court

Virginia’s new Republican governor is moving to withdraw his state from a regional carbon emissions-trading exchange to which 10 coastal and New England states currently belong, a move that promises to be a major setback for the left-wing environmentalist agenda. On Jan. 15, the day he took office, Gov. Glenn Youngkin signed Executive Order 9, which directs state officials “to re-evaluate Virginia’s participation in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative and immediately begin regulatory processes to end it.” Youngkin said last month he would take Virginia out of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, or RGGI, as The Epoch Times previously reported. The RGGI—some pronounce the acronym as … Continue reading Virginia governor begins withdrawing state from 10-state cap-and-trade scheme

California education authorities have agreed to drop a policy encouraging public school students to pray to Aztec gods after angry parents filed a lawsuit months ago. Among Aztec religious practices were the cutting out of human hearts and the flaying of victims and wearing of their skin. Paul Jonna, partner at LiMandri & Jonna LLP and special counsel for the Thomas More Society, a national public interest law firm, said the “Aztec prayers at issue—which seek blessings from and the intercession of these demonic forces—were not being taught as poetry or history.” Rather, the California State Board of Education’s nearly 900-page Ethnic … Continue reading California settles parents’ lawsuit, drops Aztec prayers from public school curriculum

An illegal alien under a deportation order isn’t entitled to a bond hearing after six months of detention, the Biden administration told the Supreme Court during a Jan. 11 hearing. At issue is whether Zadvydas v. Davis, a 2001 Supreme Court ruling that found that federal law provides an implied time limit of six months for the immigration detention of noncitizens when their removal isn’t “reasonably foreseeable,” applies to detainees who have been ordered to be removed from the country. The case is Johnson v. Arteaga-Martinez, court file 19-896. Tae D. Johnson is the acting director of U.S. Immigration and … Continue reading Previously deported illegal aliens aren’t entitled to bond hearing after 6 months detention, Supreme Court hears

The Supreme Court agreed to review a Washington state law that extended workers’ compensation benefits to workers at a decommissioned federal nuclear production facility where employees suffered exposure to radioactive waste and toxic fumes. The case could have expensive consequences for U.S. government contracts related to hazardous work conducted on federal property. The Biden administration argues that the state law impermissibly intrudes on federal authority. The decision to hear the case, United States v. Washington, court file 21-404, an appeal from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit, came Jan. 10. The high court didn’t provide reasons for its decision, … Continue reading Supreme Court to review Washington State workers’ comp law for federal contractors at former nuclear site

Race shouldn’t be a consideration in the judicial process, two conservative Michigan Supreme Court justices indicated as they objected to the court’s creation of a “Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion” commission that will demand judges be loyal to the “woke” left’s race-based ideological agenda. They were reacting to Administrative Order No. 2022-1, which, on Jan. 5, “effective immediately” formed the commission “with the initial goal of exploring issues related to the demographics of the workforce that support our judiciary and training within the judicial branches.” The purpose of the 24-member Commission on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in the Michigan Judiciary is “to … Continue reading Incorporating ‘woke’ racial ideology in state courts is terrible Idea, 2 Michigan Supreme Court justices argue

The Supreme Court seemed skeptical of the Biden administration’s bold claim that it has the authority to impose vaccination mandates applying to more than 84 million private sector employees and to workers in federally funded health care facilities. In a rare Friday sitting the high court seemed broadly receptive to the idea that states have authority to impose vaccination mandates but questioned the ability of federal agencies to do the same. The court decided Dec. 22, 2021, to fast-track emergency applications pertaining to challenges to the two mandates’ lawfulness as those challenges work their way through the lower courts. Various … Continue reading Supreme Court seems skeptical of Biden vaccination mandates

A committee of the Indiana legislature approved a resolution on Jan. 5 calling for a federal constitutional convention to amend the Constitution to hold the number of U.S. Supreme Court justices at nine. Defenders of the Supreme Court say the institution is functioning as it’s supposed to, although Democrats in the nation’s capital continue to press to pack the high court so it won’t hinder possibly unconstitutional left-wing legislation aimed at transforming the country. When former President Franklin D. Roosevelt, a Democrat, tried to pack the court to clear the way for his controversial New Deal, the idea was met with backlash, … Continue reading Indiana lawmakers seek federal constitutional convention to keep Supreme Court at 9 members

State officials in Georgia are now investigating allegations that ballot harvesting–a practice that is unlawful in the state—was used widely during the November 2020 general election and the U.S. Senate runoff elections that followed two months later. The allegations originated from good-government group True the Vote, which promises to release other information on voting irregularities in five other states. Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, a Republican, confirmed to John Solomon of Just the News, that a probe is underway and that subpoenas from the state’s election board may soon follow as part of the evidence-gathering process. True the Vote, which focuses on electoral integrity issues, acknowledged in a statement … Continue reading Georgia begins probe of illegal 2020 ballot harvesting