Cases and Controversies

The Supreme Court will hear heavy arguments in a short week including disputes over the Boston Marathon bombing and abortion litigation. On top of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s death-penalty case stemming from the 2013 bombing, the justices will also consider whether Kentucky’s Republican attorney general can defend the state’s abortion law after the Democratic governor declined. The high court will also he...

In-person arguments will resume at the U.S. Supreme Court Oct. 4 after the courthouse was shuttered for the past year and a half due to Covid-19. Attendance in the courtroom is limited to staff, arguing attorneys, and a handful of journalists, so the court will continue to livestream the proceedings to the public.  For this episode of Cases & Controversies, Kimberly Robinson and Jordan Rubin run d...

When Supreme Court justices return to the courtroom for the new term in October, they’ll consider the government’s quest to reinstate Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s death sentences. The court will hear arguments on Oct. 13 about pretrial publicity and mitigating evidence, as the justices decide whether to reverse an appeals court ruling that vacated Tsarnaev’s sentences for the 2013 bo...

The Supreme Court is typically thought to be out most of the summer. But it issued a momentous opinion on abortion rights that came from the court's so-called "shadow docket." For this special episode of Cases and Controversies, hosts Jordan Rubin and Kimberly Robinson discuss where this opinion came from and why it came outside of the court's normal operating procedures. They also talk about how...

The Supreme Court handed down the final two opinions of the term in argued cases, in contentious disputes involving voting rights and charity-donor disclosure. Progressives largely bemoaned both rulings, which fell 6-3 along ideological lines in the conservative-majority court. But the ACLU’s David Cole explained that, in his view, only the voting-rights ruling was wrong. Cole, the group’s nationa...

The Supreme Court enters what is likely the final week of its term with a handful of cases remaining, including a closely watched one on Arizona ballot restrictions. All eyes, too, will be on Justice Stephen Breyer sometime after the last opinion is delivered to see if he retires, as progressives are pressuring him to do. Cases and Controversies dives into what's ahead and what the court did this...

After weeks of low-profile rulings in technical cases, the justices dropped two of the most anticipated cases of the term on the same day this week. The court handed progressives a 7-2 win by once again upholding Barack Obama's signature healthcare law, while pleasing conservatives with a unanimous win for a religious group in the latest clash between LGBT rights and religious freedom. And althoug...

The Supreme Court rejected a petition challenging the military’s male-only draft, but a statement accompanying the denial from an interesting lineup of justices suggests the issue could come back to the court if Congress doesn’t act. Hogan Lovells partner Cate Stetson, who co-counseling with the ACLU brought the challenge, joins the latest Cases and Controversies to break down the issue and look a...

The Supreme Court unanimously reversed the Ninth Circuit on immigration and criminal justice, adding to the San Francisco-based appeals court’s string of high court losses. Cases and Controversies hosts Kimberly Robinson and Jordan Rubin break down those cases along with a third on a computer-hacking law that featured unusual alignments in the majority and dissent. Federal Indian law expert Mary K...

The Supreme Court issued three more opinions before the Memorial Day holiday, leaving the justices with 26 to go before wrapping things up for the term at the end of June. Cases and Controversies hosts Kimberly Robinson and Jordan Rubin discuss the court's latest decisions and action on the "shadow docket." They're joined by MacArthur Justice Center's Easha Anand to talk about the court's decision...

The right to abortion enshrined in Roe v. Wade is in the crosshairs after the Supreme Court said it would take up a Mississippi case next term dealing with the issue. The high court’s grant kicked off a busy week that also saw several opinions, including a contentious criminal ruling over the right to unanimous jury verdicts that may foreshadow precedent fights to come. It was also one in which Ju...

The Supreme Court heard its last argument of the term—and perhaps the last of Justice Stephen Breyer’s tenure—in a crack-cocaine sentencing case May 4. D.C. Solicitor General Loren Alikhan, who filed a brief supporting the defense, joins Cases and Controversies to break down the dispute in Terry v. United States over whether low-level crack offenders can get relief under the First Step Act. Judgin...

The U.S. Supreme Court confronted how to update its landmark student free speech ruling to accommodate social media and its ubiquitous use among students. Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District said schools can't punish on-campus speech unless it could cause a substantial disruption at the school. The question at argument April 28 in the case of a student who didn't make varsit...

The Supreme Court wraps up its April sitting with another full week of arguments ranging from free speech to environmental law to immigration. A student's right to express herself on social media about her high school while on her own time and away from campus, and a California requirement that charities disclose top donors are at the heart of the court's free speech cases. Both garnered amicus su...

The U.S. Supreme Court enters the term's last full argument sitting as the political fate of the court hangs in the balance with debates over court packing, term limits, and other reforms sweeping the nation. Starting April 19, the justices will hear arguments over CARES Act relief for Indian tribes, immigration, gun convictions, appellate procedure, and patents. Cases and Controversies hosts Kimb...

Groups representing the spectrum of political ideologies have teamed up to challenge a California law that requires tax-exempt charities to disclose major donors. The state says this information is already required by the federal government and that it's needed to police the misuse of dollars donated by California residents. The charities and their "friends of the court" don't see it that way. The...

The Supreme Court heard argument in the NCAA’s highly-anticipated antitrust appeal over student-athlete compensation on March 31. The court had tough questions for WilmerHale’s Seth Waxman, who represented the NCAA and attempted to defend the unique amateurism status of college sports against allegations of exploitation. On the other hand, the justices worried about the limits of a ruling for the...

A day after the NCAA wraps up basketball's Elite Eight, the Supreme Court team of nine will consider whether collegiate athletes can receive compensation. The justices will hear argument March 31 in an antitrust case where the Ninth Circuit invalidated limits on education-related compensation for college athletes, but preserved the NCAA’s ban on outright pay. That argument, which will conclude the...

The Supreme Court hears argument in three cases the week of March 22, two dealing with searches and seizures, and a third dealing with property rights in the labor context. The justices will consider Fifth Amendment protections for employers trying to keep union organizers away, the scope of tribal police officers’ authority to detain and search non-Indians, and whether law enforcement can enter a...

Supreme Court justices will hear argument in their latest Fourth Amendment case on March 24 over warrantless law enforcement action. The high court will examine whether the so-called "community caretaking" doctrine permits warrantless searches and seizures of homes. The court previously allowed such searches of vehicles. The Constitutional Accountability Center’s David Gans, who filed an amicus br...

With more proposals at statehouses to restrict voting following the 2020 election, the Supreme Court is considering a case that could make it harder to challenge such laws in federal court. In a just-argued case challenging out-of-precinct voting and ballot harvesting prohibitions in Arizona, the justices will decide how to measure whether voting restrictions unconstitutionally discriminate agains...

The Supreme Court wraps up its February sitting with arguments exploring the independence and accountability of federal agencies and the fate of Arizona voting restrictions and their potential wider impact. Cases and Controversies dives into the separation of powers dispute involving medical device company Arthex Inc. and the patent office and another centered on challenges to Social Security Admi...

The Supreme Court returns from its winter break to hear arguments in three cases dealing with water rights, immigration, and the Fourth Amendment. Cases and Controversies hosts Kimberly Robinson and Jordan Rubin give a sneak peek of the disputes that will be argued each day starting Feb. 22. The justices will hear arguments—still remotely due to the pandemic—about water apportionment between Flori...

The Supreme Court is coming back from its winter break and the first argument on its docket is a fight over water rights between Florida and Georgia. Jennifer Kay, Bloomberg Law’s Florida correspondent, says this dispute is so contentious that, if Florida and Georgia were sovereign countries instead of states within the U.S., warfare may be the only way to resolve it. The heart of the conflict is...

The U.S. Supreme Court may be the ultimate arbiter of constitutional questions, but recently its biggest decisions have been ones where the justices have refused to weigh in. From the Chief Justice's refusal to preside over a second impeachment trial to the justices' dismissal of the "emoluments" litigation, Bloomberg Law's Kimberly Robinson and Jordan Rubin explain the consequences of the court's...