SCOTUSblog
Independent News and Analysis on the U.S. Supreme Court
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Latest posts
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Will an ability to hold federal officers accountable survive this term?
At a time when there is a desire to hold ICE agents accountable for their constitutional violations, the Supreme Court might be poised to eliminate the only way to hold them civilly liable under federal law. By way of background, if state or local officers violate the…
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The border wall dispute isn’t fit for the emergency docket
In its latest request to the Supreme Court over President Donald Trump’s approach to immigration, the Justice Department turned to the court’s emergency docket to ask for fast-track permission to construct a border barrier system along a 517-mile stretch in remote west Texas.…
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Court won’t intervene in California ballot dispute
More voting-related battles could be coming.
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Court will hear arguments in January on six-person juries, religious zoning dispute
The Supreme Court will hear oral arguments on Jan. 13 in a Florida man’s challenge to the state’s use of six-person juries; one week later, it will hear a religious zoning dispute between a Catholic church in northern Kentucky and a couple who live across the street and oppose…
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Supreme Court declines Trump administration's request to intervene in California ballot dispute
The Trump administration on Monday morning asked the Supreme Court to intervene in its efforts to keep California from counting ballots cast by what it contends are more than 20,000 noncitizens who have registered to vote in that state. In a brief, unsigned order released to…
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Is Montgomery affirmative action’s final chapter?
On Oct. 19, the Supreme Court granted cert in a case called Association for Education Fairness v. Montgomery County Board of Education . I am surprised it hasn’t received more press coverage because it could be the final nail in affirmative action’s coffin. Perhaps you think the…
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Justice Kagan: firing point blank in Smith & Wesson v. Estados Unidos Mexicanos
In the 1983 movie A Christmas Story , Ralphie’s teacher, Miss Shields, assigns her students the task of writing “a theme.” The fourth-grade class at Warren G. Harding Elementary school erupts in groans; after all, writing is hard work. But Ralphie sees it as an opportunity to…
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The SCOTUS forecasting contest
Now that the second session of oral arguments for the 2026-27 term is about to begin, we figured it would be a good time to check in on SCOTUSblog’s inaugural Supreme Court forecasting contest. To remind you, in collaboration with Good Judgment Inc. , this gives SCOTUS…
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A surge in cases on religion and schools
Plus, the justices will hear argument in two cases today, the first day of the November sitting.
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Justices to debate when an established rule is “previously unavailable” in habeas case
The Supreme Court will hear oral argument on Nov. 4 in Guerrero v. Johnson , a case about the limited circumstances in which a state prisoner can return to federal court for a second round of post-conviction review. But let’s back up a bit: If inmates want to challenge the…
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Five November criminal law arguments, and one last look at the 2025-26 term
While all eyes are on what seem like inevitable Supreme Court election law “emergency” petitions, it may be comforting to realize that the regular business of the Supreme Court still goes on. Argument calendars released months ago show five criminal law and related cases set for…
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The November argument session begins on Monday
Plus, groups urge the court to keep border wall construction on hold
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Groups ask Supreme Court to leave lower court order in place halting border wall construction in southwestern Texas
The plaintiffs challenging the Trump administration’s efforts to build a border wall in the Big Bend region of southwestern Texas urged the Supreme Court on Thursday to leave in place an order by a federal trial judge in El Paso temporarily halting the construction. Eric…
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Court to hear argument in religious discrimination challenge brought by Catholic preschools in Colorado
The Supreme Court will hear oral argument on Nov. 3 in a challenge brought by Catholic preschools in Colorado, which argue that their exclusion from Colorado’s universal preschool program is a form of religious discrimination in violation of the First Amendment, because Colorado…
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The Supreme Court and what constitutes cruel and unusual punishment
Earlier this month, the concept of cruel and unusual punishment briefly captured the country’s attention after the state of Tennessee on Sept. 30 tried and failed to execute Christa Pike . Pike, who was sentenced to death for the 1995 murder of Colleen Slemmer, survived being…
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Sandy Hook parents file amicus brief on AR-15 bans
Plus, the Supreme Court wants to hear from Hillary Clinton.
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Court to consider federal inmate’s ability to use habeas to accelerate transfer to a halfway house or home confinement
In Maxwell v. Dinis , to be argued on Nov. 2, the Supreme Court will address a federal inmate’s ability to use a habeas statute, 28 U.S.C. § 2241 , to contest the Federal Bureau of Prisons’ refusal to accelerate his transfer to a halfway house or home confinement. By way of…
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Justices to decide whether failure to plead an affirmative defense prevents moving for summary judgment on that same defense
Younge v. Fulton Judicial Circuit District Attorney’s Office, Georgia , to be argued on Nov. 2, involves an issue that will quicken the pulse of civil procedure aficionados. No less than four different rules of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure are in play: affirmative…
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Two cheers for “insecure originalism”
In his new book , Justice Samuel Alito takes aim at what he calls judicial “insecurity,” or a judge’s self-conscious worry that he might be advancing his own policy preferences under the guise of impartial adjudication. “Twenty-first century originalists,” he argues, “should…
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SCOTUS won’t disturb Texas-DOJ deal on deportation proceedings
Plus, will the 2026-27 term become another Trump term?