U.S.: Pandemic lawsuits from voters, worshipers, prisoners meet roadblock at Supreme Court

USA Today: "The coronavirus pandemic has fueled an outbreak of lawsuits from voters, church worshipers, prisoners and others challenging public health policies, but the Supreme Court is proving to be a roadblock."

Blockbuster decisions in 6 areas of law made this a SCOTUS term to remember

ABA Journal: "The most important lesson from the Supreme Court's just completed term is that it is truly the John Roberts court."

Supreme Court: Montana can't exclude religious schools from scholarship program

MPR News: "The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Montana's exclusion of religious schools from a state scholarship program funded by tax credits violates the Constitution."

Roberts a pivotal vote in the Supreme Court’s big opinions

Associated Press: "The biggest cases of the Supreme Court term so far have a surprising common thread."

Supreme Court DACA ruling could sway environmental permits’ fate

Bloomberg News: "The Supreme Court’s surprise rebuke last week of the Trump administration’s bid to rescind the Obama-era DACA immigration program may have unexpected impacts on environmental litigation over fossil fuel development, pipelines, and other projects."

U.S.: Simple math suggests complex back story at Supreme Court

Associated Press: "Supreme Court watchers were left scratching their heads when they learned Justice Neil Gorsuch was the author of Monday’s landmark LGBT rights ruling."

U.S.: Interesting meetings of the minds of Supreme Court justices

Empirical SCOTUS: "Unanimity in the Supreme Court used to be the norm. In the early Supreme Court there were few dissents and so there was little opportunity to see differences between the justices’ views outside of how they authored their majority opinions."

The 7 most anticipated Supreme Court decisions

The Hill: "The Supreme Court is expected to hand down several blockbuster opinions in the next few weeks as one of the most politically volatile terms in recent memory draws to a close."

U.S.: Pandemic means a silent June at the Supreme Court

Associated Press: "It’s the time of the year when Supreme Court justices can get testy. They might have to find a new way to show it."

After 7 years, Indiana returns seized Land Rover in landmark Supreme Court case

Forbes: "When Indiana law enforcement seized Tyson Timbs’ Land Rover seven years ago, he had no idea his car would become a vehicle that would jump-start part of the Bill of Rights."

10 cases that could change how the Supreme Court looks at the Second Amendment

CNN: "The Supreme Court's solid conservative majority could soon choose to take up its first major Second Amendment case in nearly a decade, positioning the court to override state laws established to limit the availability and accessibility of some firearms and when they can be carried in public."

U.S.: Covid-19 cases concerning prisoners' rights hit the Supreme Court

CNN: "The Supreme Court and courts across the country will see an increasing number of pandemic-related disputes in the coming weeks concerning prison conditions and whether prisons are violating the constitutional rights of inmates by failing to adequately protect them against the coronavirus."

U.S.: COVID-19 and Supreme Court emergencies

SCOTUSblog: "Live teleconference oral arguments have been the most visible sign of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Supreme Court . . . however, the justices have also been busy with a steady flow of cases arising from the pandemic."

U.S.: What we learned from Supreme Court's first telehearings

Law 360: "A few bloopers notwithstanding, the U.S. Supreme Court has emerged unscathed from the uncharted waters of teleconference hearings and livestreaming prompted by the coronavirus pandemic."

U.S.: Justice Clarence Thomas has found his moment

CNN: "Justice Clarence Thomas has become a luminary in today's Washington, in a way that might never have been imagined in the arc of his life and time on the bench."

U.S.: Climate change unleashes interstate water wars

E & E News: "A looming Supreme Court showdown over water flows from the Pecos River may be the first in a rising swell of interstate water battles driven by climate change."

U.S.: It's going to be an unusual May in the Supreme Court

ABA Journal: "For the first time in recent memory, the Supreme Court will be holding oral arguments in May, and for the first time ever, they will be by telephone."

Courtroom access: Laboratories for live-streaming?

SCOTUSblog: "On April 13, the Supreme Court announced that it would conduct 10 oral arguments via telephone conference on several days in May in cases whose oral argument dates had been postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic."

Blind justice: No visual cues in U.S. high court phone cases

Associated Press: "Because of the coronavirus pandemic the high court is, for the first time in its 230-year history, holding arguments by telephone."

U.S. Supreme Court decision on unanimous jury verdicts leaves military out

Stars & Stripes: "A Supreme Court opinion this week banning non-unanimous verdicts in state criminal cases leaves the military as the sole American jurisdiction that allows them."

You’ve reached the Supreme Court. Press 1 for live arguments

Associated Press: "This is how the Supreme Court embraces technology. Slowly. It took a worldwide pandemic for the court to agree to hear arguments over the telephone."

U.S. Supreme Court set to release spring opinions during coronavirus pandemic

CNN: "It's spring time at the Supreme Court which normally means the justices are just finishing oral arguments and hunkering down to release all outstanding opinions by their self-imposed end-of-June deadline."

U.S.: For Supreme Court, COVID-19 response is 'pretty challenging'

Reuters: " On Friday, the U.S. Supreme Court announced that it was postponing oral arguments in all of the cases it was scheduled to hear in April."

U.S.: Supreme Court adoption case could have broad nondiscrimination impact

NBC News: "A lawsuit that pits religious freedom against gay rights - and has been percolating through the court system and national news for two years - is officially on the Supreme Court’s docket."

U.S.: Thomas criticizes a previous high court opinion - his own

ABC News: "Justice Clarence Thomas has made no secret of his dislike of past Supreme Court decisions written by other justices, including seminal opinions about abortion rights, press freedoms and a defendant's right to a lawyer."

U.S. Supreme Court braces for contentious second half

Bloomberg Law: "The second half of the Supreme Court’s current term will be chock-full of high-profile arguments and blockbuster opinions, and court watchers say it’s going to be explosive."

After 2 Supreme Court wins, Florida man gets $875K from city

Associated Press: "Few people have fought any city hall all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court and won, but Fane Lozman did it twice. Now the Florida city he’s battled since 2006 is going to pay him thousands of dollars in legal fees."

U.S.: The Supreme Court has a lot to do and isn't doing it quickly

CNN: "By the end of June, as the Supreme Court reaches its grand finale and issues the last flurry of opinions before fleeing for the summer, the justices will have changed the lives of those impacted by its decisions, such as undocumented immigrants, LGBTQ individuals, supporters of gun rights and even President Donald Trump."

U.S.: Stakes are high for businesses, products liability plaintiffs in Supreme Court’s new Ford cases

Reuters: "On [Jan. 17], the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear two cases in which Ford is challenging rulings by state supreme courts that allowed state residents involved in in-state car accidents to proceed with product liability suits against Ford."

U.S.: Supreme Court seems favorable to religious education funding

Associated Press: "The Supreme Court’s conservative majority appeared ready Wednesday to reinvigorate a Montana scholarship program and make it easier to use public money to pay for religious schooling in many states."

U.S.: Supreme Court considers religious schools case

MPR News: "The U.S. Supreme Court hears arguments Wednesday in a major case that could dramatically alter the line separating church and state."

U.S. Supreme Court Jan. 14 arguments

Tuesday, the United States Supreme Court hears arguments in a New Jersey public corruption case and a trademark infringement case.

U.S.: In 2020, watch for these blockbuster Supreme Court cases

PBS News: "The U.S. Supreme Court begins the second half of a potentially historic term — with arguments involving abortion, President Donald Trump’s financial records and funds for religious schools, among others — in the shadow of a presidential impeachment trial."

U.S.: A 3-decade-long water dispute heads to the Supreme Court

MPR News: "For three decades, Georgia and Florida have been battling over how to share a precious resource: water. Georgia has it, and Florida, which is downstream, says it's not getting its fair share."

U.S.: Lawyers, uninterrupted, adjust to Supreme Court two-minute rule

Bloomberg News: "'I got five words out before Justice Scalia interrupted me.' That’s how Erwin Chemerinsky, now the dean of Berkeley Law School, recalls his first U.S. Supreme Court argument back in 2002."

A look back at 2019: A tale of two terms?

SCOTUSblog: "Any review of a calendar year at the Supreme Court necessarily includes two different terms: the term that ends in June and the new one that begins in October and will run into the following year."

U.S.: 9 Supreme Court cases that shaped the 2010s

Vox: "If you want to understand what the Supreme Court became in the last decade, consider a 2012 study by University of California, Irvine law professor Rick Hasen. Between 1975 and 1990, Hasen found that Congress enacted 'an average of twelve overrides of Supreme Court cases in each two-year Congressional term.'"

U.S.: Justices debate allowing state law to be 'hidden behind a pay wall'

Ars Technica: "The courts have long held that laws can't be copyrighted. But if the state mixes the text of the law together with supporting information, things get trickier."

Supreme Court re-enters debate on money in politics by vacating decision on Alaska contribution limits

USA Today: "The Supreme Court re-entered the national debate over the influence of money in politics Monday by vacating a lower court decision that upheld Alaska's low campaign contribution limits."

U.S.: Justices take up battle over New York City gun ban

SCOTUSblog: "It has been nearly 10 years since the Supreme Court ruled that the Second Amendment right of individuals to keep and bear arms applies fully to state and local governments. When the justices return to the bench next month, they will wade into the Second Amendment fray once again."

U.S.: Racial discrimination case against cable giant Comcast gets tentative support from Supreme Court

USA Today: "The Supreme Court appeared likely Wednesday to let a racial discrimination claim against the nation's largest cable TV company go forward, even though it might be difficult to prove."

U.S.: Supreme Court grapples with how to control water pollution

CNN: "The Supreme Court grappled Wednesday with questions about the scope of the Clean Water Act and the Environmental Protection Agency's authority to regulate pollutants that find their way into navigable water such as oceans, rivers and streams."

Justices struggle with copyright case involving pirate ship

Associated Press: The Supreme Court is wrestling with a modern-day dispute involving the pirate Blackbeard’s ship that went down off North Carolina’s coast more than 300 years ago."

Justices appear split over police power in traffic stops

Courthouse News Service: "The Supreme Court was sharply divided Monday as the justices considered whether a police officer can pull a car over based solely on the knowledge that it is registered to a person with a suspended license."

U.S.: Supreme Court is divided over gay, transgender job bias in civil rights case

USA Today: "The Supreme Court appeared deeply divided Tuesday on a major civil rights question: whether gay and transgender people are covered by a federal law barring employment discrimination on the basis of sex."

U.S.: Court seems ready to require unanimous juries as term opens

Associated Press: "The Supreme Court began a potentially contentious election-year term Monday in seeming general agreement that juries in state criminal trials must be unanimous to convict a defendant."

U.S.: A lawyer’s guide to upcoming Supreme Court term

Bloomberg News: "The Supreme Court’s upcoming term is shaping up to be an explosive one, with LGBT discrimination, deportation for 'Dreamers,' and the Second Amendment all currently on the docket. But there are also a number of 'sleeper cases' on the docket this term that could be deeply significant for the way lawyers practice."

U.S.: 8 religion-related cases to watch when the Supreme Court is back in session

Deseret News: "Religious liberty advocates are gearing up for a big year at the Supreme Court, which will be back in session on Oct. 7. Justices have already agreed to hear four faith-related cases on LGBTQ rights and religious schooling."

U.S.: Justices' DC sniper case examines teen murderers' sentences

Associated Press: "Lee Boyd Malvo, who terrorized the Washington region in 2002 as one-half of a sniper team, is at the center of a case the Supreme Court will hear this fall. But the justices’ eventual ruling probably will mean less for him than for a dozen other inmates who, like the now-34-year-old Malvo, were sentenced to life without parole for murders they committed as teens."

U.S.: Justices to consider dispute over tax credits for scholarships

SCOTUSblog: "This winter, the justices will . . . review a decision by the Montana Supreme Court invalidating a tax-credit program because the scholarships created by the program could be used at religious schools. The impact of the justices’ eventual ruling could be significant."

U.S.: Supreme Court taking on big issues that have been percolating for a while

ABA Journal: "The U.S. Supreme Court will tackle some pretty big issues in its next term, including cases on LGBT rights, immigration and its first major case on gun rights in nearly a decade. And that’s with only about half of its docket filled for the term that begins Oct. 7."

U.S.: Can states change the electoral college ahead of 2020? Supreme Court may have to decide

Los Angeles Times: "Heading into what looks to be a hard-fought presidential election, the Supreme Court will likely be asked to resolve a lingering but fundamental question about the creaky, little-understood electoral college system adopted in 1787."

U.S.: Supreme Court to grapple with constitutional right to an insanity defense

Washington Times: "Kraig Kahler says he spiraled out of control when he learned his wife was having an affair with a woman, and despite seeing mental health professionals, he refused to take the anti-anxiety and depression pills they prescribed."

U.S.: Supreme Court could take on these 2 major gun lawsuits

PBS News: "The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to decide one gun-related case in its new term beginning in October, but two pending gun cases could have far wider impact on the current debate if the justices add them to their docket."

Parents reflect on case to be reviewed by U.S. Supreme Court

Daily Inter Lake: "Kalispell parents Kendra Espinoza and Jeri Anderson and Bigfork parent Jaime Schaefer are the faces of a Montana case regarding religious schools and funding that will have its day in the United States Supreme Court."

The Roberts Court – One year after Kennedy’s retirement

SCOTUSblog: "Speaking at the judicial conference of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit in June, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg told her audience that Justice Anthony Kennedy’s 2018 retirement was 'the event of greatest consequence for the current term, and perhaps for many terms ahead.'"

U.S.: Five Supreme Court rulings of global import

VOA: "Every year, the United States Supreme Court issues decisions in around 70 cases, rulings that can profoundly affect American society for generations to come. But the powerful high court also considers a handful of cases with far-reaching consequences for the citizens, businesses and governments of other countries."

In the shadows: U.S. Supreme Court’s offstage moves may matter more

Christian Science Monitor: "Definitions of the shadow docket vary, but it essentially encompasses every decision the justices make that doesn’t receive a merits-based oral argument. These decisions can range from declining to hear a case to staying (or declining to stay) the execution of a death row inmate."

U.S.: Roberts’ Supreme Court defies easy political labels

Associated Press: "Just hours after Chief Justice John Roberts handed Republicans a huge victory that protects even the most extreme partisan electoral districts from federal court challenge, critics blasted him as worthy of being impeached, a politician who should run for office and a traitor."

U.S.: High court to rule on census, gerrymandering in final week

Courthouse News Service: "Nearing the end of its term, the Supreme Court has yet to issue opinions in some of its highest-profile cases, including on the 2020 census, partisan gerrymandering and court deference to administrative agencies."

U.S.: A search for the elusive end of the term

SCOTUSblog: "The end of the term is in sight, though with 24 decisions in argued cases remaining [June 17], much work is left to do."

U.S.: Tension in the Court

ABA Journal: "As the U.S. Supreme Court enters the busy month of June, when it releases the final block of its decisions, there is a sense that the justices have succeeded in keeping their merits docket relatively low-key this term."

U.S.: Blackbeard's famed pirate ship, grounded three centuries ago, sails toward Supreme Court

USA Today: "The Supreme Court is digging into a dispute over a sunken pirate ship captained three centuries ago by the legendary pirate Blackbeard. The case, to be heard in the court's next term beginning in October, pits North Carolina against a video production company documenting the salvaging of the shipwreck."

U.S.: Supreme Court scholars’ new paper sparks debate over influence of blogs, podcasts

Reuters: "Law professors Jeffrey Fisher of Stanford and Allison Orr Larsen of William & Mary have spent the last couple of years studying the rise of blogs, podcasts and social media dedicated to litigation at the U.S. Supreme Court. They know as well as anyone how quickly new ideas about the court are picked up and chewed over."

U.S.: Supreme Court signals more openness to state abortion rules

Associated Press: "The Supreme Court signaled Tuesday it is more open to state restrictions on abortion, upholding an Indiana law supported by abortion opponents that regulates the disposal of fetal remains."

U.S.: 6 themes to pay attention to in upcoming Supreme Court decisions

NPR News: "It's decision season at the U.S. Supreme Court, and there are a host of consequential cases the justices are deciding, from a controversial Trump administration proposal to adding a citizenship question to the census to gerrymandering and a question of separation of church and state."

U.S.: High court sides with Crow tribe member in hunting dispute

Associated Press: "The Supreme Court on Monday sided with a member of the Crow tribe who was fined for hunting elk in Wyoming’s Bighorn National Forest, giving him a good chance to get a more than $8,000 fine against him overturned."

U.S.: Thomas blasts refusal to close 70-year-old federal tort loophole

Courthouse News Service: "U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas blasted his colleagues Monday for refusing to hear a tort case brought against the United States by the husband of a Navy lieutenant who died during childbirth at a naval hospital."

Abortion restrictions? Partisan election maps? Same-sex wedding cakes? Supreme Court has heard it all before

USA Today: "Same-sex wedding cakes are on the menu at the Supreme Court. Again. So are partisan election maps. And naughty trademarks. And an abortion restriction the high court struck down three years ago."

U.S.: Justice Breyer's warning and other things we learned at the Supreme Court Monday

CNN: "As the Supreme Court rounds the final turns of the term, Justice Stephen Breyer seemed to launch a warning towards his conservative colleagues in an opinion released Monday. Be very careful before you overturn precedent, he said."

U.S.: Back-loaded Supreme Court enters 'flood season'

Bloomberg Law: "Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg has referred to it as 'flood season.' Ginsburg was talking about the 'well-known crunch' as the end of the U.S. Supreme Court term approaches."

U.S. top court buttresses company power to arbitrate disputes

Reuters: "In a decision that could further help companies limit damages in disputes with workers, the U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday ruled against a California man who was the victim of an online scam and sought to bring claims against his employer."

U.S.: Defining what's excessive in police property seizures remains tricky

NPR News: "Tyson Timbs won his Supreme Court case in February, but he still doesn't have his Land Rover. 'I want my truck back. I've always wanted it back,' says Timbs, whose Land Rover was seized by police in Indiana."

U.S.: On this day, Supreme Court hears Loving arguments

Constitution Daily: "On April 10, 1967, the United States Supreme Court held oral arguments in a landmark case about a Virginia law that said marriages between blacks and whites should be treated as a felony."

U.S.: Supreme Court justices feuding openly over death penalty

CNN: "The justices are still bitterly divided over the execution of Domineque Ray, who claimed his religious rights were violated because he could not have an imam with him in the execution chamber, in February -- so much so that they continued to litigate the case in an unrelated opinion issued on Monday."

U.S.: Supreme Court sees 2 similar death penalty questions very differently

Wyoming Public Media: "Two Supreme Court decisions just hours before a scheduled execution. Two decisions just seven weeks apart. Two decisions on the same issue. Except that in one, a Muslim was put to death without his imam allowed with him in the execution chamber, and in the other, a Buddhist's execution was temporarily halted because his Buddhist minister was denied the same right."

U.S.: High court seems split over curbing federal agencies’ power

Associated Press: "The Supreme Court seemed split Wednesday in a case where the justices are being asked to curb the power of federal agencies. The case before the justices is one in which the newly more conservative court could signal its willingness to reverse prior cases."

U.S.: Supreme Court appears ready to let cross stand but struggles with church-state test

NPR News: "The U.S. Supreme Court appeared ready to let stand a 40-foot cross on public land in Maryland, but the justices struggled to come up with a test to clarify the separation of church and state in this country."