The Relist Watch column examines cert petitions that the Supreme Court has “relisted” for its upcoming conference. A short explanation of relists is available here. The Supreme Court has done a substantial amount of house cleaning this week, disposing of six relists. The justices summarily reversed in Margolin v. National […]

The Roberts court is often treated as especially protective of the First Amendment. It is true that the court has reshaped free speech law across such areas as campaign finance, student speech, government speech, and online platforms. It has also transformed religious doctrine through expanding the free exercise clause and the establishment clause, and in […]

The U.S. Supreme Court (unlike some) does not divide its docket between civil and criminal cases. So I do. With about five weeks left in the current Supreme Court term, it’s time for a quick update on how the court is handling its criminal cases this term, and a brief […]

On May 27, 1935, the Supreme Court struck down three of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s signature New Deal policies. The day came to be known as Black Monday, and it helped spark Roosevelt’s (unsuccessful) push to expand the court. At the Court The Supreme Court on Tuesday sided with the […]

The Supreme Court on Tuesday morning reversed a ruling by a federal appeals court that had revived a dispute over a policy governing speaking engagements by immigration judges. In a list of orders from the justices’ private conference last week, the court also declined to serve as the court of […]

The Supreme Court is expected to rule soon in United States v. Hemani, a closely watched case addressing drug users’ gun rights. When it does, the ruling will likely reignite not just the debate over how the court approaches the Second Amendment, but also the debate over how justices rule […]

Please note that SCOTUS Outside Opinions constitute the views of outside contributors and do not reflect the official opinions of SCOTUSblog. Much of the reporting on Louisiana v. Callais suggests the court stopped short of finding Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act (which prohibits racial discrimination in voting) unconstitutional. […]

On this day in 2009, then-President Barack Obama nominated Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court. At the Court On Thursday, the justices met in a private conference to discuss cases and vote on petitions for review. Orders from that conference are expected this morning at 9:30 a.m. EDT. The court […]

Please note that SCOTUS Outside Opinions constitute the views of outside contributors and do not reflect the official opinions of SCOTUSblog. The Supreme Court shapes constitutional and statutory meaning in an era defined by rapid technological change. But, despite presiding over disputes that involve online conduct, the court itself is […]

Last month, The New York Times published a major scoop: the inside story of the Supreme Court’s 2016 order blocking then-President Barack Obama’s Clean Power Plan, an environmental initiative intended to address climate change, on its interim docket. In the story, Jodi Kantor and Adam Liptak suggested that the order […]