Party presentation: A mysterious new rule?

ScotusCrim is a recurring series by Rory Little focusing on intersections between the Supreme Court and criminal law. The first “opinion of the court” for the 2025-26 term was a summary disposition in a criminal case (an immediate grant of certiorari and reversal of the lower court decision without further […]

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SCOTUStoday for Wednesday, December 17

Yesterday, Franklin the Turtle made an appearance on Reason’s Volokh Conspiracy blog. Here’s why. SCOTUS Quick Hits The court could issue decisions in the interim docket cases on President Donald Trump’s effort to deploy the National Guard to Illinois and a dispute between the Trump administration and immigration judges at any time. Morning Reads […]

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Which Supreme Court cases are actually important?

It’s the age-old question: Does the Supreme Court decide its cases based on rank partisanship rather than legal principles? Many scholars and commentators unhesitatingly answer in the affirmative. Such individuals may acknowledge that the plurality of Supreme Court decisions are unanimous (42% last term) and that the vast majority of […]

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WWWWD: What would Woodrow Wilson do?

AV Ristorante is a recurring series by Brian Fitzpatrick. Please note that the views of outside contributors do not reflect the official opinions of SCOTUSblog or its staff. As we all know – how could we have missed it! – the Supreme Court heard oral argument in Trump v. Slaughter […]

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SCOTUStoday for Tuesday, December 16

Sixty years ago, on Dec. 16, 1965, students Mary Beth Tinker and Christopher Eckhardt were sent home from school for wearing black armbands to protest the U.S. government’s policy in Vietnam. They, along with Mary Beth’s brother, John, went on to win a major Supreme Court case on free speech. […]

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Bush v. Gore in retrospect

Courtly Observations is a recurring series by Erwin Chemerinsky that focuses on what the Supreme Court’s decisions will mean for the law, for lawyers and lower courts, and for people’s lives. Please note that the views of outside contributors do not reflect the official opinions of SCOTUSblog or its staff. What, […]

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Two centuries of declining judicial agreement

Empirical SCOTUS is a recurring series by Adam Feldman that looks at Supreme Court data, primarily in the form of opinions and oral arguments, to provide insights into the justices’ decision making and what we can expect from the court in the future. When Chief Justice Earl Warren was able to achieve unanimous […]

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The concurrence that was really a dissent

In Dissent is a recurring series by Anastasia Boden on Supreme Court dissents that have shaped (or reshaped) our country. On a cold January day in 2012, a senator walked into the U.S. Capitol, banged a gavel to open a Senate session, then banged it again – sending the Senate […]

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SCOTUStoday for Monday, December 15

You hear a lot about the 12 days of Christmas this time of year, but what about the first 10 Amendments to the Constitution? On this day in 1791, the Bill of Rights was ratified. SCOTUS Quick Hits On Friday, the justices gathered for their final regularly scheduled private conference […]

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