Justices seem open to allowing 40-foot cross monument
The Supreme Court is sounding as though it will allow a 40-foot cross-shaped war memorial to remain on public land in Maryland, but shy away from a sweeping ruling.
Supreme Court of the United States
Articles
Supreme Court: Judges can’t rule from the grave
Federal judges can’t rule from the grave, the US Supreme Court held Monday, writing that a federal court can’t count the vote of a judge who died in a decision issued after the judge’s death. The justices said “federal judges are appointed for life, not for eternity.”
High court deciding fate of cross-shaped Maryland memorial
Supporters of a cross-shaped memorial to veterans of World War I are asking the US Supreme Court to overturn a ruling that its location on public land in Maryland violates the First Amendment establishment clause. Justices will hear the case Wednesday.
Lake Michigan shoreline bills advance in Indiana Senate
Two pieces of legislation that would define public and recreational use of Lake Michigan’s shores and give jurisdiction of seawalls, beach grooming and land walls to the Indiana Department of Natural Resources have made advances in the Indiana Senate this week.
US Supreme Court rules out death penalty for Texas inmate
A long legal fight over whether a Texas death row inmate could be executed ended Tuesday after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled the 59-year-old man is intellectually disabled and thus cannot be put to death.
In 9-0 ruling, SCOTUS rejects Indiana excessive civil forfeiture
The Eighth Amendment’s protection against excessive fines has been incorporated to the states via the 14th Amendment, the Supreme Court of the United States has unanimously ruled in deciding an Indiana civil forfeiture case that posed the question.
Indiana’s abortion cert petition relisted for 5th time
The petition asking the U.S. Supreme Court to uphold a law restricting abortions in Indiana has been distributed for a fifth conference with the justices. Now the petition has been scheduled for consideration Feb. 22.
SCOTUS rejects appeal of Lake Michigan public access case
The Supreme Court of the United States will not hear an appeal that sought to restrict public access to the Indiana shore of Lake Michigan. Justices let stand an Indiana Supreme Court decision that found a public access right to the state’s 45 miles of Great Lakes beaches.
Trump emergency declaration faces fights in the courts
President Donald Trump declared a national emergency along the southern border and predicted his administration would end up defending it all the way to the Supreme Court. That might have been the only thing Trump said Friday that produced near-universal agreement.
Justices to decide if 2020 census can ask about citizenship
The Supreme Court will decide whether the 2020 census can include a question about citizenship that could affect the allocation of seats in the House of Representatives and the distribution of billions of dollars in federal money. The justices agreed Friday to a speedy review of a lower court ruling that has so far blocked the Trump administration from adding the citizenship question to the census for the first time since 1950.
DOC cannot make Muslim inmate pay for religious diet, divided 7th Circuit says
The Indiana Department of Correction must provide a Muslim inmate housed at the Indiana State Prison with a meat-based diet in accordance with his religious beliefs, a divided panel of the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Friday in a decision upholding a lower court.
Lake Michigan public access bill advances; SCOTUS to confer on appeal
A bill that defines the shore of Lake Michigan as belonging to the public and spells out public recreational uses of the shoreline has moved to the full Indiana Senate. Meanwhile, a petition seeking to privatize Indiana’s Great Lakes beaches will be before justices of the Supreme Court of the United States this week.
Indiana, Ohio leading 6th Circuit appeal supporting law regulating Kentucky abortion clinics
The Hoosier state has filed its second abortion-related appeal this week, this time urging a federal appeals court to uphold states’ authority to regulate abortion clinics. Indiana Attorney General Curtis Hill joined forces with Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost to lead a 16-state coalition in favor of a Kentucky law requiring abortion clinics to maintain transfer-and-transportation agreements with local hospitals and ambulance services.
Indiana GOP seeks abortion ban blocked in 7 other states
Indiana Republicans eager for a rare legal victory in their efforts to restrict abortion rights are seeking to outlaw a second-trimester procedure, hopeful an increasingly conservative U.S. Supreme Court will back a ban that courts have blocked in seven other states.
The woe of Roe: 46 years later, abortion debate still boils
To mark the 46th anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade decision, two groups rallied at the Indiana Statehouse Jan. 22, and showed that of the divisions among Americans, the gulf over abortion rights remains among the widest.
Indiana appeals 18-hour ultrasound injunction to U.S. Supreme Court
Indiana is again appealing to the Supreme Court of the United States to overturn a preliminary injunction blocking a state abortion law, this one requiring women to get an ultrasound at least 18 hours before the procedure. The provision was included in House Enrolled Act 1337, which was signed into law by then-Gov. Mike Pence in 2016.
Outcome of SCOTUS case provides window into court’s view of abortion rights
The outcome of a fight over a Louisiana law regulating abortion providers could signal whether a fortified conservative majority on the Supreme Court is willing to cut back on abortion rights.
AG Hill joins Indiana as amicus against ‘subjective’ handgun permitting
Indiana Attorney General Hill has signed the state on to an amicus brief urging the United States Supreme Court to take a case that could decide the constitutionality of may-issue firearm permits requiring citizens to meet subjective standards to publicly carry a weapon.
Rallies at Statehouse show divide over Roe still wide after 46 years
On the 46th anniversary of the landmark Roe v. Wade decision legalizing abortion, supporters and opponents scheduled rallies at the Indiana Statehouse, underscoring the deep divide over the ruling that remains more than four decades later. Advocates of reproductive rights gathered on the fourth floor of the Statehouse Tuesday to begin their push for Senate Bill 589, while Indiana Right to Life had a rally scheduled for Tuesday afternoon.
Supreme Court releases censored appeal by foreign government
An unidentified foreign government is asking the Supreme Court to get involved in a case that may be part of special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation. The appeal doesn’t identify the country, a company it controls or even the lawyers who are representing it, but it says the justices should make clear that a federal law that generally protects foreign governments from civil lawsuits in the U.S. also shields them in criminal cases.