A more skeptical high court to hear redistricting challenge
Last year, proponents of limiting partisan politics in the creation of electoral districts needed to win over Justice Anthony Kennedy. They couldn’t.
Supreme Court of the United States
Articles
Waiting for the final Mueller report and what happens next
America is waiting for special counsel Robert Mueller’s report. But anyone looking for a grand narrative on President Donald Trump, Russian election interference and all the juicy details uncovered over the past 22 months could end up disappointed.
Indiana abortion petition making eighth SCOTUS appearance, might be inspiring ‘screed’
Indiana’s petition for a review of its abortion law has been relisted for an eighth conference at the U.S. Supreme Court, raising suspicions that the case will not be accepted but could bring a fiery dissent.
Justice Thomas talks at court arguments, 1st time in 3 years
The Supreme Court was about to adjourn for the day when the Georgia baritone politely inquired of the lawyer at the lectern. Justice Clarence Thomas was breaking a three-year silence at high court arguments with a couple of questions in a case about racial discrimination in the South.
Supreme Court rules against immigrants in detention case
A divided Supreme Court ruled Tuesday against a group of immigrants in a case about the government’s power to detain them after they’ve committed crimes but finished their sentences.
Justices reject B&B owner who denied room to gay couple
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday left in place Hawaii court rulings that found a bed and breakfast owner violated the state’s anti-discrimination law by refusing to rent a room to a lesbian couple. The justices rejected an appeal from Aloha Bed & Breakfast owner Phyllis Young, who argued she should be allowed to turn away gay couples because of her religious beliefs.
Supreme Court set for case on racial bias in jury selection
Curtis Flowers has been jailed in Mississippi for 22 years, even as prosecutors couldn’t get a murder conviction against him to stick through five trials. This week, the Supreme Court will consider whether his conviction and death sentence in a sixth trial should stand or be overturned for a familiar reason: because prosecutors improperly kept African-Americans off the jury.
Blakeman: Timbs joins key Supreme Court decisions with Hoosier roots
Tyson Timbs, the Marion defendant who challenged the 2015 seizure of his $42,000 Land Rover after selling less than $400 worth of heroin, joins the select group of Hoosier litigants who shaped constitutional law by way of this state.
In heartbreak of death penalty case, attorneys find inspiration
Indianapolis attorneys had spent years — one nearly two decades — trying to secure justice for Domineque Ray, an inmate on Alabama’s death row. Their efforts were defeated Feb. 7, when Ray was executed before their eyes.
U.S. Supreme Court still reviewing Indiana’s abortion petition
The wait continues as Indiana’s petition asking the U.S. Supreme Court to review a pair of controversial prohibitions on abortion has been redistributed among the nine justices for a seventh conference.
Justices: Admission of warrantless cell location data was harmless
Even though law enforcement conducted a warrantless Fourth Amendment search when they accessed of a man’s cellphone location data, the admission of the data does not warrant a new trial because any error was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt, the Indiana Supreme Court ruled Friday, upholding a man’s four convictions in a case heard on remand from the U.S. Supreme Court.
Statehouse considering two abortion bills while court challenges loom
With petitions still pending at the U.S. Supreme Court over Indiana’s 2016 abortion law, two new anti-abortion bills are moving through the Statehouse and at least one, if it becomes law, could drag the state back into court for a new battle.
Stafford: Indiana’s high court gets just reward in 9-0 rebuff
Take your pick from the political spectrum: Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Clarence Thomas each wrote eloquently in rejecting the Indiana Supreme Court’s tortured logic in an extreme civil forfeiture case. Thank goodness.
Indiana leads 20-state coalition’s whistleblower brief
A scheme to award a multi-million-dollar no-bid subcontract to provide security in Iraq during the cleanup of munitions has put the spotlight on the federal False Claims Act and raised concerns among states, including Indiana, that a narrower interpretation of the long-standing statute could impact their ability to recover in whistleblower complaints.
Judiciary faces ‘political’ task in border wall emergency declaration
The question for courts hearing challenges to President Donald Trump’s national emergency declaration is not as simple as deciding whetherthe action is legal; they also must determine the extent of congressional and presidential powers, the meaning of relevant statutes and how much deference to give a president asserting executive authority.
SCOTUS to determine when permits are necessary to pollute navigable waters
The US Supreme Court is reviewing a lower court ruling that seemingly expands the Clean Water Act. Under the 9th Circuit’s decision, any pollutant found in navigable water that is “fairly traceable” to a permittable discharge source is subject to permitting requirements, even if the source of the pollutant does not discharge directly into a navigable water.
SCOTUS decision in Timbs civil forfeiture case just a start
The US Supreme Court decision in a landmark Indiana civil forfeiture case ruled that the Eighth Amendment Excessive Fines Clause is incorporated to the states, but Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s opinion declined to answer one key question: When does the Eighth Amendment prohibit civil forfeiture?
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: 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.