Articles

Poll: Many indifferent to Kavanaugh nomination

Does Brett Kavanaugh belong on the U.S. Supreme Court? It’s a question that may be consuming Washington, but one that elicits a shrug from many Americans. And there’s also no nationwide consensus on whether the Senate should vote on his nomination before Election Day, according to a new poll.

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Judges: N.C. congressional districts still partisan biased

Federal judges on Monday affirmed their earlier decision striking North Carolina’s congressional districts as unconstitutional because Republicans drew them with excessive partisanship. The Tarheel State is one of several in which lawsuits are challenging partisan gerrymandering.

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Labor laws revisited: Unions regroup after SCOTUS ruling

It was a decision that surprised few, but disappointed many. The United States Supreme Court ruling in Janus v. AFSCME, 585 U.S. ___ (2018), delivered a victory to right-to-work advocates but a blow to labor unions, holding that public sector, non-union employees cannot be forced to pay union dues.

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Memo shows Kavanaugh resisted indicting a sitting president

Newly released documents from Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh’s time on the Kenneth Starr team investigating Bill Clinton reveal his resistance to issuing an indictment of a sitting president. The memo, tucked toward the end of nearly 10,000 pages released Friday, provides greater insight into Kavanaugh’s views on executive power that are expected to feature prominently in his Senate confirmation hearings next month.

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US Supreme Court may see Lake Michigan beach ownership case

A years-long dispute over the ownership of Lake Michigan’s shoreline may be headed to the U.S. Supreme Court. Justice Elena Kagan last week approved a request from Bobbie and Don Gunderson’s attorneys to extend the deadline for seeking a U.S. Supreme Court review in their case to Oct. 5.

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Settlement reached in Indiana Title VII case that started judicial shift

Kimberly Hively, the adjunct math professor whose employment discrimination complaint changed Title VII law in the 7th Circuit, has settled with her former employer, Ivy Tech Community College. But the issue of whether the Civil Rights Act provision extends to sexual orientation continues to roil in other judicial districts and may yet be examined by the U.S. Supreme Court.

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SCOTUS tackles big docket, pace likely to persist

In reviewing the recently ended U.S. Supreme Court term that included several landmark cases and three reversals of precedent, retired 7th Circuit Court of Appeals Judge John Tinder finally had to quote baseball legend Yogi Berra as to what might happen in the 2018 term.

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Archives: Kavanaugh documents not ready until end of October

The National Archives and Records Administration said Thursday it won’t be able to finish reviewing nearly 1 million documents regarding Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh’s time in the George W. Bush White House until the end of October, a potential roadblock in GOP hopes for confirmation before the November election.

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Democrats ramp up fight for Kavanaugh documents

Senate Democrats intensified their fight Tuesday over documents related to Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh’s stint as staff secretary at the White House, pursuing a paper trail on his views of key issues that played out during the George W. Bush administration.

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AG Hill defends ACA lawsuit despite demands for withdrawal

Despite demands for Indiana to be withdrawn from a federal lawsuit against the Affordable Care Act, Attorney General Curtis Hill said he will continue to lead Indiana’s opposition to the “unconstitutional” law. Hill said “the foundation on which the Supreme Court built its justification for Obamacare’s constitutionality ceased to exist” when Congress repealed the individual mandate tax.

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Abortion experts say Kavanaugh can’t end Roe alone

As the U.S. Senate gears up for Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation hearings and citizens continue discussing the potential impact the D.C. Circuit judge could have on the U.S. Supreme Court, one issue continually rises to the top of the dialogues: abortion rights and the possibility of overturning Roe v. Wade.

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Quigley: Kavanaugh could be deciding vote on ACA

The successor to United States Supreme Court Justice Kennedy may determine the fate of the Affordable Care Act, according to Fran Quigley, Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law Health and Human Rights Clinic Director.

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Democrats fault Kavanaugh comment on independent counsel law

Democrats opposing Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination are seizing on remarks he made in 2016 saying he would like to put the “final nail” in a Supreme Court precedent upholding an independent counsel law as constitutional. Republicans are pushing back, saying Kavanaugh’s comment is being distorted.

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Dems see Kavanaugh as Obamacare threat, but law likely safe

The heated debate over how Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh would vote on the Affordable Care Act might not matter. As long as five past defenders of the health care law remain on the nation’s highest court, the odds tilt in favor of it being allowed to stand. Some Democrats are warning that President Donald Trump’s designee could spell doom for the statute, even as some conservatives are portraying Kavanaugh as sympathetic to former President Barack Obama’s landmark legislation.

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Supreme Court nominee’s paper trail might color confirmation

Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh’s opponents are digging through documents at President George W. Bush’s library in Texas and other repositories around the country looking for anything that could help derail his nomination. The trail of documents is extensive, as Kavanaugh spent five years in the Bush White House and 12 years as a federal judge.

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