Articles

High Court: Online shoppers can be forced to pay sales tax

The Supreme Court says states can force online shoppers to pay sales tax. The 5-4 ruling Thursday is a win for states, who said they were losing out on billions of dollars annually under two decades-old Supreme Court decisions that impacted online sales tax collection.

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SCOTUS agrees to hear Indiana civil forfeiture challenge

A lawsuit challenging Indiana’s civil forfeiture procedures will be heard by the United States Supreme Court after the justices granted a writ of certiorari to a case that a national legal organization says will have significant implications on Eighth Amendment protections nationwide.

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Supreme Court rejects appeal from gay inmate in South Dakota

The U.S. Supreme Court has rejected an appeal from a gay death row inmate in South Dakota who says jurors were biased against him because of his sexual orientation. Charles Rhines tried to persuade the court to take an interest in his case after the justices last year ruled that evidence of racial bias in the jury room allows a judge to consider setting aside a verdict. 

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Supreme Court to take up iPhone app lawsuit

The U.S. Supreme Court will consider whether the purchasers of iPhone apps can sue Apple over allegations it has an illegal monopoly on the sale of the apps. The court said Monday it will take a case from the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, which ruled in January that the purchasers of iPhone apps could sue Apple.

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Supreme Court allows Ohio, other state voter purges

States can target people who haven’t cast ballots in a while in efforts to purge their voting rolls, the Supreme Court ruled Monday in a case that has drawn wide attention amid stark partisan divisions and the approach of the 2018 elections.

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Justices side with Colorado baker on same-sex wedding cake

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Monday for a Colorado baker who wouldn’t make a wedding cake for a same-sex couple in a limited decision that leaves for another day the larger issue of whether a business can invoke religious objections to refuse service to gay and lesbian people.

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Justices allow Arkansas to enforce abortion restrictions

The Supreme Court on Tuesday allowed Arkansas to enforce restrictions on how so-called abortion pills can be administered while a legal challenge to the restrictions proceeds, which critics say effectively ends that option for women in the state.

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Supreme Court limits warrantless vehicle searches near homes

The U.S. Supreme Court sided 8-1 with a Virginia man who complained that police walked onto his driveway without a warrant and pulled back a tarp covering his motorcycle, which turned out to be stolen. The justices said the automobile exception does not apply when searching vehicles parked adjacent to a home.

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Divided Supreme Court rules for businesses over workers

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled employers can prohibit workers from banding together to dispute their pay and conditions in the workplace, an important victory for business interests. The justices ruled 5-4 Monday, with the court’s conservative members in the majority, that businesses can force employees to individually use arbitration, not the courts, to resolve disputes.

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Ball State prof tackles controversial SCOTUS libel decision in new book

It all began in September 1962, when Atlanta insurance salesman George Burnett was accidentally connected to a phone call between University of Georgia athletic director James Wallace “Wally” Butts, Jr. and legendary University of Alabama coach Paul “Bear” Bryant. Burnett's record of the call led to a controversial U.S. Supreme Court libel decision that is the basis of a new book by Ball State University professor emeritus David Sumner. 

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Supreme Court makes legal sports betting a possibility

The U.S. Supreme Court struck down a federal law Monday that bars gambling on football, basketball, baseball and other sports in most states, giving states the go-ahead to legalize betting on sports. Indiana was among the states pushing for the decision.

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Texas suit could speed DACA’s path to Supreme Court

Three judges have ordered the Trump administration to continue a program that has shielded hundreds of thousands of young immigrants from deportation. Now, a lawsuit filed last week in Texas seeks to shut down the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program and may create a legal clash that could speed the issue’s path to the Supreme Court.

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