Supreme Court
New federal water pollution rule draws mixed reaction
A federal rule limiting agencies’ power to regulate water pollution will severely restrict protections for waters and wetlands throughout the country, but could also be subject to challenges from conservative groups that maintain the new rule exerts more federal jurisdiction than the U.S. Supreme Court intended in a May decision. With the rule published last […]
Biden administration provides guidance on diversity in college admissions
WASHINGTON — The Department of Justice and Department of Education jointly released guidance on Monday to colleges and universities about how to consider race in admissions decisions, following the Supreme Court’s summer decision that struck down affirmative action in higher education. Education Secretary Miguel Cardona, on a call with reporters, said higher education institutions can […]
U.S. Senate Democrats denounce post-Dobbs landscape of state abortion bans, restrictions
The chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, said the recent Texas lawsuit challenging the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s more than 20-year approval of mifepristone has proven that the Supreme Court's decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization has “paved the way for activist judges and Republican lawmakers to try to impose their anti-choice agenda on everyone else, even in states that have protected the right to abortion.”
U.S. Senate confirms Ketanji Brown Jackson, ‘America at its best,’ to Supreme Court
The 53-47 vote comes just six weeks after President Joe Biden announced his nomination of Jackson from the White House, fulfilling a promise he first made on the campaign trail.
Pa. Supreme Court rules against Marsy’s Law; says victims’ right amendment cannot be enacted
The amendment passed the General Assembly late last decade, and would have, in a single question, given victim’s the right to petition a judge if they were not informed about the accused’s case or did not have the ability to attend the trial or subsequent hearings.
Pa. Supreme Court hears arguments over Wolf administration’s K-12 mask mandate
Gov. Tom Wolf announced last month that local school districts — but not child care facilities — would have power over masking policies, beginning Jan. 17.
Pa. Supreme Court hears arguments over crime victims’ amendment Marsy’s Law
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court heard oral arguments about whether the Marsy’s Law amendment, which appeared on the 2019 general election ballot, should have been presented in separate questions.
U.S. Supreme Court schedules Dec. 1 oral arguments in major abortion case
The nation’s top court announced in May that it would take up the Mississippi case. Since that announcement, the justices also voted in a 5-4 decision against preventing a more-strict Texas law from taking effect.
U.S. Supreme Court rejects Texas suit that tried to overturn election results
“Texas has not demonstrated a judicially cognizable interest in the manner in which another State conducts its elections,” according to the unsigned court order. “All other pending motions are dismissed as moot.”
With Philly case looming: The U.S. Supreme Court v. LGBT Americans | Analysis
The controversial case involved consensual sex between Michael Hardwick and a companion in the privacy of his own home. An Atlanta police officer, Keith Torick, was serving an invalid warrant for a ticket when he entered Hardwick’s apartment, burst into his bedroom, and found him engaged in oral sex. Torick arrested Hardwick and the companion, charging them with sodomy. At the time, the charge carried a sentence of up to 20 years in prison.
Roberts joins Supreme Court’s four liberal judges in striking down Louisiana abortion law
Enacted in 2014 by the Louisiana state Legislature, the law would have required physicians who perform abortions to have admitting privileges at a local hospital.
Pa.’s Toomey, eight GOP U.S. House lawmakers urge Supreme Court to overturn Roe v. Wade
U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa., along with eight of Pennsylvania’s Republican U.S. House members, joined with 38 senators and 168 House members, in an amicus brief calling on the high court to overturn Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey.