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Chief Justice Roberts, joined by the four liberal justices (Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen Breyer, Elena Kagan, and Sonia Sotomayor), declared that “the evidence tells a story that does not match the explanation the Secretary gave for his decision.” The “sole stated reason” for adding the citizenship question to the census, he observed, “seems to have been contrived.” Federal agencies must “offer genuine justifications for important decisions, reasons that can be scrutinized by courts and the interested public.” Otherwise, judicial review becomes “an empty ritual.” In dissent, Justice Clarence Thomas, joined by Justices Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh, correctly called the...

(Image via Wikimedia) Today the Supreme Court issued two major opinions with profound implications for American politics. It blocked, for now, adding a question about citizenship on the 2020 Census in Department of Commerce vs. New York . In Rucho v. Common Cause , the Court permanently killed off allowing federal courts to decide that a legislative map gave one side too much of a partisan advantage. It was a bad day for the right, a very bad day for the left, and an extremely bad day for Chief Justice John Roberts. First, the very bad day for the...

. The Enumeration Clause permits Congress, and by extension the Secretary, to inquire about citizenship on the census questionnaire. That conclusion follows from Congress’s broad authority over the census, as informed by long and consistent historical practice that “has been open, widespread, and unchallenged since the early days of the Republic.” NLRB v. Noel Canning, 573 U. S. 513, 572 (Scalia, J., concurring in judgment). Pp. 11–13. BUT: . In order to permit meaningful judicial review, an agency must “‘disclose the basis’” of its action. Burlington Truck Lines, Inc. v. United States, 371 U. S. 156, 167–169. A court is...

The Supreme Court on Thursday blocked, for now, the Trump administration's plan to include a question on the 2020 census that inquires about a person’s citizenship status.

NPR's Michel Martin speaks with journalist Carl Hulse about his book "Confirmation Bias: Inside Washington's War Over the Supreme Court, From Scalia's Death to Justice Kavanaugh." ns are expected this week. Many will likely be decided by the five-vote conservative majority that the public has come to expect. But long before any of the current term's cases were decided, achieving that majority was part of a long-term plan, a calculated political maneuver by Republicans after the death of Justice Antonin Scalia. That battle and its aftermath are the subject of a new book by Carl Hulse, chief Washington correspondent for...

The Supreme Court on Friday ruled 5-4 to overturn a decades-old precedent on property rights, a decision that marks a victory for conservatives. The previous 1985 ruling found that an individual whose property is taken by a local government cannot file a federal suit under the Fifth Amendment until that challenge fails in state court. But on Friday the justices ruled along ideological lines to reverse that precedent, finding that the requirement “imposes an unjustifiable burden,” conflicts with other similar rulings and “must be overruled.” “A property owner has an actionable Fifth Amendment takings claim when the government takes his...

The Supreme Court on Friday ruled 5-4 to overturn a decades-old precedent on property rights, a decision that marks a victory for conservatives. The previous 1985 ruling that found that an individual whose property is taken by a local government cannot file a federal suit under the Fifth Amendment until that challenge fails in state court. But on Friday the justices ruled along ideological lines to reverse that precedent, finding that the requirement “imposes an unjustifiable burden,” conflicts with other similar rulings and “must be overruled.” “A property owner has an actionable Fifth Amendment takings claim when the government takes...

If hypocrisy equals people, Democrats in Washington are China. The latest example of such bold duplicity by the Democratic Party is the secret "A-list" of potential Supreme Court (SCOTUS) judges Democrats refuse to reveal while they turn blue on Capitol Hill screaming for more transparency from the Trump administration. Democrat leaders and activists working for Alliance for Justice are keeping their SCOTUS list under lock and key. Why? What do Democrats want to hide? Perhaps it's the fact that this list of potential justices for SCOTUS contains the names of the most liberal, activist judges in the land? Maybe it's...

It just takes a cursory look at the ages of current Supreme Court justice to notice that Democrats have a distinct disadvantage, for now. That’s because its two oldest justices, Ruth Bader Ginsburg at 86 and Stephen Breyer at 80, are both long past the time when normal working folks typically trade in their work boots for fedoras and beach sandals.But SCOTUS is no ordinary job, and these are not ordinary times. Both Ginsburg and Breyer know the politics behind any potential retirement plans, and both are doubtless planning to cling to their jobs like a pair of good dentures until...

Republicans have been successfully leveraging the Supreme Court balance of power as a major campaign issue to ignite their base since the 1980s. For Democrats, the 2020 election may mark the first in modern times that they unite around the high court as a driving force in a presidential election. Democratic candidates are increasingly advocating "court packing," that is, upping the number of Supreme Court justices to balance the bench -- or ensure a liberal majority. The idea is unlikely to succeed for historical and practical reasons but its resonance on the campaign trail reflects Democrats' new emphasis on the...

In today's concurring opinion in Box v. Planned Parenthood of Indiana and Kentucky, Justice Clarence Thomas dared speak the truth about the abortion industry in an area of law and policy infested with euphemisms, deception, and distortion. That "the Constitution itself is silent on abortion," for example, is a most obvious observation that anyone old enough to read can confirm. But to write it plainly in a Supreme Court opinion, as he did, is nothing short of an act of courage in today's day and age, when the darkness of abortion has such a firm grip on our political, legal,...

On Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of a Native American man who was convicted of hunting off-season in Bighorn National Forest. Neil Gorsuch joined the four liberal justices in Herrera v. Wyoming, holding that an 1868 treaty between the U.S. and the Native American Crow Tribe granted the tribe the right to hunt in "unoccupied lands," and that the treaty did not expire when Wyoming became a state in 1890. Crow Tribe member Clayvin Herrera was charged with off-season hunting in 2014, but he argued that the 151-year-old treaty protected his ability to hunt at that time....

Vice President Mike Pence announced that the administration will look for opportunities to challenge nationwide injunctions before the Supreme Court. Such orders have obstructed the Trump administration’s agenda in a number of areas. Though such injunctions have angered Trump loyalists, conservative litigators employed them against former President Barack Obama. The Trump administration is searching for an appropriate case in which to ask the Supreme Court to end nationwide injunctions, Vice President Mike Pence announced Wednesday in Washington at a Federalist Society conference. Nationwide injunctions, in which federal trial judges bar the federal government from enforcing a law or carrying out...

Only title & url permitted . No excerpts of Gannett / USAToday. Conservatives' takeover of Supreme Court stalled by John Roberts-Brett Kavanaugh bromance https://www.jconline.com/story/news/politics/2019/04/07/supreme-court-bromance-john-roberts-brett-kavanaugh-tie-up-court/3342377002/

President Trump has reportedly said he is "saving" Judge Amy Barrett of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit to replace Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on the Supreme Court, according to Axios. Barrett was a popular choice among conservative activists as a candidate to replace Justice Anthony Kennedy before Trump eventually nominated Justice Brett Kavanaugh. Axios reported that Trump has made clear his desire to replace Ginsburg with Barrett since Kennedy’s decision to retire, telling people on separate occasions, "I'm saving her for Ginsburg."

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh on Thursday sided with liberal justices in a ruling that delayed the execution of a cop killer amid claims that religious freedom would be violated if the death-row inmate's Buddhist spiritual adviser wasn’t present during his final moments. The nation's highest court blocked the execution of Patrick Murphy about two hours after he could have been executed. Murphy is a member of the “Texas 7” gang of escaped prisoners who are awaiting the death penalty over the fatal shooting of a suburban Dallas police officer. Murphy's attorney argued that Texas prison officials were violating...

Supreme Court won't stop Trump administration's bump stock ban originally appeared on abcnews.go.com The Supreme Court will not stop the Trump administration's ban on bump stocks from going into effect, it was announced on Thursday. The ban on bump stocks was announced by the Justice Department in December 2018 and took effect on Tuesday. On Monday, the Supreme Court was considering an emergency request from Gun Owners of America, Gun Owners Foundation and the Virginia Citizens Defense League to stay the ban while cases challenging it were appealed.

Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas is working behind the scenes to boost the prospects of Neomi Rao, one of his former law clerks, to serve on a powerful federal appeals court in Washington — speaking privately with at least two Republican senators as she faces a contentious confirmation fight. Sen. Josh Hawley (Mo.) who publicly questioned how Rao would rule on issues such as abortion before supporting her in a key vote Thursday, disclosed this week that he had called Thomas. The justice has also phoned Sen. Tim Scott (S.C.), a sometimes deciding voice on controversial nominees. “He called me...

The Supreme Court says Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg has returned to work at the building for the first time since lung cancer surgery in late December. The court’s press office says the 85-year-old Ginsburg is attending the justices’ Friday closed-door conference at which they’re weighing whether to add new cases and finalizing opinions in cases argued in the fall. Ginsburg missed six days of arguments and three private conferences as she recuperated from the December surgery. The court has said she participated in the court’s work despite her absence.

Over the past year, the federal government’s lead Supreme Court litigator has repeatedly attempted to expedite Trump administration cases by using an unorthodox maneuver, one that legal experts say is rarely successful. Solicitor General Noel Francisco has requested on eight separate occasions, twice in the same case, that justices bypass the regional federal appeals court and instead review the ruling by a lower district court. Those requests, known as petitions for a writ of certiorari before judgment, stemmed from challenges to President Trump’s restrictions on transgender people serving in the military, its decision to wind down the Deferred Action for...