SCOTUS Scoop

Bust out your pumpkin spice lattes and pocket Constitutions. It's October, which means the justices (and I) are back. What can you expect this term? Extra pumpkin spice. We're getting cases involving conversion therapy, trans athletes in sports, and executive power. The big ones The Court will hear two major cases involving executive power: Trump ...

The term hath endeth! The justices are slathering on the SPF, teaching classes in Italy, gallivanting in their RVs, and doing whatever else it is that the justices do for the summer. Justices, they're just like us—but with robes. After this scoop of SCOTUS, we'll have one final recap of the term before I, too, break for summer. Except my "break" ...

It's been nice to get some unanimous opinions lately. Given that we're near the end of the term, some especially vigorous disagreements are sure to arise. Discrimination is discrimination is discrimination Surprising no one, the Court unanimously held in Ames v. Ohio Department of Youth Services that members of "majority" groups can't be held t ...

**Non-Opinion Opinion Watch ** The Supreme Court released its opinion in a highly anticipated case about whether a group could become the nation's first religious charter school. Unfortunately, the case ended with a whimper, not a bang: Justice Barrett recused herself, leaving an equally divided 4-4 court to affirm the decision below and keeping ...

The Quiet Disappointments of Justice David Souter Former Supreme Court Justice David Souter has passed away. In my latest for the Daily Journal, I reflect on his tenure. Justice Souter's modesty, humility, and deference made him well-liked by others on the bench but left little to celebrate for those of us who believe that courts exist to protect ...

A lot of interesting developments. Thus, much like the Ninth Amendment, the inclusion of certain court orders, opinions, or oral arguments is not meant to deny or disparage the existence of others. There's just only so much space per scoop. Mo' cases, mo' problems The Court said it will hear USPS v. Konan, which was brought by a woman who says th ...

There's so much interesting stuff happening at the Court that you get not one, but two scoops of SCOTUS this week. In Part I, I'll discuss all of the opinions that were released over the past two weeks. In Part II, we'll recap some of the wild oral arguments. Let's dig in! Even after the demise of Chevron deference, the government is gonna win som ...

Happy Thursday, SCOTUS Lovers. There weren't any arguments over the past two weeks, but here's a quick update on what else was happening at the marble palace that never sleeps. Political accountability is for lovers On Valentine's Day, the Trump administration asked the justices to weigh in on the president's power to remove ...

Happy New Year!  A lot has happened in the first couple weeks of 2025. In fact, a massive social media company has already managed to argue before the Court, get an adverse decision, shut down for a day, and be promptly revived! Let's get to it.  The so-called "conservative" Supreme Court justices split in a ruling against Trump, blowing crit ...