The US Supreme Court struck down Colorado’s attempt to bar Donald Trump from appearing on its election ballot on Monday. In a unanimous per curiam decision, the court reversed a Supreme Court of Colorado decision that barred the former president from seeking election in the state due to an alleged violation of Section 3 of [...]
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US Supreme Court hears oral arguments on Trump-era bump stock ban
The US Supreme Court heard oral arguments Wednesday on the legality of a Bureau of Alchohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) rule that banned rapid-fire “bump stock.” The case is an appeal from the US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, which struck down the rule. Throughout all the arguments, the justices wrestled with [...]
Oral Arguments Underline Importance of Supreme Court’s Chevron Cases
Even especially attentive Supreme Court watchers might underestimate the importance of a pair of cases the Court subjected to three and a half hours of argument on January 17. In a term full of cases pitting gun rights against domestic violence victims, determining access to medical abortion, and injecting the justices into presidential election politics, [...]
Alabama executes Kenneth Smith by nitrogen gas after US Supreme Court rejects final appeal
Alabama inmate Kenneth Eugene Smith was executed Thursday night by nitrogen hypoxia after the US Supreme Court, in a 6-3 decision, declined to intervene in the state’s second attempt to execute an inmate who had previously survived a botched lethal injection. The court’s three liberal justices expressed their willingness to hear Smith’s claims of cruel [...]
US Supreme Court allows federal agents to cut Texas border fencing
The US Supreme Court voted 5-4 on Monday to permit federal border patrol agents to cut the razor wire that Texas installed on the US-Mexico border. The Biden administration requested the decision to allow federal agents to access the border without facing tort claims from Texas. The urgency follows recent deaths at the border crossing [...]
US Supreme Court hears oral arguments in 2 cases seeking to limit executive agency powers
The Supreme Court heard oral arguments on Wednesday in two cases involving a requirement for herring fisheries to pay for the observers the government used to monitor overfishing. At the heart of the two cases was a debate over the court’s current deference to executive branch agencies in interpreting ambiguous language in federal laws. The [...]
Donald Trump and Capital Punishment: Sounding the Death Knell for American Democracy
During every execution in the United States, Death Penalty Action* holds a virtual vigil simultaneously with local death penalty abolitionists protesting outside the prisons and state capitals or governor’s mansions where the state-sponsored killing is taking place. When these gatherings are in person, those in attendance toll the same massive bell at the time the [...]
The Death Penalty Information Center (DPIC) released their annual report on Friday, reporting that for the first time more Americans believe the death penalty is administered unfairly than those who believe otherwise. The report also revealed that there were more death penalty sentences imposed than executions carried out during 2023. A majority of US state [...]
US Supreme Court declines to review solitary confinement inmate's exercise depravation challenge
The US Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear a case involving the denial of exercise time to an inmate in solitary confinement. The case centers around Michael Johnson, who was incarcerated at the Pontiac Correctional Center in Illinois. Johnson, who suffers from severe mental health issues, including bipolar depression, severe depression and other diagnosed [...]
US Supreme Court hears oral arguments in South Carolina racial gerrymander case
The US Supreme Court heard oral arguments on Wednesday in case involving racial gerrymandering claims against South Carolina’s congressional map. The case is an appeal from a three-judge panel decision in the US District Court for the District of South Carolina Columbia Division, which found that South Carolina’s Republican-led legislature’s design of that state’s First [...]