Democratic senator introduces bill to expand and reform the US Supreme Court
Democratic US Senator Ron Wyden on Thursday introduced the Judicial Modernization and Transparency Act, a bill aimed at reforming the United States Supreme Court. The proposed legislation seeks to expand the court from nine to fifteen justices among other reforms. Beyond adding six new justices to the Court, Senator Wyden’s proposal seeks to implement new [...]
The Brennan Center, a nonpartisan law and policy institute, renewed its calls for term limits for justices on the US Supreme Court on Tuesday. This follows new revelations about the court’s decision on presidential immunity in the federal government’s criminal trial against former President Donald Trump. In its newest call for reforms, Michael Waldman, president [...]
US Supreme Court allows Arizona election law requiring proof of citizenship to go into effect
The US Supreme Court on Thursday, in a 5-4 decision, allowed the enforcement of an Arizona election law requiring prospective voters to provide “satisfactory evidence of citizenship” upon registering to vote. However, the court kept two lower court blocks on related laws that prevent those with unverified citizenship status from voting in presidential elections or [...]
Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY) introduced articles of impeachment on Wednesday against United States Supreme Court Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito. The first impeachment resolution against Justice Thomas includes the failure to disclose financial income, gifts, and reimbursements. Additionally, Thomas’s refusal to recuse from matters concerning his spouse’s legal and economic interests in cases before [...]
US Supreme Court rules Trump immune to criminal prosecution for official acts
In a split decision, the Supreme Court ruled Monday that former US presidents are immune from criminal prosecution for actions taken within their constitutional purview, thus clearing a path for Donald Trump to challenge a federal indictment accusing him of conspiring to sabotage the 2020 elections. The case, US v. Trump, centers on the former [...]
US Supreme Court declines to ban emergency abortions in Idaho
The US Supreme Court on Thursday declined to block access to emergency abortion services in Idaho. In Moyle v. US, the Supreme Court was asked to determine whether a federal law—the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act (EMTALA)—would preempt Idaho’s near-total abortion ban. Under EMTALA, any hospital that receives federal Medicare funding must provide [...]
The US Supreme Court on Thursday struck down a controversial provision in Purdue Pharma’s bankruptcy plan that would have shielded members of its former owners from lawsuits related to the opioid crisis. Prior to Purdue’s bankruptcy declaration in 2019, it had been owned by the Sacklers, one of the countries wealthiest families. The Sacklers attempted [...]
The US Supreme Court ruled on Friday that a unanimous jury is required to apply a recidivism punishment under the federal Armed Career Criminal Act. That act imposes a 15-year mandatory minimum prison term for offenders who have three or more qualifying convictions, from three separate occurrences, under the act. The court held that a [...]
The US Supreme Court struck down a bump stock ban Friday enacted in 2018 following a deadly mass shooting in California. In a 6-3 vote, the court held that the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) exceeded its authority in enacting the bump stock ban. The case known as Garland v. Cargill was [...]
It has not even been 24 hours since former US President Donald Trump was found guilty on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records, and US Republican politicians have reacted with one accord, slamming the trial as a politically motivated sham while calling into question the impartiality of Judge Juan Merchan and the New York [...]
