Search Results for: elena kagan

Marisa Wright is a US National Correspondent for JURIST, and a 2L at Harvard Law School.  The US Supreme Court heard oral arguments on Monday morning in two cases challenging the validity of race-conscious affirmative action programs in college admission. Through their questions to the parties, the justices signaled how they may ultimately vote in [...]

The US Supreme Court Tuesday heard oral arguments in Merrill v. Milligan to determine whether Alabama’s 2021 redistricting plan for the US House of Representatives violates Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act (VRA). The lawsuit first arose back in November 2021 when Alabama Governor Kay Ivey signed the congressional plan allowing one majority Black [...]

The US Supreme Court Thurday ruled 5-4 that Alabama may carry out the death sentence of inmate Alan Miller through lethal injection rather than Miller’s requested method of nitrogen hypoxia. The Supreme Court lifted a lower court order that would have required Alabama to use nitrogen hypoxia instead of the lethal injection. Justices Sonia Sotomayor, [...]

Imagine a system under which the U.S. Supreme Court hears cases as panels consisting of three to five Justices rather than as a full court of nine. Suppose that the Chief Justice makes a five-Justice panel consisting of himself, Justice Samuel Alito, Justice Clarence Thomas, Justice Sonia Sotomayor, and Justice Elena Kagan to hear abortion [...]

The US Supreme Court has temporarily blocked a Biden administration immigration policy. In a 5-4 order, the Supreme Court Thursday denied the Biden administration’s application to reinstate an immigration memorandum that would stop deportation unless the non-citizen is a threat to national security, public safety or border security. Justices Amy Coney Barrett, Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan [...]

The US House of Representatives has passed HR 8296, the Women’s Health Protection Act, which seeks to preserve the right to give and receive abortions without state-imposed restrictions. Under the bill, passed on Friday, states cannot prohibit any particular abortion procedure before fetal viability. Patients cannot be required to give their health care provider a reason [...]

The US Supreme Court Thursday ruled that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) does not have the authority under section 111(d) of the Clean Air Act to enforce proposed power plant emission limitations in West Virginia v. EPA. The majority relied on the Major Questions Doctrine, a doctrine that has never been used in a Supreme [...]

The US Supreme Court Friday released its opinion in Becerra v. Empire Health Foundation, a case relating to Medicare reimbursement. The court held that “calculating the Medicare fraction, individuals ‘entitled to   benefits’ are all those qualifying for the program, regardless of whether they receive Medicare payments for part or all of a hospital stay.” In the [...]

The US Supreme Court Thursday held that prisoners on death row may challenge their state’s method of execution under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. In Nance v. Ward, the court addressed the issue of whether a death row inmate could bring a case challenging the method of execution they will face. Petitioner Michael Nance received a death [...]

The US Supreme Court ruled Friday in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization that there is no constitutional right to abortion, overturning the landmark decisions in Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey. The decision comes in a case involving a Mississippi law banning all abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy. Mississippi’s Gestational Age [...]