In a narrow 5-4 decision late Wednesday, the US Supreme Court prevented New York Governor Andrew Cuomo from setting strict limits to numbers of people gathered for worship in churches and synagogues out of concern for the spread of Covid-19. The majority granted an emergency stay of an executive order imposing capacity limitations for accommodations [...]
Search Results for: sotomayor
US Supreme Court authorizes execution of eighth federal death row inmate since July
The US Supreme Court vacated a stay of execution for Orlando Hall Thursday evening, resulting in Hall’s execution at 11:47 pm Thursday. Justices Kagan, Breyer, and Sotomayor dissented from the decision. Hall is the eighth federal death row inmate to be executed since President Donald Trump resumed federal executions this summer after a 17-year hiatus. [...]
Supreme Court declines to reinstate coronavirus protections in Texas prison
The US Supreme Court on Monday declined to reinstate a District Court order requiring Texas prison officials to enact basic safety precautions for the coronavirus. Justice Sonia Sotomayor dissented from this decision with Justice Elena Kagan joining. The case was filed by two inmates at the Wallace Pack Unit, a geriatric prison in Texas. Laddy [...]
Supreme Court considers whether religious groups can discriminate based on sexual orientation
The US Supreme Court heard oral arguments Wednesday in the case of Fulton v. City of Philadelphia. The court heard the argument by telephone with live-streamed audio. Fulton concerns whether Petitioner, a Roman Catholic adoption agency in Philadelphia, is entitled to discriminate against potential foster parents on the basis of sexual orientation. The city of [...]
Supreme Court declines to extend time period for counting Wisconsin mail-in votes
In a 5-3 decision on Monday, the US Supreme Court rejected requests to allow Wisconsin to maintain modifications to its election rules to extend the deadline for counting mail-in ballots received after Election Day. There was no one opinion agreed upon by the five justices ruling against the election modifications. Chief Justice John Roberts and [...]
The US Supreme Court voted 5-3 to uphold Alabama’s ban on curbside voting Wednesday evening, drawing a sharp dissent from Justice Sonia Sotomayor, who claimed the requested injunction “lifts burdensome requirements rather than imposing them.” The one-paragraph order released Wednesday evening stemmed from a lawsuit disputing the curbside voting ban imposed by Alabama Secretary of [...]
Supreme Court considers military rape statute of limitations, impounded cars in bankruptcy
The US Supreme Court heard oral arguments Tuesday in the cases of United States v. Briggs and Chicago v. Fulton. The court heard the argument by telephone with live-streamed audio. The Briggs case was consolidated with United States v. Collins in November 2019 and another case. In all three cases, the respondent is a man in [...]
Supreme Court grants Trump administration request to end census count
The US Supreme Court granted an emergency petition Tuesday to stay an injunction issued by a federal district court against the Census Bureau, effectively permitting the Trump administration to immediately halt the national census. A judge for the US District Court for the Northern District of California granted the preliminary injunction against the Census Bureau [...]
Many practitioners, to say nothing of members of the press, recently have come to ask: “What’s up with John Roberts? Has he become a liberal?” This, of course, started with National Federation of Independent Business v. Sebelius, where the Chief Justice voted with the four liberal justices to uphold the Affordable Care Act. But it [...]
Turning Their Back on People with Disabilities in the Name of Religious Freedom
When President George H.W. Bush signed the historic Americans with Disabilities Act 30 years ago, he proudly declared, “Let the shameful wall of exclusion finally come tumbling down.” In a recent decision, the Supreme Court tossed another brick on the wall. The ADA was enacted to level the playing field for people with disabilities and [...]