US Supreme Court reinstates Arizona ballot collection ban

The U.S. Supreme Court on Saturday reinstated an Arizona law that makes it a felony to collect early ballots, stepping into a contentious political issue days before the presidential election and dealing a blow to Democratic get-out-the-vote efforts. The unsigned order from the nation's highest court overturns an appeals court decision from a day earlier that blocked the new law and drew celebration from Democrats.

Supreme Court permits Arizona ban on third party ballot collection

The U.S. Supreme Court sided with Republicans and ordered a law in Arizona banning ballot collecting by third party groups can stand in Tuesday's election. Republicans in Arizona passed the ballot collection law, making it a felony punishable by up to a year in jail and a $150,000 fine for someone to turn in a ballot that is not their own.

Nightmare: Election dispute goes to 8-member Supreme Court

What happens if America wakes up on Nov. 9 to another undecided, hotly disputed presidential election? What if the outcome turns on the razor-thin margin in one or two states, one candidate seeking a recount, the other going to court? We know what happened in 2000, when the Supreme Court in a 5-4 vote effectively settled the election in As controversial as that decision was, it was made by a nine-justice court. This time around, there are only eight justices and the possibility of a tie vote.

The New Pro-Life Movement: Neither New nor Pro-Life

Now that the practical choice is between coughing Clinton and terrifying Trump, the Seamless Garment crowd is making new attempts to co-opt pro-life sentiment in favor of the vociferously pro-abortion candidate that is, Clinton. This New Pro-Life Movement is supposedly bolder, more sincere, more consistent, and especially more "prudent" than the old one.

Who Are the Most Successful Harvard Law Graduates?

Harvard Law has topped numerous Best Of lists, and now Business Insider has created a new ranking-of the most famously successful Harvard Law alumni. From the President of the United States to the CEO of Goldman Sachs, Business Insider thinks these 14 alums are the cream of the crop.

The Supreme Court may be taking a left turn on issues

Supreme Court may be converting on religion Protections for religious liberty could give way to discrimination claims Check out this story on CurrentArgus.com: http://usat.ly/2anR8P9 Still reeling from the death of its most devout justice, Antonin Scalia, the high court has put preventing discrimination above protecting religion in a series of cases over the past year, from same-sex marriage to abortion and contraception. It took an obscure order issued on the last day of the recent term for Justice Samuel Alito to drive home the point.

Mitch McConnell: A Legacy of Obstruction

Next Tuesday marks 125 days since President Barack Obama nominated D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals Chief Judge Merrick Garland, an eminently qualified judge, to fill the Supreme Court seat left vacant by the death of Justice Antonin Scalia. The Senate's inaction on the Garland nomination is the longest a Supreme Court nominee has ever waited for a hearing or confirmation.

It’s fine for Supreme Court justices to speak their mind

Doesn't everyone have an outspoken Jewish grandmother? That was my thought on reading the indignant commentary on Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg's unflattering assessment of Donald Trump in an interview with the New York Times. To put the point more seriously, there's nothing wrong with a sitting Supreme Court justice expressing her personal political views when they don't implicate any case that's currently before the court.

Suffocating in fact-free cocoons

Republican lawmakers in Wisconsin were operating in a "fact-free cocoon" of partisan prejudice when they claimed that voter fraud was a major problem in their state, wrote federal judge Richard Posner in 2014. "If the Wisconsin legislature says witches are a problem, shall Wisconsin courts be permitted to conduct witch trials?" Posner is a conservative appointed by Ronald Reagan.

Shocker! Anthony Kennedy Is a Schmuck – and We Still Got Schlonged by Him

"We agree with the District Court that the surgical-center requirement, like the admitting-privileges requirement, provides few, if any, health benefits for women, poses a substantial obstacle to women seeking abortions, and constitutes an 'undue burden' on their constitutional right to do so," Breyer wrote. Justice Anthony Kennedy proved the swing vote, joining Breyer in the majority, but declining to write a concurring opinion.

Denton gay couples reflect on first anniversary of marriage ruling

Tod King, left, and Casey Cavalier hold their adopted son, 3-year-old Eddie, for a portrait in their home in Denton. King and Cavalier were the first same-sex couple to try to seek a marriage license at the Denton County Courts Building following the June 26, 2015, Supreme Court ruling that legalized gay marriage nationwide.

Supreme Court Upholds Race-Based University Admissions

In a victory for affirmative action advocates, the Supreme Court upheld the University of Texas's admissions criteria that takes an applicant's race into account . The case was brought by a white female applicant, Abigail Fisher, who was denied admission to the university in 2008 and claimed that the school's holistic "Personal Achievement Index" violated the Fourteenth Amendment's Equal Protection Clause .

Texas affirmative action plan survives Supreme Court review

In a major victory for affirmative action, a divided Supreme Court on Thursday upheld the University of Texas admissions program that takes account of race. The justices voted in favor of the Texas program by a 4-3 vote, an outcome that was dramatically altered by the death of Justice Antonin Scalia, who opposed affirmative action.

Supreme Court upholds University of Texas affirmative action plan

The Supreme Court on Thursday upheld the race-conscious admissions program at the University of Texas, saying that the plan taking race into consideration as one factor of admission is constitutional. "The Court's affirmance of the University's admissions policy today does not necessarily mean the University may rely on that same policy without refinement.

Advocates of affirmative action policies at colleges

Supreme Court upholds affirmative action program Narrow decision allows use of racial preferences at University of Texas Check out this story on eveningsun.com: http://usat.ly/28P5Qgg Advocates of affirmative action policies at colleges and universities rallied outside the Supreme Court in December when the University of Texas case was heard. WASHINGTON - A deeply divided Supreme Court upheld the use of racial preferences in admissions at the University of Texas Thursday, giving an unexpected reprieve to the type of affirmative action policies it has condoned for nearly four decades.

Juvenile lifers await chance for parole after US ruling

It's been six months since the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that some 2,500 "juvenile lifers" could seek a chance at parole for their childhood crimes, but only a few aging inmates have walked out of prison. Public defenders fear many will need the blessing of a judge, a parole board and perhaps the victim's family, even after Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote that only the "rarest of children" are so "incorrigible" they should never go free.