Supreme Court Rejects Bid to Reinstate North Carolina Voting Limits

The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday rejected a bid by North Carolina to reinstate for November's elections several voting restrictions, including a requirement that people show identification at the polls. The court, divided in part 4-4, rejected a request made by Republican Governor Pat McCrory after an appeals court ruled last month that the 2013 law discriminates against minority voters.

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.

Justice Thomas Praised by Former Clerks, Colleagues on 25th Anniversary of Nomination

His former law clerks and colleagues in the Reagan administration had high praise for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, who was nominated by President George H.W. Bush to the high court on July 1, 1991 - 25 years ago today. Thomas, who replaced Thurgood Marshall as the 106th justice , was described by those who've known him for more than a quarter century not only as a principled defender of the Constitution and therefore a foe of unlimited government power, but also as an engaging, gregarious mentor and friend who "knows everything about the Supreme Court, down to the names of the janitors."

The Imaginarium of Harry Blackmun

The Supreme Court has added another chapter to the body of law rooted in very little more than the imagination of Justice Harry Blackmun, who, with the assistance of a few of his fellow legal fantasists, delivered the constitutional right to abortion, Athena-like, from his head into the waiting world.At issue were a number of regulations in the state of Texas governing abortion clinics and the meat-cutters employed therein. Texas, with its relatively light regulatory regime, is sometimes regarded in the coastal cosmopoles as something between late-Seventies Hong Kong and the fever dreams of Ayn Rand, but it isn't quite.

Supreme Court refuses to hear another case on contraceptives

Supreme Court refuses to hear another case on contraceptives Do pharmacies with religious objections have to dispense certain forms of birth control? Check out this story on USATODAY.com: http://usat.ly/28XQ6Yn The Supreme Court denied a new case testing whether pharmacies must dispense forms of contraception despite religious objections. An earlier case involving the Little Sisters of the Poor was heard in March and decided in May. WASHINGTON -- The Supreme Court disposed of a case testing religious objections to contraception in May. On Tuesday, the justices refused to hear another one.

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.

Supreme Court rules 5-3 that mistakes by officer don’t undermine conviction

The Supreme Court ruled Monday that courts need not throw out evidence of a crime even if the arresting police officer used unlawful tactics to obtain it. But the low-profile case more likely will be remembered for a fierce and personal dissent from Justice Sonia Sotomayor, who said the decision would exacerbate illegal stops of minorities.

Supreme Court rules for police in search case

The Supreme Court ruled Monday that evidence of a crime may be used against a defendant even if the police did something wrong or illegal in obtaining it. The ruling comes in a case in which a police detective illegally stopped defendant Joseph Edward Strieff on the streets of South Salt Lake City, Utah.