Supreme Court upholds political money restriction

The US Supreme Court rejected a constitutional challenge to the federal "soft money" restrictions on contributions to state parties passed as part of the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act. "Voters are the winners of this decision to turn back unregulated soft money and to reaffirm the importance of effective party contribution limits," said Tara Malloy, deputy executive director the Campaign Legal Center.

Israelis angry at Trumpa s failure to move U.S. embassy to Jerusalem as promised

Israeli officials say Trump has led them astray by failing to follow through on repeated promises to move the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. "For the record, we recognize Washington, D.C.," said Michael Oren, a former Israeli ambassador to the U.S. who now serves as deputy minister for diplomacy in the Netanyahu government.

Courts could put Texas GOP’s aggressive agenda to the test

Texas Republicans have been pushing an aggressive agenda despite promised court challenges, including legislation that would let police ask drivers whether they're in the U.S. legally, restrict what school bathrooms transgender students can use, ban most second-trimester abortions and let adoption agencies reject gay couples over religious objections. The lawsuits have already begun: El Paso County on Monday asked a federal court to block a "sanctuary cities" crackdown signed by Republican Gov. Greg Abbott that opponents say invites racial profiling by police and will push immigrant crime victims further into the shadows.

Schimel appeals redistricting to U.S. Supreme Court Monday, May 22

Wisconsin's attorney general is asking the U.S. Supreme Court not to force the state to draw new legislative district maps for the time being. Last fall, a three-judge panel ordered the state to create new Assembly district maps by November of this year, after the court ruled the Republican-drawn districts were unconstitutionally drawn because of how they weaken the voting power of Democrats.

N Carolina gov., Democrats praise voter ruling

Last month, a federal judge found that a voter ID law in Texas, similar to the one in North Carolina, was enacted with the goal to discriminate against blacks and Hispanics in the state. The justices left in place the lower court ruling striking down the law's photo ID requirement and scaling back of early voting.

More Americans Are Marrying People of Other Races Than Ever Before

On June 12, 2017, it will have been 50 years since the U.S. Supreme Court decided that Americans should in fact be allowed to marry they want. Since then, many American couples have availed themselves of that right, although white people remain much less likely to marry another race than people of other races, according to Five times as many people who married in 2015 chose partners from a different race or ethnicity as those who married in 1967.

On SC retirements and appointments

In the course of my service with the Supreme Court, I witnessed seven retirements and the sorry sight of one impeachment . I was the ninth to leave since 2008 but I only saw the appointment of seven replacements as I was no longer around when President Duterte appointed the replacement of J. Jose Perez.

Supreme Court order unlikely to deter voting restrictions

The Supreme Court's refusal to breathe new life into North Carolina's sweeping voter identification law might be just a temporary victory for civil rights groups. Republican-led states are continuing to enact new voter ID measures and other voting restrictions, and the Supreme Court's newly reconstituted conservative majority, with the addition of Justice Neil Gorsuch , could make the court less likely to invalidate the laws based on claims under the federal Voting Rights Act or the Constitution.

The Fake History of Bush v. Goreby Gray & Passamani On April 4, the…

SPAN and other media outlets, in fake-news fashion, have erased the Florida witnesses who sued for a statewide recount on equal-protection grounds. n April 4, the Washington Post ran a brief item in its "Daily 202" newsletter about the Gorsuch nomination that ended with a warning: "Don't forget Bush v.

John Micek: Lawmakers launch free-speech crackdown

Back in the 1930s, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis famously referred to states as “laboratories of democracy.” Enraged by the hundreds of thousands of women who peacefully took to the street in Washington in January, and the activists who camped out to block the construction of the Dakota Access pipeline, lawmakers in 20 states are debating or voting on more than 30 bills aimed at criminalizing or otherwise cracking down on the protest movements spawned by President Donald Trump's administration. But critics say that, in their haste, these lawmakers are shredding the Constitution and stomping on free speech rights as they shovel the proposals into the legislative maw.

Supreme Court removes North Carolina law that critics say disenfranchised blacks

The U.S. Supreme Court put the final nail in the coffin of North Carolina's strict voter-identification law on Monday, rejecting a Republican bid to revive the measure struck down by a lower court for intentionally aiming to suppress black voter turnout. The justices left in place a July 2016 ruling by the Richmond, Virginia-based 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that voided the law passed by a Republican-controlled legislature and signed by a Republican governor.

Mexican man on Texas death row loses at US Supreme Court

The U.S. Supreme Court has refused to review an appeal from a Mexican man on Texas death row for the slayings of his wife and two children at their Rio Grande Valley home more than 25 years ago. Moreno's attorneys have argued he wasn't told he could get legal help from the Mexican government under an international treaty when he was arrested for the 1992 killings and that he had deficient legal help at his trial and in earlier appeals.

Supreme Court rejects appeal over NC voter ID law

The Supreme Court on Monday rejected an appeal to reinstate North Carolina's voter identification law, which a lower court said targeted African-Americans "with almost surgical precision." The justices left in place the lower court ruling striking down the law's photo ID requirement and reduction in early voting.