rainbow Mississippi flags

A federal judge blocked a controversial Mississippi law that would've gone into effect Friday which would've allowed businesses and government employees to deny services to gay and transgender people based on religious grounds. U.S. District Court Judge Carlton Reeves issued a 60-page opinion in which he described the Mississippi law, known as House Bill 1523, as "state-sanctioned discrimination."

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."

Official: No active shooter found at base

A Scranton Times-Tribune All Access subscription gets you complete access to both our print and digital publications, delivered to your home, desktop and mobile devices 7 days a week Digital Only Subscription Read the digital SMART Edition of The Times-Tribune on your PC or mobile device, and have 24/7 access to breaking news, local sports, contests, and more at thetimes-tribune.com or on our mobile apps. Digital Services Have news alerts sent to your mobile device, read the Smart Edition sign up for daily newsletters, activate your all access, enter contests, take quizzes, download our mobile apps and see the latest e-circulars.

ACLU’s Jameel Jaffer to direct Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University

Columbia University President Lee C. Bollinger today announced his appointment of Jameel Jaffer, deputy legal director at the ACLU, as founding director of the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University. Last month, Columbia and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation announced the creation of the new institute which will work-through litigation, research and public advocacy-to preserve and expand the freedoms of expression and the press in the digital age.

The New Willfulness Paradigm

The Supreme Court of the United States traced two centuries of analysis related to enhanced damages in patent cases to conclude that the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit's two-part test, announced nearly a decade ago in In re Seagate , was unduly rigid and impermissibly constrained a district court's discretion. Halo Electronics, Inc. v.

New Yorker cartoon pokes fun at Texas slogan after SCOTUS abortion…

Pro-abortion rights and anti-abortion protesters rally in front of the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington, June 27, 2016. The court is expected to finish its term today with a decision on abortion - a case deciding the constitutionality of two provisions of a Texas law regulating abortion could affect access to abortions for millions of women in several states.

Supreme Court won’t rescue Wisconsin abortion law

Handing down its second major abortion action in as many days, the U.S. Supreme Court refused Tuesday to rescue a Wisconsin law restricting abortion clinics and doctors in the state, leaving in place lower court rulings that had struck it down. The unsigned order ends a three-year legal fight and was accompanied Tuesday by another rejection of an appeal by Mississippi that sought to reinstate a similar law requiring abortion doctors to be able to admit patients to nearby hospitals.

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.

Analysis: Anti-Regulation Party in Texas Has a Strong Taste for Rules

It's the latest setback for a band of Republicans who abhor regulatory constraints on business but who regularly resort to regulation to control the behavior of individuals in Texas. The abortion restrictions that the nation's highest court kicked to the side of the road are part of a running theme among Texas Republicans, who routinely hide their political motives behind unsubstantiated claims of public safety.

Russia: US destroyer got too close to its ships in Europe

By striking down tough abortion restrictions in Texas, the U.S. Supreme Court has emboldened abortion-rights activists nationwide and imperiled a range of anti-abortion laws in numerous states. By striking down tough abortion restrictions in Texas, the U.S. Supreme Court has emboldened abortion-rights activists nationwide and imperiled a range of anti-abortion laws in numerous states.