Judges: Congress map still unlawful with partisan bias Source: AP

Federal judges on Monday affirmed their earlier decision striking North Carolina's congressional districts as unconstitutional because Republicans drew them with excessive partisanship. Acting under an order of the U.S. Supreme Court to re-examine the case, the three-judge panel ruled again in favor of election advocacy groups and Democrats who had sued to challenge the boundaries drawn in 2016.

Kavanaugh’s support for surveilling Americans raises concern Source: AP

Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh has frequently supported giving the U.S. government wide latitude in the name of national security, including the secret collection of personal data from Americans. It's a subject Democrats plan to grill Kavanaugh about during his confirmation hearings scheduled to begin next Tuesday.

Man convicted of killing Nantucket woman seeks new trial

A Centerville man convicted in 2015 of killing his 23-year-old pregnant girlfriend is seeking a new trial on the grounds that the cellphone location data used to convict him was obtained illegally. Quoizel Wilson initially appealed his conviction a week after a Barnstable Superior Court jury found him guilty in May 2015 of first-degree murder, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon and improper disposal of a body in the death of Trudie Hall of Nantucket.

Appeals court: No immunity for agent in cross-border killing

A federal appeals court has ruled that a Border Patrol agent who fatally shot a Mexican teen on the other side of the border doesn't have immunity and can be sued by the boy's family for violating his civil rights. The ruling on Tuesday has wide implications and came almost two years after the agent's attorney argued he was immune from a civil lawsuit because the U.S. Constitution didn't extend to 16-year-old Jose Antonio Elena Rodriguez, who was in Mexico when agent Lonnie Swartz shot him about 10 times through a border fence.

Could hard-right Supreme Court haunt GOP? History says maybe

That's the history lesson for Republicans eagerly anticipating Brett Kavanaugh's ascension to the Supreme Court, which could cement conservative control of the court for a generation. When and how steep? That depends on how momentous the issues and how jolting the decisions, according to legal scholars who've studied the high court's impact on electoral politics.

County to appeal ruling in lawsuit over Joe Arpaio’s patrols

Maricopa County plans to ask the U.S. Supreme Court to review a lower-court decision that concluded the county is liable for then-Sheriff Joe Arpaio's actions in cracking down on immigrants during traffic stops. County Attorney Bill Montgomery says the appeal isn't aimed at recouping the millions of dollars that taxpayers have shelled out in two lawsuits that challenged the patrols.

Twenty-two former Justice Thomas clerks have jobs thanks to Trump

While the spotlight is on the two former clerks to Justice Anthony Kennedy whom President Donald Trump has nominated to the Supreme Court, the influence of the court's most conservative justice, Clarence Thomas, is felt more widely throughout the Trump administration. Twenty-two Thomas clerks, about 20 percent of the people who have snagged coveted jobs in his Supreme Court office since 1991, either hold political appointments in the Trump administration or have been nominated to judgeships by Trump.

Union divide contributed to Janus bill’s demise

Less than a month before the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a public sector union's right to charge fees to non-members, House Speaker Robert DeLeo was already thinking about what could be done in response. At a podium in front of 6,000 Democrats at the DCU Center in Worcester, the Winthrop Democrat assured labor that Massachusetts would not allow the court to weaken them by cutting off a key source of funding.

How the Pope’s death penalty stance could be a quandary for Catholic politicians

Pope Francis' decree that the death penalty is "inadmissible" in all cases could pose a dilemma for Roman Catholic politicians and judges in the United States who are faced with whether to strictly follow the tenets of their faith or the rule of law. Some Catholic leaders in death penalty states have said they'll continue to support capital punishment.

Is it ‘Palate’ or ‘Palette’? Cleaning Up the Supreme Court’s Messes

The U.S. Supreme Court posts changes to opinions, like this one from the term past where a Justice Stephen Breyer opinion misspelled "laissez-faire." U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer, a French-speaking Francophile, must have shouted "zut alors!" on June 25, when it was discovered that the *May exclude premium content Already have an account? Sign In Now Interested in customizing your subscription with Law.com All Access? Contact our Sales Professionals at 1-855-808-4530 or send an email to groupsales@alm.com to learn more.

Death penalty decree could be quandary for US politicians

Pope Francis' decree that the death penalty is "inadmissible" in all cases could pose a dilemma for Roman Catholic politicians and judges in the United States who are faced with whether to strictly follow the tenets of their faith or the rule of law. Some Catholic leaders in death penalty states have said they'll continue to support capital punishment.

ALJs Could Get Political With New Executive Order

The new executive order granting agency chiefs the power to hire administrative law judges according to their own standards - and eliminating the exam and competitive hiring process formerly in place - could turn the position of ALJ into a politicized one, critics of the move argue. The "Executive Order Excepting Administrative Law Judges from the Competitive Service," signed by President Donald Trump on July 10, attempts to solve the problems raised by the Supreme Court's decision this year in Lucia v.

Never Trumper Attends Trump Rally,Changes His Mind Instantly

A man who said he had reservations with President Trump in the 2016 election because he thought the president would not be "a good Republican" said he might just vote for the president in 2020. The man who attended Trump's rally in Tampa, Florida, on Tuesday said he changed his mind about the president because of Trump's work on tax reform and his two Supreme Court picks to replace the late Justice Antonin Scalia and retiring Justice Anthony Kennedy.

Environmentalists raise concern over Kavanaugh

A conservative who would replace the more moderate Justice Anthony Kennedy, Kavanaugh has a record of slapping back Environmental Protection Agency regulations during his 12 years as a federal appeals court judge. Kavanaugh could shift the court to the right in many areas.