Trump’s travel ban likely to be upheld, justices indicate

The Supreme Court seemed poised Wednesday to uphold President Donald Trump's ban on travel to the U.S. by visitors from several Muslim-majority countries, giving the president a major victory on a signature and controversial policy. In the court's first full-blown consideration of a Trump order, the conservative justices who make up the court's majority seemed unwilling to hem in a president who has invoked national security to justify restrictions on who can or cannot step on U.S. soil.

John Fletcher: Internet sales tax gets its day in court

Wayfair . The online seller, along with Overstock.com and Newegg, challenged a new South Dakota law that requires remote taxpayers to collect the state's sales tax if they sell more than $100,000 of goods per year into the state or, regardless of dollar amount, have more than 200 transactions with state residents.

Judge deals big setback to Trump on ‘Dreamers’ program

A federal judge ruled that the Trump administration must resume a program that has shielded hundreds of thousands of young immigrants from deportation but gave it 90 days to restate its arguments before his order takes effect. The ruling by U.S. District Judge John D. Bates in Washington, if it survives the 90-day reprieve, would be a new setback for the administration because it would require the administration to accept requests from first-time applicants for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program.

Another federal judge rules against Trump move to end DACA

A third federal judge Tuesday rejected the Trump administration's reasoning for ending the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. In a scathing 60-page ruling, Judge John Bates of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbiawrote that administration moves to cancel DACA were "arbitrary" and "capricious" because DHS "failed adequately to explain its conclusion the program was unlawful."

Chief Justice Roberts spent the morning showcasing how impossibly naive he is on matters of race

Abbott v. Perez is a case of mind-numbing procedural complexity. It involves Texas' successful efforts to draw gerrymandered maps in 2011 - maps that were eventually found to be an illegal racial gerrymander by a federal court - and then maintain as much of these illegal maps as possible for as long as possible after the fact.

U.S. Supreme Court Shields Corporations From Human-Rights Suits

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that victims of overseas atrocities can't use a centuries-old law to sue foreign corporations for complicity, blunting what once was a favorite legal tool for human-rights advocates. ruling on Tuesday, which divided the court along ideological lines, marks the second time in five years the high court has cut the reach of the 1789 Alien Tort Statute.

Voter redistricting: SCOTUS to hear third key case of term

"For as long as the 27th Congressional District in Texas has been embroiled in litigation over whether it was racially gerrymandered, Nick Gilby has been working on Democratic Party campaigns there. Those seven years, he says, have been 'like banging your head against a wall to see if you can move it.'

Our Views: Let voters decide fate of jury rule

Calvin Duncan poses for a photo with two stacks of legal paperwork filed under "Notification of Direct Appeal Decision" and Non-unanimous Jury Verdict issues" in his Central Business District office in New Orleans, La., Friday, Feb. 23, 2018. Duncan is a former Angola inmate who is pushing the United States Supreme Court, through repeated petitions on behalf of inmates convicted on non-unanimous jury counts, to overturn the state's unusual law allowing murder convictions of a 10 to 2 jury serious felony cases.

Does Trump’s new “extreme vetting” center duplicate other efforts?

"Extreme vetting" was a frequent campaign promise of President Donald Trump's, and within days of taking office he ordered broad restrictions on travelers from many Muslim-majority countries, measures he deemed necessary until such a system was in place. Trump directed Homeland Security officials to edify his ideas, and in February the White House announced the creation of a National Vetting Center, or NVC, that would bring unprecedented rigor to screening foreigners.

‘Little Pink House’ speaks truth to power

Coming soon to a cinema near you - you can make this happen; read on - is a bite-your-nails true-story thriller featuring heroes, villains and a history-making struggle over ... the Constitution's Takings Clause. Next Feb. 24, "Little Pink House" will win the Oscar for best picture if Hollywood's political preening contains even a scintilla of sincerity about speaking truth to power.

Drop noted in debates before state high court

After spending nearly an hour being peppered with questions from justices about a complex case on computers and public-record laws, attorney Brian Brooks gave a smooth response when asked afterward about his latest appearance in oral arguments before the Arkansas Supreme Court. "It's about the only fun thing we do as lawyers," Brooks, a veteran appellate attorney based in Greenbrier, told a reporter.

Walter Leroy Moody has bee executed in Alabama

An Alabama inmate convicted of the mail-bomb slaying of a federal judge during a wave of Southern terror in 1989 has been executed as the oldest prisoner put to death in the US since capital punishment was reinstated in the 1970s. Walter Leroy Moody Jr, 83, was pronounced dead at 8.42pm local time on Thursday following an injection at the Alabama prison at Atmore.

Some GOP officials urge charges for women who get abortions

Anti-abortion rhetoric is intensifying ahead of midterm elections as officials in Republican-dominant states push legislation that would punish both doctors and patients, even though such laws are likely unconstitutional. In Idaho, Republicans competing in a crowded field for governor have made it a major campaign issue ahead of the May 15 primary.