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News Articles: Supreme Court

A revamped Clean Water Act released in December 2022 restored federal protections for millions of acres of wetlands and other waterways. A proposed mining project that would take place on wetlands located 3 miles from the Okefenokee Wildlifre Refugee was no longer subject to federal water rules jurisdiction when the law was rolled back under President Donald Trump’s administration. Photo courtesy of U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

U.S. Supreme Court decision in waterways case could come too late for Okefenokee mine foes

A landmark U.S. Supreme Court case could have significant ripple effects on the government’s ability to protect the nation’s waterways.

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U.S. military stop migrants from crossing into El Paso, Texas, seen from Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, Tuesday, Dec. 20, 2022. The U.S. Supreme Court issued a temporary order to keep pandemic-era limits on asylum-seekers in place, though it could be brief, as conservative-leaning states push to maintain a measure that allows officials to expel many but not all asylum-seekers.

The U.S. asks court to end asylum limits, with a short delay

Asylum-seekers at the border waited for a Supreme Court ruling that could allow them to enter the United States as the U.S. government asked the Supreme Court not to lift the limits before Christmas.

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  • The Associated Press
U.S. Supreme Court

Political Rewind: Cases on serving same-sex couples, independent legislatures before Supreme Court

Friday on Political Rewind: The Supreme Court heard arguments in two important cases this past week. The court will decide if a Colorado woman has a right to refuse web design services to a same-sex couple planning a wedding. It will also decide how much power state legislatures hold in federal elections.

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Jim Obergefell, the named plaintiff in the Obergefell v. Hodges Supreme Court case that legalized same sex marriage nationwide, center, stands on the steps of the Texas Capitol, Monday, June 29, 2015, in Austin, Texas.

Take a look back at the history of interracial and same-sex marriages

With the House and Senate passing the Respect for Marriage Act, here is a look at some of the legal precedents surrounding interracial and same-sex marriages.

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  • Ayana Archie
Rev. Rob Schenck speaks during press conference in front of the Russell Senate Office Building in Washington, D.C., on April 17, 2019. Schenck testified in front of the House Judiciary Committee Dec. 8, 2022 saying that he knew of a leak out of the U.S. Supreme Court in 2014.

Former evangelical activist says he 'pushed the boundaries' in Supreme Court dealings

During a House Judiciary Committee hearing on Thursday, the Rev. Rob Schenck said he knew the outcome of a pivotal religious freedom decision weeks before the Supreme Court released it in 2014.

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  • Sarah McCammon
President Joe Biden speaking about student loan debt relief at Delaware State University, Oct. 21, 2022, in Dover, Del. The Biden administration said it is extending the student loan repayment pause again.

With student loan relief tied up in court, Biden extends repayment pause into 2023

The president has extended the student loan repayment pause into 2023. Biden said he wants to give lawsuits against debt cancellation time to play out, and the Supreme Court time to weigh in.

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  • Dustin Jones
Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney instructs potential jurors during proceedings to seat a special purpose grand jury on, May 2, 2022, in Atlanta. McBurney overturned Georgia's ban on abortion starting around six weeks into a pregnancy, ruling Tuesday, Nov. 15, 2022, that it violated the U.S. Constitution and U.S. Supreme Court precedent when it was enacted and was therefore void.

Judge overturns Georgia's ban on abortion around 6 weeks

Judge Robert McBurney overturned Georgia's ban on abortion starting around six weeks into a pregnancy, ruling that it violated precedent when it was enacted three years ago and was therefore void.

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  • The Associated Press
Kentucky voters have rejected an amendment that would have said the state constitution contains no right to an abortion. Earlier, people rallied on the steps of the Kentucky State Capitol in Frankfort to encourage voters to vote yes on Amendment 2, which failed.

Where abortion was on the ballot, midterm voters largely signaled support

Voters in several states were asked to weigh in on ballot measures specifically related to abortion rights.

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  • Sarah McCammon
Attendees march during a rally encouraging voters to vote yes on Amendment 2, which would add a permanent abortion ban to Kentucky's state constitution at the state Capitol in Frankfort, Kentucky, on October 1, 2022.

Here are the places where abortion is on the ballot (in one way or another) this week

Abortion is on the ballot in California, Kentucky, Michigan, Montana and Vermont, but it's also playing a major role in races for governor, attorney general and state supreme courts nationwide.

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  • Sarah McCammon
Susie Talevski has gone through years of legal back-and-forth with the state agency in Indiana that operates the nursing home where her father, Gorgi, resided before his death.

A SCOTUS nursing home case could limit the rights of millions of patients

An Indiana man's family sued a state-owned nursing home for alleged mistreatment. A U.S. Supreme Court decision in the case could determine the right of many Americans to sue government agencies.

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  • Farah Yousry
A disputed document by one of the delegates at the Constitutional Convention of 1787, depicted here in a painting by Thomas Rossiter, has been cited in a Supreme Court case about a once-fringe legal theory that could reshape federal elections.

A controversial election theory at the Supreme Court is tied to a disputed document

The reliability of a document by one of the U.S. Constitution's framers has long been under serious doubt. North Carolina Republicans cited it in a case that could upend election laws.

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  • Hansi Lo Wang
Then-President Donald Trump boards Air Force One before departing Harlingen, Texas on Jan. 12, 2021.

Supreme Court temporarily blocks House panel from obtaining Trump tax records

The court has for now blocked the House Ways and Means Committee from accessing the former president's long sought-after tax records. The block is not permanenent.

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  • Ximena Bustillo
Altia Connor, 71, of Louisville, says she remembers a time when pregnant teens sometimes died from botched abortions. She opposes Amendment 2.

In Kentucky, abortion rights activists hope for a repeat of Kansas win

A proposed amendment would state explicitly that there is no right to abortion in Kentucky's state constitution, complicating efforts to challenge two state abortion bans.

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  • Sarah McCammon
Republican state officials in Louisiana are asking the U.S. Supreme Court to weigh in on which voters should be categorized as Black when testing whether a map of election districts dilutes the political power of Black voters.

Who counts as Black in voting maps? Some GOP state officials want that narrowed

Republican officials in Louisiana are asking the U.S. Supreme Court to set a narrower definition of "Black" for redistricting that excludes some Black people and could minimize their voting power.

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  • Hansi Lo Wang
President Joe Biden speaks about abortion access during a Democratic National Committee event at the Howard Theatre in Washington, D.C., on Oct. 18.

Biden says he will push to codify Roe if Democrats keep the House and Senate

The president is calling on Democrats — especially young voters — to turn out in the midterm elections to secure more seats in Congress.

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  • Ximena Bustillo