Recent Updates

  • Court denies AG's bid to halt initiative signature gathering

    Court denies AG's bid to halt initiative signature gathering

    National Court News 07/24/2020

    Those backing a plan to put an independent commission in charge of Oregon’s redistricting process will get additional time to gather signatures and a lower threshold to qualify their initiative for the November ballot because of the pandemic, t...

  • The Supreme Court's future hinges on the 2020 election

    The Supreme Court's future hinges on the 2020 election

    National Court News 07/16/2020

    The blockbuster Supreme Court term that just ended was a (nearly) unmitigated disaster for movement conservatives. Chief Justice John Roberts declined to overturn precedent on abortion rights. Conservative activist Justice Neil Gorsuch showed he woul...

  • Ginsburg, from hospital, joins in on 'Obamacare' arguments

    Ginsburg, from hospital, joins in on 'Obamacare' arguments

    National Court News 05/06/2020

    The Supreme Court heard arguments Wednesday in a dispute involving Trump administration rules that would allow more employers who cite a religious or moral objection to opt out of providing no-cost birth control to women.With arguments conducted by t...

  • Black robes or bathrobes? Virus alters high court traditions

    Black robes or bathrobes? Virus alters high court traditions

    National Court News 05/01/2020

    The coronavirus pandemic is forcing big changes at the tradition-bound Supreme Court. The justices will hear arguments this month by telephone for the first time since Alexander Graham Bell patented his invention in 1876.Audio of the arguments will b...

  •  Blind justice: No visual cues in high court phone cases

    Blind justice: No visual cues in high court phone cases

    National Court News 04/26/2020

    On the evening before he was to argue a case before the Supreme Court years ago, Jeffrey Fisher broke his glasses. That left the very nearsighted lawyer with an unappealing choice. He could wear contacts and clearly see the justices but not his notes...

  •  Australian highest court to rule on Cardinal’s appeal later

    Australian highest court to rule on Cardinal’s appeal later

    National Court News 03/13/2020

    Australia’s highest court on Thursday said it will deliver a verdict at a later date on whether to overturn the convictions of the most senior Catholic to be found guilty of child sex abuse.Cardinal George Pell’s lawyer, Bret Walker, told...

  • Trump ally Roger Stone sentenced to over 3 years in prison

    Trump ally Roger Stone sentenced to over 3 years in prison

    National Court News 02/16/2020

    Roger Stone, a longtime confidant of President Donald Trump, was sentenced to more than three years in prison Thursday for obstructing a congressional investigation in a case that has sparked fears about presidential interference in the justice syste...

  • Judges, past finalists among candidates for top Kansas court

    Judges, past finalists among candidates for top Kansas court

    National Court News 12/26/2019

    Two members of the Kansas attorney general's staff who were finalists for a previous appointment and four lower-court judges are seeking to fill a vacancy on the state Supreme Court.A lawyer-led state nominating commission is scheduled to interview 1...

  • Census, redistricting top remaining Supreme Court cases

    Census, redistricting top remaining Supreme Court cases

    National Court News 06/23/2019

    The Supreme Court enters its final week of decisions with two politically charged issues unresolved, whether to rein in political line-drawing for partisan gain and allow a citizenship question on the 2020 census.Both decisions could affect the distr...

  • Court records: Illinois father led police to son's body

    Court records: Illinois father led police to son's body

    National Court News 05/06/2019

    Court records show that video police recovered from an Illinois woman's cellphone showing her bruised 5-year-old son prompted the boy's father to lead investigators to the child's body.JoAnn Cunningham and Andrew Freund Sr. of Crystal Lake are charge...

  • Ohio Republicans defending state congressional map in court

    Ohio Republicans defending state congressional map in court

    National Court News 03/11/2019

    Attorneys for Ohio Republican officials will call witnesses this week to defend the state's congressional map.A federal trial enters its second week Monday in a lawsuit by voter rights groups that say the current seats resulted from "an unconstitutio...

  • Court: No new offshore drilling work during federal shutdown

    Court: No new offshore drilling work during federal shutdown

    National Court News 01/20/2019

    A federal judge in South Carolina has turned back the Trump administration's attempt to continue preparatory work for offshore drilling during the federal government's partial shutdown, issuing a ruling in a federal lawsuit challenging the overall ex...