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Justice Neil Gorsuch heard oral arguments in his first cases as a newly sworn-in member of the U.S. Supreme Court. One of the cases, Trinity Lutheran Church v. Pauley, could be blockbuster.   In Trinity, the justices must decide whether th...

West H. Humphreys, who served as a judge for U.S. District Court for the Middle, Eastern, and Western Districts of Tennessee, was impeached in 1862 after he advocated in favor of succession and joined the Confederacy. He was the only federal official...

In McLane v. EEOC, 581 U. S. ____ (2017), the U.S. Supreme Court held that a district court’s decision whether to enforce or quash a subpoena issued by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) should be reviewed for abuse of discretion ra...

In a unanimous decision, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that a New York law prohibiting merchants from charging surcharges for paying via credit card is subject to scrutiny under the First Amendment. The Court’s narrow decision in Expressions Hair De...

In Moore v Texas, 581 U. S. ____ (2017), the U.S. Supreme Court held that the standard used by the State of Texas to determine whether a mentally disabled defendant can be subjected to the death penalty violated the Constitution. By a vote of 5-3, th...

John Pickering served as chief justice of the New Hampshire Superior Court of Judicature and as a judge for the U.S. District Court for the District of New Hampshire. However, he is most remembered as the first federal officer to be impeached. Earl...

In National Labor Relations Board v. SW General, the Supreme Court limited the President’s ability to fill vacancies under the Federal Vacancies Reform Act of 1998 (FVRA). By a vote of 7-2, the Court held that a person can’t serve in an acting ca...

In Endrew F v Douglas County School District, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that public schools have an obligation to provide a special education program that will allow a disabled student to make progress that is appropriate in light of the child’s...

In Beckles v United States, 580 U. S. ____ (2017), the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of the country’s federal sentencing guidelines. By a vote of 7-0, the Court held that the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, including Section 4B1.2...

The U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in six cases last week. The most noteworthy case is Murr v. Wisconsin, which involves the Takings Clause of the Fifth Amendment. The specific question before the Court in Murr is whether physically contiguo...