Category: Supreme Court Decisions

Although the U.S. Supreme Court was poised to determine when partisan gerrymandering runs afoul of the U.S. Constitution, the justices unanimously decided the case on technical grounds. The Court held that the plaintiffs in Gill v Whitford, 585 U. S....

In Carpenter v United States, 585 U. S. ____ (2018), the U.S. Supreme Court held that the seizure of cell-site location information constitutes a search under the Fourth Amendment. The case is the latest to interpret how to apply the Fourth Amendmen...

In Trump v Hawaii, 585 U.S. ____ (2018), a divided U.S. Supreme Court held that President Donald Trump lawfully exercised the broad discretion granted to him under the Immigration and Nationality Act to suspend the entry of certain immigrants into th...

In Janus v AFSCME (Janus v. American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees, Council 31), 585 U.S. ____ (2018), the U.S. Supreme Court held that public-sector “agency shop” arrangements run afoul of the First Amendment. The sharply-...

In National Institute of Family and Life Advocates v Becerra, 585 U.S. ____ (2018), the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that anti-abortion crisis pregnancy centers are likely to succeed in their First Amendment challenge to a California law that requires su...

In Lucia v Securities and Exchange Commission, the U.S. Supreme Court held that Securities and Exchange Commission administrative law judges (ALJs) are “officers of the United States,” subject to the Constitution’s Appointments Clause. The deci...

The U.S. Supreme Court dramatically altered the country’s E-commerce landscape with its decision in South Dakota v Wayfair, 585 U. S. ____ (2018). By a narrow majority, the Court held that internet retailers can be required to collect sales taxes e...

In Minnesota Voters Alliance v Mansky, 585 U. S. ____ (2018), the U.S. Supreme Court struck down Minnesota’s ban on political apparel at polling places. According to the Court, the state law violates the First Amendment’s free speech clause. Fac...

In Husted v A Philip Randolph Institute, 584 U. S. ____ (2018), a divided U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Ohio’s controversial voter removal law does not run afoul of the National Voter Registration Act. National Voter Registration Act   The Natio...

In its highly-anticipated decision in Masterpiece Cakeshop v Colorado Civil Rights Commission, 584 U. S. ____ (2018), the U.S. Supreme Court handed a narrow victory to the Colorado baker at the center of the case. By a vote of 7-2, the justices ruled...