Supreme Court News
In-depth reporting and commentary on the Court’s rulings and their influence on law, politics, and society.
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opinion
Winners and Losers From the 2026 Midterms
There’s no sugar-coating it: Republicans lost badly in the 2026 midterms, suffering stunning defeats in states once considered reliably red and seeing Democrats take control of both chambers of Congress. President Donald Trump encouraged Americans to vote like he was on the ballot, and many may have done so. Democratic socialists and a resurgent religious… -
news
Supreme Court Hears Contentious Arguments on Religious Freedom Fight Over Preschool Program
The Supreme Court could deliver another blow to Colorado in a religious liberty case over the state’s exclusion of a Catholic church from a “universal” preschool program. Justices heard oral arguments in St. Mary Catholic Parish v. Roy on Tuesday. “This is not a zero-sum game. Letting families use universal preschool funding at Catholic schools… -
news
These Election Eve Court Fights Could Reshape the Midterm Vote
Lawsuits on the eve of Election Day are giving courts a brief time window to make influential decisions before final votes are cast. The Supreme Court on Monday denied a last-minute emergency appeal by the Justice Department to set aside more than 20,000 ballots of suspected noncitizens in California. Meanwhile, lower court judges are still… -
news
Supreme Court Rejects DOJ Petition to Intervene in California’s 20,000 ‘Likely’ Noncitizen Ballot Dispute
The Supreme Court on Monday rejected a request from the Trump administration’s Justice Department to temporarily block the counting of more than 20,000 mail ballots from suspected noncitizens in California. Last month, the department demanded that California temporarily set aside the ballots for the midterm elections until the citizenship of registered voters could be verified. … -
news
Democrat-Run Cities Tried to Salvage a Biden Anti-Deportation Policy. SCOTUS Says No.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected an application by three Democrat-run cities to restore a Biden-era rule that would postpone deportations of illegal aliens. The unsigned order, in the case of City of Baltimore v. Texas, had no noted dissents and left in place lower court rulings denying the cities’ request for interim relief. At… -
opinion
Bringing a Knife to a Gun Fight: 5th Circuit Declares Switchblades Are ‘Arms’ Protected
Are knives—or at least certain types of bladed weapons—presumptively protected by the Second Amendment? That’s the question the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals recently answered in the affirmative. This dispute dates all the way back to 1958, when Congress, worried about juvenile delinquency in the aftermath of the then-scandalous movie “Rebel Without a Cause”… -
news
SCOTUS Has a Shot to Take a Major First Amendment, Free Press Case. Here’s What’s at Stake.
An investigative reporter is asking the Supreme Court to review a court order to identify the sources behind her reporting. In a case that could set a new precedent on the First Amendment, former Fox News and CBS News investigative reporter Catherine Herridge is appealing a lower court’s order to pay an $800-per-day contempt fee… -
opinion
Is Cooking for a Terrorist Organization Enough to Deny Immigration Benefits?
What constitutes “material support … to a terrorist organization” under federal law? That’s the question the Supreme Court of the United States will decide in Blanche v. Ozurumba. This matters because the Immigration and Nationality Act makes clear that those who provide such support to terrorist organizations are ineligible for asylum and other immigration benefits… -
opinion
Why George Washington Would Deport Mahmoud Khalil
Summary Mahmoud Khalil wants to take the case against his deportation all the way to the Supreme Court—and if the justices accept it, they will be deciding one of the oldest and most controversial questions in American politics, a dispute more than 200 years old. Khalil is not an American: He’s a Syrian-born Palestinian, but… -
news
8-1 Supreme Court Decision Upends Student ID Fight in Battleground Days Before Key Senate Election
The Supreme Court, in an 8-1 decision, allowed New Hampshire to block student IDs as a valid form of voter identification. In an unsigned order released Thursday, the justices paused Oct. 2 and Oct. 5 orders by U.S. District Judge Joseph Laplante, a George W. Bush appointee, that prevented the state from enforcing its restrictions… -
opinion
What Justice Elena Kagan Gets Wrong About Democracy
Much of the Left seems intent on defining “democracy” as bureaucratic administration, but many of the changes to the bureaucracy they condemn actually empower the people. Take Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan, for instance. She suggested that the majority decisions of her conservative colleagues are undermining American democracy, citing cases involving gerrymandering, money in politics,… -
breaking
Supreme Court Rules on Trump Admin Policy Blocking Sex-Rejecting Procedures for Prisoners
The Supreme Court Wednesday denied the Trump administration’s request to block a lower court order preventing the Bureau of Prisons from denying previously prescribed transgender procedures to prison inmates. The court denied the stay in an unsigned order, noting that Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito would have granted the stay. The Bureau of Prisons… -
opinion
An Immigration Ruling With Teeth—If It Holds Up
Sometimes a consequential immigration decision turns not on a new act of Congress or a ruling by the Supreme Court, but on whether an agency finally gives existing statutory language its full effect. That is the promise of Matter of A-V-O-, a Sept. 17 ruling by the Board of Immigration Appeals. The board concluded that… -
analysis
Will the Supreme Court Find Room at the Grotto?
On Oct. 1, 2026, the Supreme Court of the United States agreed to hear Missionaries of Saint John the Baptist, Inc. v. Frederic and answer an important question: Does a regulation prohibiting a church from building a religious structure on its own property violate the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act? The answer is… -
news
Supreme Court Rejects Accused 9/11 Mastermind’s Bid to Dodge Death Penalty
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the alleged mastermind behind the 9/11 terrorist attacks, will again face the potential for the death penalty after the Supreme Court denied his appeal Monday. Justices rejected Mohammed’s bid to reinstate a plea agreement that allowed him and two co-defendants who helped plot the attack to avoid the death penalty. Mohammed and… -
news
Supreme Court Takes Up Major New Battle Over Race in School Admissions
The Supreme Court will hear another case on race-based admissions after previously curbing the practice in higher education. The high court on Monday announced it will take up the case of Association for Education Fairness v. Montgomery County Board of Education, concerning a Maryland county’s lottery admissions policy to increase racial diversity at certain magnet… -
opinion
If These Aren’t Excessive Fines, What Are?
Imagine getting a bill from your local government for $900,000 because they see a greenhouse on your property and just assume you’re growing marijuana without a permit. Imagine government demanding $400,000 because you didn’t know to fill out a single-page form. Or you get slapped with a $100,000 fine for parking your car … on… -
news
Supreme Court Ruling Could Impact the Closing Weeks of High-Stakes Midterm Advertising Battle
The Supreme Court sided with the Federal Communications Commission on Wednesday, allowing the agency to avoid a Democrat-led challenge to its policy of extending discounted TV and radio advertising rates to political parties. “The Commission may exercise its discretion to set its own procedures and schedule for resolving such applications,” the majority said Wednesday in… -
news
In One Type of ‘Blockbuster’ Case, Supreme Court Weighs 1980s Video Privacy Law in Digital Age
The Supreme Court heard arguments Wednesday on how a video rentals privacy law from the 1980s applies to the digital age. Justices on both sides expressed skepticism about how the 1988 Video Privacy Protection Act, enacted in the days of VHS rentals at stores such as Blockbuster Video, applies today. The federal law, at the… -
news
Supreme Court Steps Into Trump’s DOGE Fight a Second Time
The Supreme Court on Tuesday agreed to hear a case on whether the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, has to release extensive records of deliberations on cutting government spending. The Trump administration is challenging a lower court’s sweeping discovery order against DOGE despite a previous Supreme Court ruling to narrow the order. The administration…