6 h. ago US supreme court appears poised to weaken key pillar of Voting Rights Act

Dispute over Louisiana district returned to justices after long legal saga – and could have far-reaching implicationsA 160-year-old campaign against civil rights heads to the supreme courtUS politics live – latest updatesThe conservative majority on the US supreme court appeared poised to weaken a key pillar of the Voting Rights Act after a lengthy oral argument on Wednesday.“This court’s cases in a variety of contexts have said that race-based remedies are permissible for a period of time. Sometimes for a long period of time, decades in some cases, but they should not be indefinite and should have an endpoint. What exactly do you think that endpoint should be?” asked Justice Brett Kavanaugh, a key swing vote in the case, to Janai Nelson, a lawyer for the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund, who was defending the maps. Continue reading...

Events

7 h. ago Conservative supreme court justices appear skeptical of key provision of Voting Rights Act – live

Conservative justices appear sympathetic to the argument that new Louisiana congressional maps that added majority-Black district violate the constitutionThe far-right US congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene is further distancing herself from her fellow Republicans and accusing men in her party of being “weak”.In an interview with the Washington Post, Greene expressed her frustrations with Republicans, signaling her further deviation from the political strategies of her party, as the government shutdown beginning 1 October was slated to enter its third week. Continue reading...

Society

26 h. ago Even a former law clerk for conservative Justice Clarence Thomas is warning about giving Trump too much power

Justices have handed Trump sweeping authority while also insulating him from being prosecuted from potential crimes committed in office

Events

31 h. ago Lady Hale warns against politicising judiciary after Jenrick criticism of judges

Robert Jenrick vowed to put ministers back in charge of judicial appointments, claiming the system had allowed ‘political activists’ on to the bench.

Events

45 h. ago Supreme Court to examine Northern Ireland Troubles legacy law

The Government has brought a challenge to the UK’s highest court on aspects of the last Conservative government’s contentious Legacy Act.

Events

9 d. ago When Trump faces a challenge, where does he run? The Supreme Court’s shadow docket

Each time Trump faces a challenge to his attempts to expand his executive authority, he runs to the Supreme Court’s shadow docket and his conservative majority complies, Ariana Baio reports

Politics

9 d. ago How the Supreme Court’s shadow docket is shaping American life – without explanation

Each time Trump faces a challenge to his attempts to expand his executive authority, he runs to the Supreme Court’s shadow docket and his conservative majority complies, Ariana Baio reports

Events

9 d. ago US supreme court begins new term with nation’s democratic governance at stake

Scrutiny on the nine justices is about to reach a new level of intensity as Trump aggressively asserts executive powerContext may be everything in the precedent-shattering era of the current US supreme court.For several years – since conservatives, gained a six-three majority on the bench thanks to Donald Trump’s nominations during his first presidency – the court has been delivering transformative rulings that have reverberated across the social and political landscape. Continue reading...

Politics

1 week ago How the Supreme Court’s shadow docket is shaping American life

Each time Trump faces a challenge to his attempts to expand his executive authority, he runs to the Supreme Court’s shadow docket and his conservative majority complies, Ariana Baio reports

Events

3 w. ago US citizens and permanent residents: how do you feel about the possibility of being racially profiled by Ice agents?

We want to hear from people of color about how they feel that immigration agents can continue to stop people in Los Angeles based on race, language, job or locationOn 8 September, the supreme court’s conservative majority temporarily lifted restrictions on “roving” immigration patrols across the Los Angeles area after a lower court found that federal agents were indiscriminately targeting people on the basis of race, language, employment or location.Immigration advocates warned that the court has “effectively legalized racial profiling” and opened the door to a broader unraveling of civil rights protections nationwide. Continue reading...

Politics

3 w. ago Listening to the Law review – Amy Coney Barrett offers little comfort about state of US law

Conservative US supreme court justice’s memoir affirms that she is first and foremost a Trump appointeeIn June 2024, a divided US supreme court handed Donald Trump a get-out-of-jail-free card. Across 43 pages, chief justice John Roberts demolished the long-held belief that a president is not above the law. For Trump, who once bragged that he could shoot someone on Fifth Avenue and get away with it, Christmas had come early.Justice Amy Coney Barrett, a Trump appointee, joined the majority but voiced doubt all the same.Listening to the Law is published in the US by Penguin Random House Continue reading...

Politics

4 w. ago Jill Lepore on the US constitution, originalism and Madison’s nose

The esteemed historian says her new book on the writing –and the attempts to amend – the constitution is in part ‘a deep historical critique of originalism’In her new book, the Harvard history professor and New Yorker writer Jill Lepore makes a 600-page case for the US constitution as a living document, made to be amended by each generation.Lepore said her book, We the People, is also “a deep historical critique of originalism”, the conservative legal theory that dominates the supreme court, deep political polarization having rendered constitutional amendments all but politically impossible. Continue reading...

Politics

4 w. ago Affirmative action opponent's next target: A private school with admissions preference for Hawaiians

A private school founded by a Hawaiian princess gives admissions preference to Native Hawaiian applicants

Events