Supreme court

WASHINGTON — Congressional Democrats will introduce legislation Thursday to expand the Supreme Court from nine to 13 justices, joining progressive activists pushing to transform the court. The move intensifies a high-stakes ideological fight over the future of the court after President Donald Trump and Republicans appointed three conservative justices in four years, including one who was confirmed days before the 2020 election. The Democratic bill is led by Sen. Ed Markey of Massachusetts and Rep. Jerry Nadler of New York, the chair of the House Judiciary Committee. It is co-sponsored by Reps. Hank Johnson of Georgia and Mondaire Jones of New York. The Supreme Court can be expanded by an act of Congress, but the legislation is highly unlikely to become law in the near future given Democrats' slim majorities, which include scores of lawmakers who are not on board with the idea. President Joe Biden has said he is "not a fan" of packing the court. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., told reporters on Thursday she has "no plans to bring it to the floor." "I don't know that that's a good idea or bad idea. I think it's an idea that should be considered," she said of the court expansion plan. "And I think the president's taking the right approach to The push represents an undercurrent of progressive fury at Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., for denying a vote in 2016 to President Barack Obama's pick to fill a vacancy, citing the approaching election, before confirm...

Audio snippets of each Justice speaking are intended to give a sense of the sound of the Justice’s voice and how he or she posed questions or spoke from the bench. Generally, the clips feature the first time a Justice spoke at oral argument or announced an opinion. Because of poor audio quality, however, sometimes we have substituted a clip from later in their first term. Thanks to Pat Ward for providing the sound engineering and to Jerry Goldman for permission to use material from Oyez Project.

• Home • Cases • October Term 2023 • October Term 2022 • October Term 2021 • October Term 2020 • October Term 2019 • Term Archive • Emergency Docket • Petitions • Statistics • Newsfeed • Categories • Academic Round-up • Book reviews/Ask the author • Capital cases • Cases in the Pipeline • Emergency appeals and applications • Live • Merits Cases • SCOTUStalk • Special Features • About • Who We Are • Case Authors • Resources • Contact Us • • • OPINION ANALYSIS By on June 16 at 2:47 p.m. The justices ruled 8-1 on Friday that the Department of Justice may dismiss whistleblower lawsuits filed under the False Claims Act’s qui tam provision even if the government initially declined to intervene in the case. Justice Elena Kagan wrote for the majority in United States ex rel. Polansky v. Executive Health Resources, Inc. Since 2017, the Supreme Court has significantly increased its use of the process by which the justices hear and resolves emergency appeals, sometimes known as the shadow docket. Professor Stephen Vladeck has closely tracked that change in recent years and joins Amy to discuss his new book The Shadow Docket. Petitions of the week By The Petitions of the Week column highlights a selection of cert petitions recently filed in the Supreme Court. A list of all petitions we’re watching is available here . Under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, military courts-martial retain jurisdiction over retired servicemembers. Courts-martial can punish a broader range of conduct ...

The U.S. Supreme Court has about four weeks left to release opinions for more than two dozen cases it heard this term. Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images The U.S. Supreme Court has yet to issue opinions in 27 cases that it heard this term, and has about four weeks left to release them. Opinions usually are scheduled for Thursday, but with time running out, the court will likely add days in which it will release its decisions. Here are the major cases NPR is watching: Affirmative Action Students for Fair Admission v. Harvard and Students for Fair Admission v. University of North Carolina At issue are affirmative action programs at the the University of North Carolina, which until the 1950s did not admit Black students, and Harvard University, which was the model for the Supreme Court's 1978 decision declaring that colleges and universities may consider race as one of many factors, from the applicant's geographical and family background, to their special talents in science, math, athletics, and even whether the applicant is the child of the school's alumni. The two cases overlap. Because UNC is a state school, the question is whether its affirmative-action program violates the 14th Amendment's guarantee to equal protection of the law. And even though Harvard is a private institution, it still is covered by federal anti-discrimination laws because it accepts federal money for a wide variety of programs. The cases were argued last October. Read more about the cases: • • Voting R...

WASHINGTON — Congressional Democrats will introduce legislation Thursday to expand the Supreme Court from nine to 13 justices, joining progressive activists pushing to transform the court. The move intensifies a high-stakes ideological fight over the future of the court after President Donald Trump and Republicans appointed three conservative justices in four years, including one who was confirmed days before the 2020 election. The Democratic bill is led by Sen. Ed Markey of Massachusetts and Rep. Jerry Nadler of New York, the chair of the House Judiciary Committee. It is co-sponsored by Reps. Hank Johnson of Georgia and Mondaire Jones of New York. The Supreme Court can be expanded by an act of Congress, but the legislation is highly unlikely to become law in the near future given Democrats' slim majorities, which include scores of lawmakers who are not on board with the idea. President Joe Biden has said he is "not a fan" of packing the court. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., told reporters on Thursday she has "no plans to bring it to the floor." "I don't know that that's a good idea or bad idea. I think it's an idea that should be considered," she said of the court expansion plan. "And I think the president's taking the right approach to The push represents an undercurrent of progressive fury at Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., for denying a vote in 2016 to President Barack Obama's pick to fill a vacancy, citing the approaching election, before confirm...

Audio snippets of each Justice speaking are intended to give a sense of the sound of the Justice’s voice and how he or she posed questions or spoke from the bench. Generally, the clips feature the first time a Justice spoke at oral argument or announced an opinion. Because of poor audio quality, however, sometimes we have substituted a clip from later in their first term. Thanks to Pat Ward for providing the sound engineering and to Jerry Goldman for permission to use material from Oyez Project.

• Home • Cases • October Term 2023 • October Term 2022 • October Term 2021 • October Term 2020 • October Term 2019 • Term Archive • Emergency Docket • Petitions • Statistics • Newsfeed • Categories • Academic Round-up • Book reviews/Ask the author • Capital cases • Cases in the Pipeline • Emergency appeals and applications • Live • Merits Cases • SCOTUStalk • Special Features • About • Who We Are • Case Authors • Resources • Contact Us • • • OPINION ANALYSIS By on June 16 at 2:47 p.m. The justices ruled 8-1 on Friday that the Department of Justice may dismiss whistleblower lawsuits filed under the False Claims Act’s qui tam provision even if the government initially declined to intervene in the case. Justice Elena Kagan wrote for the majority in United States ex rel. Polansky v. Executive Health Resources, Inc. Since 2017, the Supreme Court has significantly increased its use of the process by which the justices hear and resolves emergency appeals, sometimes known as the shadow docket. Professor Stephen Vladeck has closely tracked that change in recent years and joins Amy to discuss his new book The Shadow Docket. Petitions of the week By The Petitions of the Week column highlights a selection of cert petitions recently filed in the Supreme Court. A list of all petitions we’re watching is available here . Under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, military courts-martial retain jurisdiction over retired servicemembers. Courts-martial can punish a broader range of conduct ...

The U.S. Supreme Court has about four weeks left to release opinions for more than two dozen cases it heard this term. Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images The U.S. Supreme Court has yet to issue opinions in 27 cases that it heard this term, and has about four weeks left to release them. Opinions usually are scheduled for Thursday, but with time running out, the court will likely add days in which it will release its decisions. Here are the major cases NPR is watching: Affirmative Action Students for Fair Admission v. Harvard and Students for Fair Admission v. University of North Carolina At issue are affirmative action programs at the the University of North Carolina, which until the 1950s did not admit Black students, and Harvard University, which was the model for the Supreme Court's 1978 decision declaring that colleges and universities may consider race as one of many factors, from the applicant's geographical and family background, to their special talents in science, math, athletics, and even whether the applicant is the child of the school's alumni. The two cases overlap. Because UNC is a state school, the question is whether its affirmative-action program violates the 14th Amendment's guarantee to equal protection of the law. And even though Harvard is a private institution, it still is covered by federal anti-discrimination laws because it accepts federal money for a wide variety of programs. The cases were argued last October. Read more about the cases: • • Voting R...

The U.S. Supreme Court has about four weeks left to release opinions for more than two dozen cases it heard this term. Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images The U.S. Supreme Court has yet to issue opinions in 27 cases that it heard this term, and has about four weeks left to release them. Opinions usually are scheduled for Thursday, but with time running out, the court will likely add days in which it will release its decisions. Here are the major cases NPR is watching: Affirmative Action Students for Fair Admission v. Harvard and Students for Fair Admission v. University of North Carolina At issue are affirmative action programs at the the University of North Carolina, which until the 1950s did not admit Black students, and Harvard University, which was the model for the Supreme Court's 1978 decision declaring that colleges and universities may consider race as one of many factors, from the applicant's geographical and family background, to their special talents in science, math, athletics, and even whether the applicant is the child of the school's alumni. The two cases overlap. Because UNC is a state school, the question is whether its affirmative-action program violates the 14th Amendment's guarantee to equal protection of the law. And even though Harvard is a private institution, it still is covered by federal anti-discrimination laws because it accepts federal money for a wide variety of programs. The cases were argued last October. Read more about the cases: • • Voting R...

WASHINGTON — Congressional Democrats will introduce legislation Thursday to expand the Supreme Court from nine to 13 justices, joining progressive activists pushing to transform the court. The move intensifies a high-stakes ideological fight over the future of the court after President Donald Trump and Republicans appointed three conservative justices in four years, including one who was confirmed days before the 2020 election. The Democratic bill is led by Sen. Ed Markey of Massachusetts and Rep. Jerry Nadler of New York, the chair of the House Judiciary Committee. It is co-sponsored by Reps. Hank Johnson of Georgia and Mondaire Jones of New York. The Supreme Court can be expanded by an act of Congress, but the legislation is highly unlikely to become law in the near future given Democrats' slim majorities, which include scores of lawmakers who are not on board with the idea. President Joe Biden has said he is "not a fan" of packing the court. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., told reporters on Thursday she has "no plans to bring it to the floor." "I don't know that that's a good idea or bad idea. I think it's an idea that should be considered," she said of the court expansion plan. "And I think the president's taking the right approach to The push represents an undercurrent of progressive fury at Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., for denying a vote in 2016 to President Barack Obama's pick to fill a vacancy, citing the approaching election, before confirm...