The judicial theory has been a major talking point during the past three Supreme Court nominations. But what does it actually mean?
Former House Speaker John Boehner holds a press conference June 25, 2012, after the Supreme Court handed down a 5-4 decision upholding the Affordable Care Act.
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Democrats are outraged at what they say is the hypocrisy of allowing a president to appoint a new Supreme Court justice near the end of his term. One of their biggest practical concerns is the ACA.
While our judges may prefer their anonymity, the process for choosing who sits on the highest court must be more transparent. Our system is beginning to look outdated.
Amy Coney Barrett testifies before the Senate.
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If successful, Barrett would become the seventh current Supreme Court justice to be raised a Catholic, but more importantly the sixth conservative Christian.
A lot of interests want to influence the cases that come before the Supreme Court and how they’re decided.
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Special interests use the court as a public policy battleground. Here’s a rundown of how that works and which groups are likely to appear before a conservative court with Amy Coney Barrett on it.
A poll worker places vote-by-mail ballots into a ballot box set up at the Miami-Dade Election Department headquarters on Oct. 14, 2020 in Doral, Fla.
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Lawsuits are being argued in courthouses across the country over the conduct of the election. That could lead to the public losing confidence in the election’s legitimacy.
Trump with 7th U.S. Circuit Judge Amy Coney Barrett and her family Sept. 26 at the White House.
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With Amy Coney Barrett’s nomination, Trump has fulfilled his pledge to replace the late justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg with a woman. But female judges don’t all decide alike any more than male judges do.
The 9-member Chase Court in 1867, dominated by Northern Republicans.
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In the 1860’s, the Supreme Court was a ‘partisan creature’ and President Lincoln and the Republican Party remade it so that it reflected the party’s priorities.
Amy Coney Barrett has issued mixed rulings when it comes to workers.
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Barrett has written 15 opinions in cases involving employment law that offer a window into her nuanced approach to disputes between workers and employers.
Amy Coney Barrett, Trump’s nominee for the Supreme Court, is one of relatively few women appointed to the federal judiciary by the current administration.
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Amy Coney Barrett may be a woman, but Trump’s other judicial appointments are 85% white and 76% male – the least diverse group of federal judges since Ronald Reagan.
The Supreme Court will face another challenge to the Affordable Care Act that is more likely to succeed with the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
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The Supreme Court will again consider the fate of the Affordable Care Act next month. But Trump’s record and a reading of his health executive order make it unlikely that he can offer a meaningful alternative to the ACA.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell with reporters, July 30, 2020.
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To overhaul an election redistricting process tainted by gerrymandering, Michigan has adopted a governance mechanism prominent 2,500 years ago in ancient Athens, the birthplace of democracy.
Many Supreme Court nomination battles depended on whether the president’s party also had control of the US Senate.
A man carrying a club is seen as the Proud Boys, a right-wing pro-Trump group, gather with their allies in a rally against left-wing Antifa in Portland, Oregon, Sept. 26, 2020.
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A more conservative court could choose cases that incrementally erode abortion rights, or they could push for reconsideration of the constitutional issues at the very heart of Roe v. Wade.
No lengthy viewing of the body, but no quick burial either.
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The former justice received a Jewish funeral at the Supreme Court. But in other ways, Ginsburg’s burial is breaking with traditional Jewish death rituals.
President Donald Trump has said he will name a Supreme Court nominee in the coming days.
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A quantitative analysis of potential nominees to the Supreme Court reveals that conservatives could get a real lock on the nation’s highest court.
Football players from Lee Central High School in Bishopville, South Carolina, share a meal with players from the Robert E. Lee Academy. Lee County in South Carolina is still segregated.
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The battle to expand private education in South Carolina amid the pandemic mirrors previous struggles over civil rights and highlights the ways systemic racism has undermined public education.