Federal court
Appears in 23 stories
Issued the controlling decision
Terry Pitchford has sat on Mississippi's death row for nearly two decades. On May 28, 2026, the Supreme Court threw out his conviction and ordered the state to start over, ruling 5-4 that the prosecutor's jury selection violated his constitutional rights.
Updated Yesterday
Blocked Chicago deployment 6-3
The last time a president invoked the Insurrection Act to deploy federal troops in American cities was 1992, during the Los Angeles riots. President Trump has deployed over 10,000 National Guard troops and active-duty Marines to six cities since June 2025—without invoking that law. The Congressional Budget Office now reports the seven-month operation cost taxpayers $496 million, with ongoing deployments projected to add $93 million monthly.
Updated 6 days ago
Reviewing VPPA consumer definition
Congress passed the Video Privacy Protection Act in 1988 after a reporter published Supreme Court nominee Robert Bork's video rental history. Thirty-eight years later, the law has become the basis for hundreds of class action lawsuits against media companies using tracking pixels on their websites—and the Supreme Court just agreed to decide who can sue under it.
Hearing Trump v. Cook; decision expected by July 2026
No president has fired a sitting Federal Reserve governor in the central bank's 112-year history. Donald Trump is trying to be the first and wants to replace the Fed chair with a loyalist.
Updated 7 days ago
Issued ruling
Federal courts have debated for decades whether restitution is criminal punishment or a civil remedy—a distinction that matters because the Constitution's Ex Post Facto Clause bars retroactive increases in criminal punishment. On January 20, 2026, the Supreme Court unanimously ruled restitution under the Mandatory Victims Restitution Act is criminal punishment, so defendants cannot be held to payment terms that didn't exist when they committed their crimes.
Dismissed the appeal as improvidently granted
Joseph Clifton Smith has been on Alabama's death row since 1997. His five IQ tests came back at 72, 74, 74, 75, and 78. On Thursday, the Supreme Court dismissed Alabama's appeal in Hamm v. Smith, letting stand a lower-court finding that Smith is intellectually disabled and cannot be executed.
Updated May 21
Ruled 6-3 on February 20 that IEEPA does not authorize tariffs, voiding all emergency-based trade duties including the Iran secondary levy
The legal foundation for Trump's tariff strategy collapsed on February 20 when the Supreme Court ruled 6-3 that IEEPA does not authorize tariffs. The decision voided both the 25% Iran secondary levy and other emergency-based duties on China. Trump signed a 10% global replacement under Section 122 of the Trade Act within hours, dropping China's effective rate from 47% to about 35%.
Updated May 20
Hearing oral arguments; decision expected by June 2026
The Supreme Court heard more than three hours of oral arguments on January 13, 2026, in two cases that could determine whether states can bar transgender students from sports teams matching their gender identity. The conservative majority signaled strong support for upholding state restrictions, though several justices appeared wary of a broad ruling.
Deciding jurisdictional question
A Louisiana jury ordered Chevron to pay $745 million in April 2025 for wrecking coastal wetlands through decades of oil drilling. Now the Supreme Court will decide if that verdict stands.
Issued 5-4 ruling expanding federal prisoner habeas rights
The Supreme Court just handed federal prisoners a major win, ruling 5-4 that they can challenge their convictions repeatedly—something most courts have blocked for decades. Michael Bowe, serving 24 years for armed robbery, asked to revisit his case based on new legal precedent. The Eleventh Circuit said no. On January 9, 2026, the Supreme Court said yes, declaring that a key provision of the 1996 anti-terrorism law applies only to state prisoners, not federal inmates.
Set Bruen precedent; hearing two more gun cases in 2026
The Ninth Circuit just struck down California's ban on openly carrying guns in urban areas, ruling that a law affecting 95% of the state violates the Second Amendment. Judge Lawrence VanDyke wrote that open carry was widely protected at America's founding—exactly the kind of historical analysis the Supreme Court demanded in its 2022 Bruen decision. The ruling creates a circuit split with the Second Circuit, which said states can ban one form of carry as long as they allow the other.
Updated May 19
2018 ruling in Trump v. Hawaii established broad presidential authority over immigration
Trump signed his first travel ban seven days into his presidency, blocking entry from seven Muslim-majority countries and igniting protests; courts blocked it within a week. After Supreme Court victories, a Biden reversal, and his return to power, Trump's December 2025 expansion restricts entry from 39 countries—affecting one in eight people worldwide and eliminating exemptions for immediate family.
Updated May 16
Refused to halt remand; kept door open to pause discovery later
Immigration judges say the Justice Department has effectively muzzled them: speak publicly about immigration and you need permission, and what you say can be steered into "agency talking points." The Trump administration's response has been procedural. You don't get federal court—go through the civil-service machinery first.
Updated May 15
Deliberating on stay and merits
The Supreme Court has until Thursday at 5 p.m. ET to decide whether mifepristone can keep shipping by mail. Alito's stay, expiring May 14, is all that blocks a May 1 Fifth Circuit ruling that would end telehealth prescribing and mail delivery of the drug nationwide.
Updated May 13
Issued rulings tightening corruption law; now asked to send Lopez–Full Play case back for dismissal
U.S. prosecutors spent years proving that Hernan Lopez, a former Fox International Channels CEO, and the sports marketing firm Full Play bribed South American soccer officials to lock down lucrative TV rights. A Brooklyn jury convicted them in 2023.
Updated May 10
Hearing and shaping core precedent on presidential power over independent agencies
In 2025, President Donald Trump challenged the 1935 Humphrey's Executor precedent by firing and removing independent agency officials before their terms expired.
Oral arguments scheduled for April 1, 2026, in Trump v. Barbara
On January 20, 2025, the first day of his second term, President Donald Trump signed Executive Order 14160, "Protecting the Meaning and Value of American Citizenship." The order denies automatic citizenship to U.S.-born children when the mother is unlawfully present or on a temporary visa and the father is neither a citizen nor a lawful permanent resident. It challenges 125 years of legal consensus (grounded in the 14th Amendment and the Supreme Court's 1898 decision in United States v. Wong Kim Ark) that nearly all children born on U.S. soil are automatically citizens.
April 29, 2026 ruling in Louisiana v. Callais effectively gutted Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, removing the primary federal check on racially drawn congressional maps
Congressional maps are normally redrawn once a decade, after the Census. In August 2025, Texas broke that convention at President Trump's urging—redrawing its map to target five Democratic-held seats. The move triggered a chain reaction. Then, on April 29, 2026, the U.S. Supreme Court's 6–3 decision in Louisiana v. Callais effectively gutted Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act—the main federal tool used to block racially discriminatory maps—removing a key legal shield that had constrained Republican legislatures for decades. Within days, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed a new congressional map targeting four incumbent Democrats, Alabama's governor called a special redistricting session, Louisiana suspended its upcoming primaries to allow a full map redraw, and Tennessee's House passed a bill splitting Memphis into three Republican-leaning districts.
Updated May 7
Callais ruling final as of May 6, 2026; denied motion to recall; issued forthwith order May 4 making decision immediately operative
The Supreme Court ruled 6-3 on April 29, 2026, in Louisiana v. Callais that Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965—the main federal tool minority voters have used for four decades to challenge racially discriminatory maps—now requires plaintiffs to prove intentional discrimination before courts can order a remedy. Justice Samuel Alito wrote the majority opinion; Justice Elena Kagan dissented for the three liberal justices, writing that the ruling makes Section 2 'all but a dead letter' and marks 'the latest chapter in the majority's now-completed demolition of the Voting Rights Act.' On May 4, the Court ordered its judgment to take effect immediately, bypassing the usual 25-day window for rehearing requests; on May 6, it denied civil rights plaintiffs' motion to recall the ruling, making the decision final and operative.
Issued stay reinstating the Texas map
States usually redraw congressional districts once a decade, after the census. Texas just redrew its map four years early—and the U.S. Supreme Court has now cleared it for the 2026 midterm elections.
Updated Apr 27
Issued controlling opinion April 22, 2026
For nearly four decades, military contractors have enjoyed broad immunity from injured service members' lawsuits under a doctrine extending the federal government's battlefield protections to its private partners. On April 22, 2026, the Supreme Court ruled 6-3 that the shield has limits: when the government doesn't order or authorize the conduct that caused the injury, the contractor is on its own.
Updated Apr 23
IEEPA tariff ruling anticipated post-February 20 recess
The United States has imposed economic pressure on Cuba for 64 years. Now, for the first time, Washington is threatening to punish any country that sells oil to the island. President Trump's January 29 executive order creates a tariff mechanism targeting third countries that supply Cuban fuel—a significant escalation that goes beyond traditional bilateral sanctions to coerce allies and trading partners into joining an energy blockade. The strategy has proven devastatingly effective: Cuba's national power grid collapsed entirely on March 17, 2026, leaving approximately 10 million people without electricity and triggering ten consecutive days of street protests—the most visible civil unrest in years. Partial restoration occurred on March 18 after 29 hours, but the blackout deepened shortages of food, medicine, and water, and included the vandalization of a Cuban Communist Party provincial office in Morón, signaling fractures in state control. On March 21, Cuba blocked a US Embassy request to import diesel for generators, escalating diplomatic tensions amid ongoing rolling blackouts.
Updated Mar 21
Hearing the case; ruling expected by June 2026
Since 1968, federal law has barred anyone who uses illegal drugs from owning a firearm. On March 2, 2026, the Supreme Court heard arguments over whether that ban violates the Second Amendment—a question that could reshape gun rights for the roughly 50 million Americans who use marijuana in states where it is legal under state law but still illegal under federal law.
Updated Mar 2
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