Samuel Alito

Rule Changes

Wrote the principal dissent

If you mail your ballot by Election Day in about 15 states, it still counts when it lands a few days late. The Supreme Court said so on June 29, voting 5-4 to uphold a Mississippi law that gives mail ballots a five-day grace period.

Updated Jun 29

Rule Changes

Authored the 6-3 Callais majority limiting Section 2 to cases with a strong inference of intentional discrimination

The Supreme Court ruled 6-3 on April 29, 2026, in Louisiana v. Callais. 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.

Updated May 31

Rule Changes

Wrote dissenting opinion joined by Roberts and Kavanaugh

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 May 31

Rule Changes

Lead dissenter in Hamm v. Smith

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

Rule Changes

Recused due to ConocoPhillips/Burlington Resources stock holdings

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.

Updated May 20

Rule Changes

Author of Shelby County decision; conservative majority member in Louisiana v. Callais

The Supreme Court is one decision away from gutting what remains of the Voting Rights Act. A pending ruling in Louisiana v. Callais could eliminate at least 15 House seats currently held by Black members of Congress—the largest-ever single decline in Black representation. The case turns on whether states can consider race when drawing districts to prevent vote dilution, with the Court's conservative majority signaling they view such efforts as unconstitutional discrimination against white voters.

Updated May 19

Rule Changes

Lead dissenter in Supreme Court decision

The Supreme Court told President Trump he can't send National Guard troops to Illinois. The 6-3 decision on December 23 marks the first time the modern court has blocked a president from federalizing state Guard units over a governor's objections. Trump claimed protests at an ICE facility in suburban Chicago constituted a rebellion, and the court wasn't buying it.

Updated May 16

Rule Changes

Issued the May 12 stay extension

The Supreme Court has until Thursday at 5 p.m. ET to decide whether mifepristone can keep shipping by mail. Alito's May 14 stay is all that blocks a May 1 Fifth Circuit ruling ending telehealth mifepristone prescribing and mail delivery nationwide.

Updated May 13