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Supreme Court

The latest developments on the United States Supreme Court.

What two years without Roe looks like, in 8 charts
Explainers

Americans are confronting a whole new reality of patchwork abortion access after the Dobbs decision.

By Nicole Narea
Why the Supreme Court just ruled in favor of over 300 January 6 insurrectionistsWhy the Supreme Court just ruled in favor of over 300 January 6 insurrectionists
Supreme Court

The rules governing statutory construction often allow judges to choose how they want to read a law.

By Ian Millhiser
The Supreme Court just made a massive power grab it will come to regretThe Supreme Court just made a massive power grab it will come to regret
Supreme Court

Welcome to hell, SCOTUS.

By Ian Millhiser
What a big new Supreme Court decision could mean for homeless AmericansWhat a big new Supreme Court decision could mean for homeless Americans
Homelessness

The Grants Pass v. Johnson decision does not spell the end to fights over tent encampments in America.

By Rachel M. Cohen

The latest in Supreme Court

The Supreme Court just lit a match and tossed it into dozens of federal agenciesThe Supreme Court just lit a match and tossed it into dozens of federal agencies
Supreme Court

SEC v. Jarkesy could render much of the federal government unable to function.

By Ian Millhiser
The Supreme Court’s new abortion decision, explainedThe Supreme Court’s new abortion decision, explained
Supreme Court

The leaked decision is not a victory for abortion rights.

By Ian Millhiser
The Supreme Court rules that state officials can engage in a little corruption, as a treatThe Supreme Court rules that state officials can engage in a little corruption, as a treat
Supreme Court

Snyder v. US is the Republican justices’ latest decision weakening anti-corruption laws.

By Ian Millhiser
The Supreme Court hands an embarrassing defeat to America’s Trumpiest courtThe Supreme Court hands an embarrassing defeat to America’s Trumpiest court
Supreme Court

No, MAGA judges don’t get to decide what the Biden administration is allowed to say.

By Ian Millhiser
The Supreme Court will decide if the government can ban transgender health careThe Supreme Court will decide if the government can ban transgender health care
Supreme Court

Given the Court’s Republican supermajority, this case is unlikely to end well for trans people.

By Ian Millhiser
The Supreme Court refuses to accept blame for its worst guns decisionThe Supreme Court refuses to accept blame for its worst guns decision
Supreme Court

US v. Rahimi is completely incoherent, and it faults lower courts for the justices' own incompetence.

By Ian Millhiser
The Supreme Court’s new tax decision is great news for billionairesThe Supreme Court’s new tax decision is great news for billionaires
Supreme Court

Most of the justices voted not to blow up the US tax code, but the opinion has bad news for progressive proponents of wealth taxes.

By Ian Millhiser
What can Democrats actually do about Thomas’s and Alito’s corruption?What can Democrats actually do about Thomas’s and Alito’s corruption?
Supreme Court

Nothing, unless they win the election.

By Ian Millhiser
The Supreme Court just effectively legalized machine gunsThe Supreme Court just effectively legalized machine guns
Supreme Court

On a party line vote, the Court legalized “bump stocks,” which convert semiautomatic guns into fully automatic ones.

By Ian Millhiser
The Supreme Court’s abortion pill case is only a narrow and temporary victory for abortionThe Supreme Court’s abortion pill case is only a narrow and temporary victory for abortion
Supreme Court

The decision is unanimous, but it leaves open two routes Republicans could take to pull mifepristone from the market.

By Ian Millhiser
Justices Sotomayor and Kagan must retire nowJustices Sotomayor and Kagan must retire now
Supreme Court

I am begging the justices to learn from Ruth Bader Ginsburg's historic mistake.

By Ian Millhiser
Trump wants the Supreme Court to toss out his conviction. Will they?Trump wants the Supreme Court to toss out his conviction. Will they?
Supreme Court

It’s hard to see how they’d do it legally, but this Court has a history of reading the law creatively.

By Ian Millhiser
The NRA just won a big Supreme Court victory. Good.The NRA just won a big Supreme Court victory. Good.
Supreme Court

Even truly repulsive speakers have First Amendment rights.

By Ian Millhiser
Alito says the Supreme Court’s fake ethics code allows him to be unethicalAlito says the Supreme Court’s fake ethics code allows him to be unethical
Supreme Court

The Supreme Court's new ethics code is worse than nothing — Alito just proved it.

By Ian Millhiser
The Comstock Act, the long-dead law Trump could use to ban abortion, explainedThe Comstock Act, the long-dead law Trump could use to ban abortion, explained
Abortion

A defunct federal law is Republicans’ best hope of banning abortion throughout the United States.

By Ian Millhiser
The Supreme Court's new voting rights decision is a love letter to gerrymanderingThe Supreme Court's new voting rights decision is a love letter to gerrymandering
Supreme Court

Thanks to an opinion by Sam Alito, rigged maps now enjoy the Supreme Court's unambiguous support.

By Ian Millhiser
The Republican Party's man inside the Supreme CourtThe Republican Party's man inside the Supreme Court
Supreme Court

Justice Samuel Alito brings no vision and no unique insights to his job — other than unrelenting loyalty to the GOP.

By Ian Millhiser
The Supreme Court decides not to trigger a second Great DepressionThe Supreme Court decides not to trigger a second Great Depression
Supreme Court

Two justices dissent.

By Ian Millhiser
The messy SCOTUS drama about Black voters in Louisiana, explainedThe messy SCOTUS drama about Black voters in Louisiana, explained
Supreme Court

Multiple federal courts are fighting over Louisiana's illegal racial gerrymander.

By Ian Millhiser
The 9 worst court decisions since Trump remade the federal judiciaryThe 9 worst court decisions since Trump remade the federal judiciary
Supreme Court

This is what happens after four years under an insurrectionist president. It will get much worse if he gets eight.

By Ian Millhiser
The Supreme Court: The most powerful, least busy people in WashingtonThe Supreme Court: The most powerful, least busy people in Washington
Supreme Court

The justices are quietly quitting their day jobs as judges, even as they become more and more political.

By Ian Millhiser
Donald Trump had a fantastic day in the Supreme Court todayDonald Trump had a fantastic day in the Supreme Court today
Supreme Court

It’s unclear if the Court will explicitly hold that Trump could commit crimes with impunity, or if they’ll just delay his trial so long that it doesn’t matter.

By Ian Millhiser
How the Supreme Court weaponizes its own calendarHow the Supreme Court weaponizes its own calendar
Supreme Court

The justices already effectively gave Trump what he wants in his Supreme Court immunity case.

By Ian Millhiser
A new Supreme Court case seeks to make it much easier for criminals to buy gunsA new Supreme Court case seeks to make it much easier for criminals to buy guns
Supreme Court

The fight over “ghost guns” is back before the justices.

By Ian Millhiser
The Supreme Court’s likely to make it more dangerous to be pregnant in a red stateThe Supreme Court’s likely to make it more dangerous to be pregnant in a red state
Supreme Court

But it’s not yet clear they’ve settled on a rationale for doing so.

By Ian Millhiser
The Supreme Court doesn’t seem eager to get involved with homelessness policyThe Supreme Court doesn’t seem eager to get involved with homelessness policy
Supreme Court

Grants Pass v. Johnson is probably going to end badly for homeless people, but it’s not yet clear how broad the Court’s decision will be.

By Ian Millhiser
Donald Trump already won the only Supreme Court fight that matteredDonald Trump already won the only Supreme Court fight that mattered
Supreme Court

This case is about delaying his trial, and the GOP-controlled Supreme Court has given him everything he could reasonably hope for and more.

By Ian Millhiser
What the Supreme Court case on tent encampments could mean for homeless peopleWhat the Supreme Court case on tent encampments could mean for homeless people
Supreme Court

This week, the justices will hear the biggest case on homelessness in decades.

By Rachel M. Cohen
The Supreme Court case that could turn homelessness into a crime, explainedThe Supreme Court case that could turn homelessness into a crime, explained
Supreme Court

Grants Pass v. Johnson could make the entire criminal justice system far crueler. It also tests the limits of judicial power.

By Ian Millhiser
January 6 insurrectionists had a great day in the Supreme Court todayJanuary 6 insurrectionists had a great day in the Supreme Court today
Supreme Court

Most of the justices seem to want to make it harder to prosecute January 6 rioters.

By Ian Millhiser
The Supreme Court’s confusing new anti-trans decision, explainedThe Supreme Court’s confusing new anti-trans decision, explained
Supreme Court

The Court mostly reinstates Idaho’s ban on transgender health care for children.

By Ian Millhiser
The Supreme Court effectively abolishes the right to mass protest in three US statesThe Supreme Court effectively abolishes the right to mass protest in three US states
Supreme Court

It is no longer safe to organize a protest in Louisiana, Mississippi, or Texas.

By Ian Millhiser
The Supreme Court will decide if states can ban lifesaving abortionsThe Supreme Court will decide if states can ban lifesaving abortions
Supreme Court

A federal law requires hospitals to provide abortions when necessary to prevent serious health consequences. The justices could neutralize that law.

By Ian Millhiser
Why Republican federal judges are fighting among themselvesWhy Republican federal judges are fighting among themselves
Supreme Court

Simmering tensions between traditionalist Republican judges and MAGA judges are starting to boil over.

By Ian Millhiser
Even the Supreme Court seems sick of its abortion pills caseEven the Supreme Court seems sick of its abortion pills case
Supreme Court

The lawsuit challenging mifepristone should have never been heard by any court.

By Ian Millhiser
The Supreme Court will weigh in on the January 6 insurrection. What could possibly go wrong?The Supreme Court will weigh in on the January 6 insurrection. What could possibly go wrong?
Supreme Court

The Court’s decision could potentially undermine over 300 January 6 prosecutions, including Trump’s.

By Ian Millhiser
The Supreme Court’s abortion pills case, explainedThe Supreme Court’s abortion pills case, explained
Supreme Court

The stakes in the Supreme Court’s mifepristone case go way beyond abortion.

By Ian Millhiser
The Supreme Court’s confusing new border decision, explainedThe Supreme Court’s confusing new border decision, explained
Supreme Court

It is hard to believe that Justice Amy Coney Barrett actually agrees with her own opinion.

By Ian Millhiser
Brett Kavanaugh rides to the Biden administration’s defense in a big First Amendment caseBrett Kavanaugh rides to the Biden administration’s defense in a big First Amendment case
Supreme Court

The Supreme Court’s center right appears increasingly frustrated with the judiciary’s far right.

By Ian Millhiser