Legal minds on legal matters and whatever else strikes our fancy.
In a step toward increased diversity in the judicial system, Brad Garcia, a former partner at O’Melveny & Myers, has been confirmed as the first Latino to serve on the prestigious U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. Garcia’s 53-40 Senate confirmation vote demonstrates support from both sides of the political spectrum. Garcia's confirmation [...]
Less than two weeks before Richard Glossip was scheduled to be executed on May 18th for the murder for hire of his former boss, the US Supreme Court intervened and granted a stay of execution. This is not the first time Glossip's execution has been stayed--in fact, this would be the state's 10th attempt to [...]
Nine Justices make up the current Supreme Court: one Chief Justice and eight Associate Justices. The Honorable John Roberts, Jr. is the 17th Chief Justice of the United States, and there have been 104 Associate Justices in the Court’s history. Supreme Court justices serve lifetime appointments after being nominated by the president and approved by [...]
On April 7, 2023, two conflicting rulings on the provision of mifepristone—the drug used for medication abortion—were issued by two separate federal court judges, one in Texas and one in Washington State. U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas Judge Kacsmaryk issued a preliminary injunction in his case, Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine v. [...]
Answer: No! The nine U.S. Supreme Court Justices are the only federal judges not bound by the Code of Conduct for U.S. Judges, which goes beyond the basic ethics laws enacted after the Watergate scandal and creates uniformity around thorny issues like recusals and participation in political activities. History: The Code of Conduct for U.S. [...]
United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit Order Implementing Procedures for the Filing of Highly Sensitive Documents On February 9, 2021, the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit issued this order implementing new procedures for the filing of highly sensitive documents (HSDs). HSDs are documents containing information that is likely [...]
The Supreme Court is the United States’ most powerful court of law. The Court’s rulings routinely shape the course of American public policy. It ended its last term with the conservative justices bending the law sharply rightward in a series of momentous decisions on abortion, gun rights, environmental regulations and religious rights that will reverberate [...]
During the last week of June 2022, the Court issued landmark decisions overturning abortion rights (Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization) and expanding gun rights (New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen), demonstrating a shift of power to the Court’s new 6-3 conservative supermajority. Legal commentators have long speculated that the Justices prefer [...]
The United States federal court system is a hierarchical structure consisting of three levels: the district courts, the courts of appeals, and the Supreme Court. District courts are trial-level courts who have jurisdiction over a wide range of federal cases, including criminal cases, civil cases involving federal law, and cases involving federal agencies. The courts [...]
The United States federal court system is a hierarchical structure consisting of three levels: the district courts, the courts of appeals, and the Supreme Court. District courts are trial-level courts who have jurisdiction over a wide range of federal cases, including criminal cases, civil cases involving federal law, and cases involving federal agencies. The courts [...]