Smart conversation from the National Constitution Center
The United States Supreme Court is the highest court of the judicial branch of government—its duty is to interpret the law. Since 1803, the Supreme Court has been understood to have the power to declare national, state, and local laws unconstitutional. Article III of the Constitution defines the Supreme Court and which cases it can hear, and how other federal courts are established.
On November 9, 1953, the United States Supreme Court upheld a prior, controversial decision that allowed major league baseball to operate outside of the Sherman Antitrust Act.
The Trump Administration has asked the Supreme Court to end Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (or DACA) program and to do so in the Court’s current term.
The Supreme Court late Friday afternoon sent the Trump Administration two quite clear signals that the government has been depending too much on the Supreme Court to thwart challenges to the government’s policies in the lower federal courts.
Arguing that one of President Trump’s Cabinet secretaries should not have to answer lawyers’ questions about citizenship in the 2020 census, the Administration urged the Supreme Court on Monday to delay a trial on that issue, now set to start next Monday.
Without comment, the Supreme Court on Monday denied an appeal from Pennsylvania Republicans about a new election map for congressional races mandated by the state’s Supreme Court.
The Trump Administration has switched its own legal position on applying civil rights law to protect transgender people, in a filing Wednesday at the Supreme Court.
With praise from Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr., as a “towering figure in the history of the United States and indeed the world,” retired Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor disclosed on Tuesday that she has been diagnosed with dementia and that it is forcing her to withdraw from public activities.
On October 23, 1987, the United States Senate held one of the most-controversial votes on a Supreme Court nominee in its history, when it rejected Robert Bork’s appointment.
On October 16, 1962, Justice Byron R. White joined the Supreme Court as one of two appointments made by President John F. Kennedy. In 2012, Constitution Daily contributor Lyle Denniston wrote a retrospective about White's Supreme Court career, which we have reprinted here.
The Supreme Court will settle a dispute over a video that aired on a New York City public access television channel that could have ramifications for social media and public radio stations.