Supreme Court

Politics & Government

Supreme Court Justices Seem Incredulous At Repeated Racial Bias In Jury Selection

6:07pm March 20, 2019

by Nina Totenberg

In a Mississippi death penalty case, the justices were skeptical of the way the state picked and dismissed black jurors and appeared ready not to uphold the conviction.

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Evan Thomas breaks new ground with extraordinary access to Sandra Day O'Connor, her papers, journals — and even 20 years of her husband's diary.

From Triumph To Tragedy, 'First' Tells Story Of Justice Sandra Day O'Connor

4:19pm March 18, 2019

by Nina Totenberg

First is unlike any other book written about the justice. Evan Thomas breaks new ground with extraordinary access to O'Connor, her papers, journals — and even 20 years of her husband's diary.

Lee Boyd Malvo, pictured in 2003, listens to court proceedings during the trial of fellow sniper suspect John Allen Muhammad in Virginia Beach, Va.

Politics & Government

Supreme Court To Take Up D.C. Sniper Case, Raising Issue Of Sentencing Minors

2:17pm March 18, 2019

by Domenico Montanaro

Lee Boyd Malvo was convicted in the 2002 killings and is serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole. But he was a minor, and the Supreme Court says that's not allowed in most cases now.

The coal-fired Tata Mundra power plant in western India was funded by a branch of the World Bank. A group of farmers and fishermen is suing, claiming that contamination of local water sources has disrupted their livelihoods.

U.S. Supreme Court Rules That World Bank Can Be Sued

1:20pm March 07, 2019

by Tim McDonnell

The 7-1 decision overturns a 70-plus-year standard of immunity for the bank and its branches. Now a lawsuit filed on behalf of fisherfolk in India can go forward.

The Supreme Court as seen on a morning last month.

Politics & Government

Supreme Court Denies Religious Building Preservation Funds Case

12:58pm March 04, 2019

The court let stand a New Jersey ruling not allowing government money for the restoration or preservation of religious buildings, like synagogues, temples, churches and mosques.

Politics & Government

Supreme Court To Decide Fate Of World War I Memorial Cross On Public Land

5:17am February 27, 2019

by Nina Totenberg

The American Humanist Association is challenging the existence of a 40-foot cross on government-owned land, but the Trump administration hopes a newly conservative majority will agree to let it stand.

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Separate: The Story of Plessy v. Ferguson, And America's Journey From Slavery to Segregation, by Steve Luxenberg

'Separate' Is An Eye-Opening Journey Through Some Of America's Darkest Passages

12:18pm February 25, 2019

by Terence Samuel

Author Steve Luxenberg repeatedly manages to tell us stories around Plessy v. Ferguson that capture both the hope and the hopelessness that has been central to America's long argument about race.

Crews remove early morning snow during a winter storm at the Supreme Court on Wednesday. It's not unusual for the high court to be open when the rest of Washington is closed.

Politics & Government

Supreme Court Limits Civil Asset Forfeiture, Rules Excessive Fines Apply To States

5:17pm February 20, 2019

by Nina Totenberg

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg wrote the opinion and announced it on just her second day back at court after surgery for lung cancer late last year.

Ginsburg, sketched here with the rest of the Supreme Court last year, worked from home on the cases the court heard in January. On Tuesday, she returned to the bench.

Justice Ginsburg Appears Strong In First Appearance At Supreme Court This Year

4:34pm February 19, 2019

by Nina Totenberg

The justice has been recovering at home since late December. She missed January's oral argument days but participated in those 11 cases based on written briefs and transcripts of the arguments.

Newly sworn-in U.S. citizens rise from their seats during a 2018 naturalization ceremony in Alexandria, Va.

Supreme Court To Decide Whether 2020 Census Will Include Citizenship Question

5:04pm February 15, 2019

by Hansi Lo Wang

The high court agreed to a speedy review of a lower court's ruling that stopped Trump administration plans to use the census to ask whether every person living in the country is a U.S. citizen.