Policy Area

Without explanation, without referring the matter to the entire Court, and without calling for a response, Justice Kavanaugh denied a request for an emergency injunction to strike down Illinois Governor Pritzker’s executive order limiting gatherings to 50 people while exempting religious gathering.

Likely Justice Kavanaugh refused to grant the injunction because the standard is high. The Supreme Court only grants...

In Chiafalo v. Washington, the Supreme Court upheld Washington state’s law fining “faithless” electors that do not vote for the candidate that won the state’s popular vote. Likewise, the Court reversed the Tenth Circuit’s decision in Baca v. Colorado Dept. of State, which held that removing a “faithless” elector was unconstitutional. Justice Kagan wrote the opinion...

In a 5-4 vote the Supreme Court stayed a federal district court order requiring absentee election managers (AEMs) to not enforce a number of absentee ballot requirements in three counties in Alabama and lifting a prohibition against curbside voting in the state.

In response to COVID-19, Alabama Governor Ivey moved the runoff primary election from March 31 to July 14. Alabama’s Secretary of State Merrill promulgated an emergency regulation...

In fact, Justice Kavanaugh (fairly) describes Justice Breyer as arguing in favor of overruling Reed v. Town of Gilbert (2015).  

In Barr v. American Association of Political Consultants the Supreme Court held 6-3 that the Telephone Consumer Protection Act’s (TCPA) debt-collection exception was content-based, failed strict scrutiny, and therefore violated the First Amendment.

The State and Local Legal Center filed an ...

The Supreme Court turned down a request by the Texas Democratic Party to reinstate a federal district court preliminary injunction ordering Texas to permit all voters to “apply for, receive, and cast an absentee ballot in upcoming elections during the pendency of pandemic circumstances.”

The Fifth Circuit stayed the injunction and the...

In Espinoza v. Montana Department of Revenue, the Supreme Court held 5-4 that the U.S. Constitution’s Free Exercise Clause allows families to receive tax-credit funded scholarships to attend religious schools regardless of the Montana Constitution’s no-aid to sectarian schools provision.

The Montana legislature established a program offering tax credits for donations to “student scholarship organization,” which give children scholarships to...

In a 5-4 decision in June Medical Services v. Russo the Supreme Court struck down Louisiana’s admitting privileges law. Five Justices agreed that Louisiana’s law created an unconstitutional “substantial obstacle” to women obtaining abortions.

A Louisiana law requiring abortion providers to hold admitting privileges at a nearby hospital was nearly identical to a Texas law the Supreme Court struck down 5-4 in...

When a county in Indiana Rep. Randy Frye's district proposed a tax increase to build a new jail in order to relieve overcrowding, his constituents balked. After noticing their opposition to the tax increase, he wanted to get to the root of the issue....