Policy Area

Today the Supreme Court heard oral argument in California v. Texas. In this case it is possible the Supreme Court could rule that a portion of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is unconstitutional and strike down the entire law.

Predicting the outcome of Supreme Court cases based on oral argument is a risky proposition. Nevertheless, it appeared at...

Governments and school districts across the country are determining how to effectively adapt to COVID-19 and mitigate its effects on student learning and well-being. In particular, they are determining how to design and implement distance learning that meets the needs of all students, including traditionally underserved students who are facing even greater obstacles to learning amid COVID-19. This includes working to provide students with the resources they need to engage in remote learning; supporting teachers in their remote...

In a very brief, unauthored opinion the Supreme Court denied qualified immunity in Taylor v. Riojas to a number of correctional officers who confined Trent Taylor to a “pair of shockingly unsanitary cells” for six days. The Court didn’t hear oral argument in this case, and Justice Barrett didn’t participate in it.

In the last decade the Supreme Court has repeatedly overturned lower court refusals to grant police officers qualified immunity....

In a 5-3 decision the U.S. Supreme Court disallowed a lower court decision to go into effect which would have allowed absentee ballots to be counted if they were received as late as November 9, as long as they were postmarked on or before election day. As a result, Wisconsin absentee ballots must be...

The Supreme Court has frozen a district court order that lifted Alabama’s ban on curbside voting. As a result, curbside voting must discontinue in Alabama.

Alabama law is silent on curbside voting. A number of Alabama counties were offering it due to COVID-19. Alabama’s Secretary of State, John Merrill, has taken the position that curbside voting violates state law and has banned it. A federal district court...

In a 4-4 decision the U.S. Supreme Court allowed a Pennsylvania Supreme Court decision that requires ballots received up to three days after the election to be counted to stand. Ballots clearly postmarked after 8 PM on election night will not be counted if they arrive after 5 PM on November 6.

Only if a ballot is clearly postmarked after 8 PM on election night will it not be counted if it arrives by 5 PM on November...