The Supreme Court has granted a temporary pause to the Biden administration's efforts to regulate so-called ghost guns, which are firearm-making kits available online. The regulations require background checks and registration with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and are intended to protect public safety. Opponents of the regulations argue that they infringe on the Second Amendment right to bear arms, and the legal battle over the regulations is likely to continue in the lower courts.
Posts tagged as “Brett Kavanaugh”
The Supreme Court has ruled that the use of affirmative action in college admissions is unconstitutional, with Chief Justice John Roberts writing the majority opinion and Justice Sonia Sotomayor writing a dissenting opinion. This decision is likely to have a significant impact on college admissions, as many institutions have long relied on affirmative action as a way to promote diversity on campus.
The Supreme Court ruled 8-1 in favor of the Biden administration's policy to prioritize the deportation of immigrants deemed to pose the greatest risk to public safety or were picked up at the border. The policy, which was blocked by the Trump administration, will now be able to take effect, allowing immigration officers to focus their resources on those who pose the greatest risk to public safety. Conservative Justice Brett Kavanaugh wrote for the majority that the challengers did not have legal standing to sue over the plan.
The Supreme Court ruled 5-4 against the Navajo Nation in a dispute over water access from the Colorado River, saying that the 1868 treaty with the tribe did not require the U.S. government to take active steps to secure water access. The tribe had requested an assessment of their water rights, but the ruling means they will not receive the water access they had requested. Justice Brett Kavanaugh wrote for the majority, saying that it was not the judiciary's role to rewrite and update the 155-year-old treaty.
Key takeaways: The Supreme Court’s ruling is a major victory for voting rights, and a major setback for those who seek to dilute the voting…
The Supreme Court ruled unanimously in favor of an Idaho couple in a landmark case that weakens the Clean Water Act. The Sacketts had challenged the EPA's compliance order claiming their land was subject to the law, arguing that their land did not contain wetlands subject to federal oversight. The decision is a major victory for property rights advocates and a setback for environmental groups, and will likely have far-reaching implications for the scope of the law and the ability of the EPA to regulate water pollution.
Rodney Reed, a Texas death row inmate, has been granted a chance to seek new DNA testing in the case of his 1996 conviction for murder by the Supreme Court. The 6-3 ruling overturned a lower court decision that said Reed had waited too long to make the request. The case will now be sent back to a lower court to decide whether to grant Reed's request for DNA testing, which could prove his innocence.
Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh suggested that the slow start to the term could be due to the justices taking time to get to know each other, the court's 6-3 conservative-liberal divide, and the addition of Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson. On Monday, the court announced a unanimous decision in one case and dismissed another, but it remains to be seen if the court will be able to catch up and finish their work on time.