Hardiman
Monday, July 9, 2018 – 09:00 a.m.
Who’s President Donald Trump going to pick for the open seat on the U.S. Supreme Court? Well only he knows thew answer to that question.
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Archive for the ‘ U.S. Supreme Court ’ Category
In this Jan. 10, 2018, file photo, people rally outside of the Supreme Court in opposition to Ohio’s voter roll purges in Washington. The Supreme Court is allowing Ohio to clean up its voting rolls by targeting people who haven’t cast ballots in a while. The justices are rejecting, by a 5-4 vote on June 11, 2018, arguments that the practice violates a federal law that was intended to increase the ranks of registered voters.(AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File)
By Mark Sherman
The Associated Press |
Published: June 11, 2018 at 10:24 am | Updated: June 11, 2018 at 10:24 am
WASHINGTON — States can target people who haven’t cast ballots in a while in efforts to purge their voting rolls, the Supreme Court ruled Monday in a case that has drawn wide attention amid stark partisan divisions and the approach of the 2018 elections.
By Patrick McGreevy
Jan. 19, 2018 – 3:32 p.m.
California Atty. Gen. Xavier Becerra filed a friend-of-the-court brief Friday to support mandatory union fees for public employees.
By Dan Walters
dwalters@sacbee.com
February 6, 2017 – 2:53 PM
Whenever the U.S. Senate confirms Neil Gorsuch – or some other Donald Trump nominee – to the U.S. Supreme Court, it will face a plethora of issues, and those involving California will be among the most controversial.
Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer lamented a previous rule change by Senate Democrats which allows a president’s Cabinet picks to be approved by a simple majority. (Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call File Photo)
Bridget Bowman
Posted Jan 3, 2017 – 10:13 PM
- Minority leader says Democrats will push for ‘mainstream’ nominee
Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer is preparing to block President-elect Donald Trump’s Supreme Court nominee if he or she is not in the “mainstream.”
By Bob Egelko
Published: November 26, 2016
Updated: November 26, 2016 – 6:00am
With his first Supreme Court appointment, President-elect Donald Trump will be in a position to deal a severe blow to unions representing government workers, the stronghold of organized labor in the United States.
By Josh Gerstein
Published: 06/27/16 – 10:33 AM EDT
Updated: 06/27/16 – 02:37 PM EDT
To read opinion, click the following link: U.S. v McDonnell
A unanimous Supreme Court has overturned the corruption convictions of former Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell, ruling that federal prosecutors relied on a “boundless” definition of the kinds of acts that could lead politicians to face criminal charges.
By Mark Sherman
Associated Press
Jun 23, 2016 – 10:50 AM EDT
WASHINGTON (AP) — A tie vote by the Supreme Court is blocking President Barack Obama’s immigration plan that sought to shield millions living in the U.S. illegally from deportation.
Filed under: Courts, Immigration, In the News, Law Enforcement, Legal, U.S. Government, U.S. Supreme Court
By Dan Walters
dwalters@sacbee.com
June 4, 2016 – 4:00 PM
- Pending bill aimed at overturning Supreme Court ruling
- However, it denounces practice that California allows
- Politicians rail against campaign money, but take it
State legislators – more precisely, Democratic legislators – worked themselves into a lather last month over what one called “the pernicious and pervasive role of money in politics.”
A Supreme Court ruling protects public employees against being demoted or fired for supporting the wrong political candidate in the eyes of their supervisors. (AFP / Getty Images)
David G. Savage
April 26, 2016
Just in time for the election season, the Supreme Court has strengthened the rights of the nation’s 22 million public employees to protect them against being demoted or fired for supporting the wrong political candidate in the eyes of their supervisors.
By Dan Walters
dwalters@sacbee.com
April 19, 2016 – 2:04 PM
- State has pursued inventor Gilbert Hyatt for a quarter-century
- Nevada courts said California had harassed Hyatt
- U.S. Supreme Court upholds Nevada’s spanking of California
There is a perpetual debate in California political circles over whether the state’s highest-in-the-nation income tax rates encourage the wealthy to take themselves and their money elsewhere.
Courts & Law
By Robert Barnes
April 4, 2016 at 8:47 PM
Follow @scotusreporter
The Supreme Court unanimously ruled Monday that states may satisfy “one person, one vote” rules by drawing election districts based on the total population of a place, a defeat for conservative interests that wanted the districts based only on the number of people eligible to vote.
Rebecca Friedrichs, a veteran Orange County public school teacher, sued to challenge the mandatory fees paid to the California Teachers Assn. (Greg Schneider / Associated Press)
David G. Savage
March 29, 2016
A well-planned legal assault on public unions collapsed Tuesday when the Supreme Court deadlocked over a California woman’s lawsuit to strike down mandatory fees, the strongest evidence yet that Justice Antonin Scalia’s death has stymied the court’s conservatives.
By Ariane de Vogue and Eugene Scott, CNN
Saturday, February 20, 2016 | Updated 10:27 PM ET
Washington (CNN) — A somber reunion of legal luminaries came to Washington on Saturday to celebrate the life of late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, who died last week at age 79.
The draped seat of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, who passed away Saturday.
By Burgess Everett
Published: 02/16/16 – 07:24 PM EST
Updated 02/16/16 – 08:38 PM EST
- Some Republicans are getting queasy over the optics of barring a Supreme Court nominee from even a courtesy hearing.
Mitch McConnell’s message to the White House after Antonin Scalia’s death on Saturday seemed unequivocal: Don’t even bother sending a Supreme Court nominee to Congress, we won’t act on it.
Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia died over the weekend, potentially affecting cases before the court, including an attempt to limit the financial reach of teachers unions. (Manuel Balce Ceneta / Associated Press)
Howard Blume
February 14, 2016
The death of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia could deal a major blow to a California lawsuit that had been widely expected to weaken the financial muscle of teachers unions across the country.
Associate U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia died on Saturday, Feb. 13. Scalia was appointed to the high court in 1986 by President Ronald Reagan.
By Robert Barnes
February 13, 2016 at 5:41 PM
Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, the intellectual cornerstone of the court’s modern conservative wing, whose elegant and acidic opinions inspired a movement of legal thinkers and ignited liberal critics, died Feb. 13 on a ranch near Marfa, Tex. He was 79.
Richard Wolf
USA TODAY
January 19, 2016 – 9:57 a.m. EST
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court will give President Obama a final shot at implementing his plan to shield more than 4 million undocumented immigrants from deportation.
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By Brian Mahoney and Josh Gerstein
Published: 01/11/16 – 11:54 AM EST
Updated: 01/11/16 – 02:26 PM EST
The Supreme Court appeared ready Monday to bar public-sector unions from collecting “fair-share” fees from non-members, a move that could deal a political blow to Democrats by reducing union membership drastically and draining union coffers.
Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy, seated next to McClatchy High School teacher Ellen Wong in 2013, appears to be the swing vote in a case involving public employee unions forcing nonmembers to pay dues. (Renée C. Byer – Sacramento Bee file)
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By Dan Walters
dwalters@sacbee.com
January 11, 2016 3:57 PM
- Lawsuit being argued challenges mandatory union dues
- Justices’ comments indicate unions will lose
- A loss could affect the clout unions have enjoyed
By Michael Doyle
mdoyle@mcclatchydc.com
January 8, 2016 – 2:40 PM
- Some educators oppose paying fees to California Teachers Association
- Conservatives see a chance to overturn prior Supreme Court ruling
- Unions fear that a loss will undermine their viability
Washington, D.C. —
The Supreme Court on Monday will hear oral argument in a case called Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association. It’s one of the most hotly contested disputes of the court’s 2015-16 term, with serious stakes for law, politics and business.
It raises lots of questions; here are some of them.
By Dan Walters
dwalters@sacbee.com
December 22, 2015 4:41 PM
- California, 3 neighboring states much different
- We get along with Oregon, not Arizona and Nevada
- Relations with Nevada are particularly frosty
There’s always been an incongruity about California’s having three disparate states on its borders.
Filed under: Business, Courts, Economy, Finance, In the News, Politics, State of California, U.S. Supreme Court
David G. Savage
December 14, 2015
California consumers who are angry about being hit with unexpected fees can be forced to air their complaints individually before an arbitrator rather than in a class-action lawsuit, under a decision handed down Monday by the U.S. Supreme Court.
By Howard Mintz
hmintz@mercurynews.com
Posted: 12/05/2015 – 12:13:57 PM PST
Updated: 12/05/2015 – 07:04:48 PM PST
With the potential for a seismic shift in the political landscape of California and other states hanging in the balance, the U.S. Supreme Court this week takes on a case that will test the framework of the “one person, one vote” principle that has defined political boundaries for generations.
By Dan Walters
dwalters@sacbee.com
December 6, 2015
- For a half century, legislative and congressional districts have been equal in population
- Plaintiffs before Supreme Court say districts should be created by number of potential voters
- If successful, lawsuit could aid conservatives by forcing districts to be redrawn
When an independent commission redrew California’s legislative and congressional districts four years ago, equalizing their populations was a bedrock goal.
California Attorney General Kamala Harris this month submitted a brief to the U.S. Supreme Court encouraging it to “allow public universities to consider race as one factor among many in admissions decisions.” (Damian Dovarganes/Associated Press)
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By Dan Walters
dwalters@sacbee.com
November 16, 2015
- 1996 measure outlawed affirmative action for college, government actions
- Issue now before U.S. Supreme Court as it considers Texas case
- State attorney general urges court to uphold affirmative action, despite her state’s stance
Proposition 209, passed by California voters in 1996, bars race, ethnicity or gender preferences in hiring, college admissions and other governmental actions.
Filed under: Courts, Democrats, Education, In the News, Legal, State of California, U.S. Supreme Court
Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia speaks at Santa Clara University Law School’s recital hall on Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2015 in Santa Clara, Calif. (Photo: Nathaniel Y. Downes, The Chronicle)
By Bob Egelko
October 28, 2015
Updated: October 29, 2015 – 6:46am
Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, widely viewed as the leader of the court’s dominant conservative bloc, told law students at Santa Clara University on Wednesday that he’s actually a dissident on a liberal court, one whose prevailing view threatens “the destruction of our democratic system.”
By Dan Walters
dwalters@sacbee.com
September 6, 2015
- A sixth of state’s workers are union members
- Labor wields a big stick in the Capitol
- Union political power faces two big threats
Only a sixth of California’s 15 million wage and salary workers belong to labor unions, most of them government workers.
By Peyton M. Craighill and Scott Clement
July 22, 215
Liberals have won a string of victories on gay marriage and health care reform this year, but a new Washington Post-ABC News poll finds a large majority of Americans are unhappy with where the nation is headed on social issues.
By Dan Morain
dmorain@sacbee.com
July 18, 2015
- California Teachers Association faces a major test in the U.S. Supreme Court
- Conservatives shift their assault on CTA and other unions to the courts
- Same-sex marriage, Democratic politics are implicated in Friedrichs v. CTA
For decades, organized labor, particularly the union that represents public school teachers, has been checking off boxes in California.
By Dan Walters
dwalters@sacbee.com
June 30, 2015
- Orange County teacher challenges California Teachers Association
- U.S. Supreme Court agrees to hear case in next term
- Were CTA to lose, it would affect its political power
California figured prominently, albeit indirectly, in the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent high-profile decisions on Obamacare, same-sex marriages and congressional redistricting.
Rebecca Friedrichs, a veteran Orange County teacher, is the lead plaintiff in a case brought by group of California schoolteachers, backed by a conservative group, asking the Supreme Court to rule that unions representing government workers can’t collect fees from those who choose not to join. (Greg Schneider/Courtesy of the Center for Individual Rights via AP)
By Sam Hananel, Associated Press
Posted: 06/30/15 – 8:12 AM PDT |
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court will consider limiting the power of government employee unions to collect fees from non-members in a case that labor officials say could threaten membership and further weaken union clout.
Los Angeles Times: Analysis California GOP benefits from redistricting decision as bigger case looms
The Supreme Court in Washington, where justices on Monday ruled that independent citizens’ commissions were allowed to draw electoral district lines. California’s districts are set up by its citizens’ commission. (Jacquelyn Martin / Associated Press)
By Cathleen Decker
June 29, 2015
- Supreme Court redistricting decision benefits Republicans in California, the opposite of its impact elsewhere
Like so many political events, the U.S. Supreme Court decision on Monday that upheld the right of independent citizen commissions to draw district lines inspired a different reaction in California than elsewhere in the nation.
By Dan Walters
dwalters@sacbee.com
June 29, 2015
- Supreme Court validates Arizona’s independent commission to draw congressional lines
- Arizona Republicans wanted to regain their power to draw districts
- California’s top-two primary system could have been at risk
Well, it was fun while it lasted.
But the fun – months of chattering by political cognoscenti about the possibility that the Legislature could regain its power to redraw congressional districts – ended Monday.
This Friday, July 25, 2014 file photo shows bottles of midazolam at a hospital pharmacy in Oklahoma City. On Monday, June 29, 2015, The Supreme Court voted 5-4 in a case from Oklahoma saying that the sedative midazolam can be used in executions without violating the Eighth Amendment prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki, File)
By Brenda Gazzar, Los Angeles Daily News
Posted: 06/29/15 – 8:07 PM PDT |
A Supreme Court decision upholding a controversial drug used in lethal injection executions in Oklahoma starts the clock for California to come up with its own injection procedures, thus increasing the chance executions could resume here.
By Debra J. Saunders
Monday, June 29, 2015 – Updated 4:43 pm
San Francisco changed America. When then-Mayor Gavin Newsom opened City Hall to same-sex marriages during the 2004 Winter of Love, he had determined to “put a human face on discrimination.” The long line of couples eager to tie the knot appealed to the public’s romantic side. When two people are in love and want to commit to each other for the rest of their lives, activists asked, how can the government say no?
Sunday, June 28, 2015 – 10:30 a.m.
Set aside all the hubbub.
The Supreme Court of the United States did the Republican Party a huge favor this week.
By Debra J. Saunders
Friday, June 26, 2015 – Updated 2:12 pm
The GOP-majority Supreme Court saved President Obama’s bacon Thursday with a political ruling that papered over his signature Affordable Care Act. Writing for the majority in the 6-3 King vs. Burwell decision, Chief Justice John Roberts noted that the 900-page law was written behind closed doors with little debate or amendment, and thus was “inartfully drafted.” It was the court’s obligation, he wrote, to translate bill language limiting the government subsidies to enrollees in “an exchange established by the state” to also cover federal exchanges.
By Adam Liptak
June 26, 2015
WASHINGTON — In a long-sought victory for the gay rights movement, the Supreme Court ruled on Friday that the Constitution guarantees a right to same-sex marriage.
Thursday, June 25, 2015 – 05:00 p.m.
On the Lou Desmond and Company Show tonight, Lou is joined in the studio by Toyota of San Bernardino Owner Cliff Cummings and on the newsmaker line by Constitutional Scholar Ralph Rossum to discuss today’s depressing SCOTUS ruling. Scalia said it best: words no longer have meaning. So how could the Court end up at such a ruling?
By Mark Sherman
June 25, 2015
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Thursday upheld the nationwide tax subsidies underpinning President Barack Obama’s health care overhaul, rejecting a major challenge to the landmark law in a ruling that preserves health insurance for millions of Americans.
Politics
June 24, 2015
By Sam Hananel, Associated Press
Washington — Powerful public-sector unions are facing another high-profile legal challenge that they say could wipe away millions from their bank accounts and make it tougher for them to survive.
By Lawrence Hurley
Sunday, June 21, 2015
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Tensions are building inside and outside the white marble facade of the U.S. Supreme Court building as the nine justices prepare to issue major rulings on gay marriage and President Barack Obama’s healthcare law by the end of the month.
Tuesday, June 2, 2015 – 05:00 p.m.
Tonight on the Lou Desmond and Company Show: Lou is joined by Paul Chabot, candidate for United States Congress. They discuss the California State Senate bill that was passed today to extend health services to those who are here illegally. Also, pools could be the next target in California’s water crisis.
State Sen. Kevin de Leon, the top ranking Latino legislator in California, speaks at a immigration rally last November in downtown Los Angeles. (Gary Friedman / Los Angeles Times)
By Cathleen Decker
May 27, 2015
The U.S. Supreme Court’s unexpected decision to take up a Texas voting case poses perhaps the most acute threat in a generation to Latino political strength in California. But how much of the threat actually materializes is decidedly less known.
By Melanie Mason and Patrick McGreevy
May 27, 2015
In recent years, California voters have backed a series of changes to the state’s elections system to reshape its political landscape. Now, potential upheaval is brewing again, this time from the U.S. Supreme Court.
By David G. Savage
May 18, 2015
Supreme Court Justice Anthony M. Kennedy dealt a speedy setback Monday to conservative advocacy groups that had sought to shield the names of their major donors in California.
Filed under: Campaigns, Courts, Elections, In the News, Legal, Politics, Republicans, State of California, U.S. Supreme Court
Politics
May 9, 2015
By Alan Fram, Associated Press
Vulnerable House incumbents are fattening their campaign accounts as the Supreme Court approaches a decision on a case that could force legislatures to reshape congressional districts in 13 states or more, perhaps in time for next year’s elections.
By David G. Savage
March 29, 2015
A California school dispute that arose when students wore shirts emblazoned with the American flag on Cinco de Mayo could prompt the Supreme Court to take a new look at free-speech rules for high schools.
By Ed Mendel
March 16, 2015
A U.S. Supreme Court ruling in January weakens the “vested rights” protection of retiree health care based on a labor contract, potentially making it easier for government employers to cut a growing cost.
Filed under: Budget, Cities, Counties, Courts, Finance, In the News, Legal, Local Government, U.S. Supreme Court
Monday, March 9, 2015 – 04:30 p.m.
Tonight on The Lou Desmond & Company Show, estimable economist Jay Prag joins Lou to discuss what it takes to be a leader in a business setting.
Filed under: Business, Campaigns, Democrats, Elections, Healthcare, In the News, Media, Politics, U.S. Supreme Court
By Phil Willon and Melanie Mason
March 8, 2015
A U.S. Supreme Court case that could force California to redraw its congressional districts has stirred up fears of a return to partisan gerrymandering, a divisive process that has been criticized for both cementing and crushing political careers.
Filed under: Courts, Elections, In the News, Legal, Politics, State of California, U.S. Government, U.S. Supreme Court
Wednesday, March 4, 2015 – 04:30 p.m.
Tonight on The Lou Desmond & Company Show, Executive Director of Pacific Legal Foundation’s D.C. Center and Constitutional Senior Fellow Todd Gaziano joins Lou to discuss the Supreme Court’s oral arguments that took place earlier today.
By Dan Walters
dwalters@sacbee.com
03/02/2015 9:53 PM
One can read too much into questions and comments from appellate judges during oral arguments, but with that caveat, it appears that the U.S. Supreme Court is poised to erase the redrawing of congressional districts by independent commissions created by voters through the initiative process.
Monday, March 2, 2015 – 04:00 p.m.
Tonight on The Lou Desmond & Company Show, Shannon Goessling from Southeastern Legal Foundation joins Lou to discuss SLF’s litigation against the EPA and their violation of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).
By PAUL MITCHELL
Posted 02.24.2015
A case before the U.S. Supreme Court, with arguments set to be heard on March 2, could reduce the role of the State Redistricting Commission, invalidate the 2011 Congressional lines, and hand to the legislature the immediate responsibility of redrawing 53 valuable seats.
Filed under: Campaigns, Courts, Elections, In the News, Legal, Politics, State of California, U.S. Supreme Court
Tuesday, February 3, 2015 – 05:00 p.m.
Tonight on The Lou Desmond & Company Show, Ralph Rossum, Salvatori Professor of American Constitutionalism at Claremont McKenna College, joins Lou to discuss ISIS and foreign policy.
Self-serving gerrymanders had become so common in California that the state’s voters finally shifted the power over legislative and congressional districts from the Legislature to an independent commission. The Legislature could recapture its district-drawing power over congressional districts if the Arizona Legislature wins a case now pending before the U.S. Supreme Court (pictured) that challenges the legitimacy of that state’s redistricting commission. (Jacquelyn Martin/AP)
By Dan Walters
dwalters@sacbee.com
02/02/2015 12:01 AM
When politicians tinker with the laws governing their own elections, one should view their proposals with a guilty-until-proven-innocent attitude.
Twice in the last three years, Justice Samuel Alito has written opinions dealing defeats to public unions. Above, Alito at the Reagan library in Simi Valley. (Lawrence K. Ho, Los Angeles Times)
By David G. Savage
January 31, 2015
Seeing an opening to weaken public-sector unions, a conservative group is asking the Supreme Court to strike down laws in California, Illinois and about 20 other states that require teachers and other government employees to pay union fees, even if they are personally opposed.
By Kelly Puente
Jan. 26, 2015 – Updated 4:25 p.m.
A group of California public school teachers petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday to hear a case that would decide whether public employees should be required to pay union dues.
The Supreme Court announced Friday that it will decide whether same-sex couples have a right to marry anywhere in the U.S. under the Constitution, setting the stage for a potentially historic ruling.
By Robert Barnes
January 16, 2015 at 7:20 PM
The Supreme Court announced Friday that it will decide a historic question about whether the Constitution requires that same-sex couples be allowed to marry no matter where they live or whether states are free to limit wedlock to its traditional definition as a union only between a man and a woman.
Antonin Scalia told an interviewer that harsh interrogation techniques were constitutional and might be justified in some cases.
By Bob Egelko
January 2, 2015 – 5:39 PM
Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia prides himself on interpreting the Constitution as it was intended by those who drafted it. When it comes to torture of suspected terrorists, one of those drafters might be Jack Bauer.
Filed under: Central Intelligence Agency, Courts, In the News, Legal, U.S. Government, U.S. Supreme Court
Democrats pushed through dozens in December, but Republicans have all the leverage now.
By Burgess Everett
12/29/14 9:02 PM EST
Democrats are still dancing in the end zone after running up the score on dozens of President Barack Obama’s nominees during the lame duck.
They should enjoy the moment, because Republicans are about to step up their goal-line defense.
By Dan Walters
dwalters@sacbee.com
12/15/2014 12:08 AM
More than a half-dozen of California’s Democratic congressional members had a scare in last month’s election, barely winning re-election against unexpectedly strong Republican challenges.
Filed under: Campaigns, Courts, Democrats, Elections, In the News, Legal, Politics, Republicans, State of California, U.S. Supreme Court
The court to rule on on whether low- and middle-income Americans may receive subsidies in two-thirds of the states to make insurance more affordable. (Associated Press)
Court ot rule on healthcare law again
By David G. Savage
November 7, 2014
The Supreme Court will decide the fate of President Obama’s healthcare law yet again, this time ruling on whether low- and middle-income Americans may receive subsidies in two-thirds of the states to make insurance more affordable.
Posted on Monday, October 6 at 6:20pm | By Bob Egelko
When police fatally shoot someone without justification, California law allows the victims’ estates to recover damages for economic losses, but not for the pain the victim suffered before death. That limitation will no longer apply in federal courts in the state, as the result of an order Monday by the U.S. Supreme Court.
By Dan Walters
dwalters@sacbee.com
Published: Tuesday, Oct. 7, 2014 – 12:00 am
Last Modified: Tuesday, Oct. 7, 2014 – 12:20 am
Political cognoscenti know that the most important factor in determining which politician and party wins a congressional or a state legislative seat is how the district lines are drawn.
The court released no vote count Monday and no justice publicly dissented.
By JOSH GERSTEIN | 10/6/14 8:06 PM EDT
The U.S. Supreme Court added fuel Monday to the same-sex marriage drive sweeping the country like wildfire, clearing the way for judicial rulings to add 11 more states to the 19 which already allow the practice.
Gay rights advocate Vin Testa in front of the Supreme Court. The prospect of a monumental ruling on same-sex marriage dominates expectations of the coming session.
By Robert Barnes
October 4, 2014 at 7:16 PM
The 10th edition of the Supreme Court under Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. begins work Monday with the prospect of a monumental ruling for gay rights that could serve as a surprising legacy of an otherwise increasingly conservative court.
By Matea Gold
September 2, 2014 at 12:00 AM
Andrew Sabin gave Republicans so much money in 2012 that he accidentally went over a limit on how much individuals could donate to federal candidates and party committees.
By Dan Walters
dwalters@sacbee.com
Published: Monday, Jul. 7, 2014 – 12:00 am
At any given moment, dozens of comatose bills float around the Legislature – vessels to be filled with whatever the powers-that-be want to enact quickly and semi-clandestinely.
Filed under: Courts, Democrats, In the News, Legal, Politics, State of California, U.S. Supreme Court, Unions
David G. Savage
July 4, 2014
The Supreme Court led by Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. showed again this year that it is playing a long game, writing opinions that move the law in small but steady steps in a conservative direction.
Patrick McGreevy, Tony Perry and Julie Cart
June 30, 2014
A California law barring therapy aimed at converting the sexual orientation of minors from gay to straight withstood a legal challenge as the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday refused to hear an appeal arguing that the statute violates free speech rights.
There was time when a majority of Americans were confident in their Supreme Court, but those positive feelings have been eroding in the last quarter of a century so that just 30% now say they have confidence in the institution, according to a Gallup poll.
Michael Muskal
June 30, 2014
The poll, released Monday, had good news and bad news for the high court, a unique institution that serves as a check and balance in the United States. People have more confidence in the court than in any other arm of government, but that may not be saying that much when confidence in the presidency stands at 29% and in the Congress at 7%.
WASHINGTON — Jun 30, 2014, 10:08 AM ET
By SAM HANANEL
Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) The Supreme Court dealt a blow to public sector unions Monday, ruling that thousands of home health care workers in Illinois cannot be required to pay fees that help cover a union’s costs of collective bargaining.
By Jon Ortiz
jortiz@sacbee.com
Published: Monday, Jun. 30, 2014 – 10:49 pm
Last Modified: Tuesday, Jul. 1, 2014 – 7:39 am
The U.S. Supreme Court chipped away at government-employee union power on Monday by ruling that Illinois home-support workers paid with public money can reject union membership.
Monday, June 30, 2014 – 09:45 a.m.
The United States Supreme Court has fired a shot across the bow of labor unions, who collect mandatory dues under agency shop agreements.
Jun 30, 11:30 AM EDT
By MARK SHERMAN
Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court ruled Monday that some corporations can hold religious objections that allow them to opt out of the new health law requirement that they cover contraceptives for women.
The Supreme Court’s decision against recess appointments highlights the president’s risky strategy.
By Zachary A. Goldfarb
June 26 at 8:41 PM
The Supreme Court decision invalidating President Obama’s use of recess appointments laid bare the legal and political risks the president faces as he makes the aggressive use of executive power a core tenet of his second term.
Opinions
Charles Krauthammer Opinion writer
June 26 at 8:08 PM
The Supreme Court this week admonished the Environmental Protection Agency for overreaching in regulating greenhouse gases. The Clean Air Act covers polluters that emit 250 tons per year (or in some cases, 100 tons). This standard makes no sense if applied to greenhouse gases. Thousands of establishments from elementary schools to grocery stores would be, absurdly, covered. So the EPA arbitrarily chose 100,000 tons as the carbon dioxide threshold.
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that police cannot search a suspect’s smartphone without a warrant during an arrest, marking a major victory for privacy rights.
David G. Savage
June 25, 2014
The Supreme Court brought the constitutional right of personal privacy into the digital era Wednesday, ruling unanimously that police may not search a smartphone or similar device without a warrant from a judge.
June 15, 2014 – 4:36 AM EDT
By MARK SHERMAN
Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — It’s crunch time at the Supreme Court, where the justices are racing to issue opinions in 17 cases over the next two weeks.
Supreme Court allows prayer at public meetings
David G. Savage
May 5, 2014
The Supreme Court’s decision Monday to allow Christian prayers at city council and other public meetings divided justices not only ideologically, but along religious lines as well.
By David G. Savage
April 22, 2014, 8:11 a.m.
WASHINGTON—The Supreme Court upheld Michigan’s ban on the use of racial affirmative action in its state universities Tuesday, ruling that voters are entitled to decide the issue.
Posted on Tuesday, April 8 at 5:40pm | By John Wildermuth
Think last week’s McCutcheon v. Federal Election Commission decision, where the Supreme Court said rich guys could give to as many congressional campaigns as they like, is, to quote San Francisco’s own Nancy Pelosi, “a very existential threat” to our system of government?
Cheer up. Things could be worse. It could be California.
Filed under: Campaigns, Courts, Elections, In the News, Politics, State of California, U.S. Supreme Court