The cases against former Gov. Rick Snyder and other top officials were thrown into doubt by the ruling.
Tag Archives: Supreme Courts (State)
A Broken Redistricting Process Winds Down, With No Repairs in Sight
A brutal battle over drawing district boundaries in the House of Representatives has left the two political parties roughly at parity. But no one is celebrating.
Florida Supreme Court Turns Down DeSantis Voting Map Challenge
The court’s refusal means that the November elections will most likely be based on legislative maps a lower court said illegally diluted the power of Black voters.
Wisconsin Supreme Court Approves Republican-Drawn Legislative Maps
The court had approved state maps drawn by the Democratic governor, but the U.S. Supreme Court struck down that decision, citing the federal Voting Rights Act.
House G.O.P. Kills Bid to Honor Pioneering Black Judge
A right-wing congressman persuaded fellow Republicans to abruptly turn against a routine measure to name a federal courthouse in Florida for a Black State Supreme Court justice.
Idaho Supreme Court Halts 6-Week Abortion Ban Based on Texas’ Law
The court says Idaho’s law cannot go into effect this month as scheduled while it reviews legal challenges. The ban prohibits abortions after fetal cardiac activity is detected.
As Both Parties Gerrymander Furiously, State Courts Block the Way
State judges have been throwing out congressional maps they call partisan gerrymanders, in a sign of the effects of a 2019 Supreme Court ruling that pushed the issue below the federal level.
Supreme Court Sides With Republicans in Case on Wisconsin Redistricting
The justices sent a case on legislative maps back to a state court for another look, but they refused a request to block the state’s congressional maps.
Ohio Supreme Court Intensifies a Redistricting Map Standoff
Years ago, voters created a commission to make political maps fairer. Now the State Supreme Court is blocking maps drawn by the Republican-led commission, saying nothing has changed.
Texas Supreme Court Shuts Down Final Challenge to Abortion Law
The ruling says state officials have no authority to enforce the law, which empowers private citizens: “We cannot rewrite the statute.”
Supreme Court Allows Court-Imposed Voting Maps in North Carolina and Pennsylvania
State courts had ruled that earlier maps for congressional elections had been warped by partisan gerrymandering.
New York’s Chief Judge Wants to Consolidate the Court Network
Chief Judge Janet DiFiore wants the State Legislature to approve her plan to consolidate the state’s sprawling court network, which would condense 11 trial courts into 2.
Biden Predicts His Supreme Court Nominee Will Get G.O.P. Support
The president has said that he wants the advice and consent of the Senate as he deliberates, despite the reality that his nominee may draw few votes from the other side of the aisle.
What Leondra Kruger, a Potential Nominee, Could Bring to the Supreme Court
Known for her ‘elegant’ mind, the moderate judge, now on President Biden’s short list of potential high court nominees, could be a mediating force in Washington.
In North Carolina, a Pitched Battle Over Gerrymanders and Justices
A fight over who is fit to hear a redistricting case highlights what experts say is the growing influence of ideology and money over state supreme courts nationwide.
Judge Upholds His Block on New York Times Coverage of Project Veritas
The New York State judge also ordered The Times to turn over any physical copies and destroy any electronic versions of documents a lawyer prepared for the group.
In Bill Cosby Case, Supreme Court Is Asked to Toss Ruling That Freed Him
The prosecutors who brought the 2018 sexual assault case are appealing the decision in June by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court that overturned the jury verdict.
As Gerrymanders Get Worse, Options to Overturn Them Get Weaker
Persuading judges to undo skewed political maps was never easy. A shifting judicial landscape is making it harder.
The Core Legal Strategy Against Opioid Companies May Be Faltering
Two recent rulings rejected the “public nuisance” argument being used in thousands of cases against the industry, with more trials and settlement talks underway.
Despite the Cosby Ruling, Andrea Constand Feels Like a ‘Symbol of Hope’
As she releases her memoir, Constand details her reactions to the court decision that overturned Bill Cosby’s conviction on sexual assault charges.
Edward J. Greenfield, Judge With a Writerly Touch, Dies at 98
He often luxuriated in the richness of the English language, going off on whimsical digressions and enlivening the law with colorful asides.
Air Force Is Most to Blame for 2017 Church Shooting, Judge Rules
The ruling in the case, which was brought by the families of the victims, found that the Air Force was “60 percent responsible” for the massacre in Sutherland Springs, Texas.
‘Overwhelmed and Devastated’: Cosby’s Accusers on Decision to Free Him
Many of the women who accused Bill Cosby of sexual misconduct, and worse, said they were disheartened by the ruling of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.
An Unmarried Catholic Schoolteacher Got Pregnant. She Was Fired.
A lawsuit that she filed in New Jersey is testing the First Amendment limits of religious freedom.
N.Y.C.’s Police Chokehold Ban Is Struck Down by Court
In a victory for police unions, a state Supreme Court judge said a law passed by the City Council is too vaguely worded.
Tamir Rice’s Mother Asks Court to Block Rehiring of Officer Who Killed Her Son
Samaria Rice wants the Ohio Supreme Court to keep the man who killed her son in 2014 from being reinstated as a Cleveland police officer. The former officer, Timothy Loehmann, was never charged.
A Push to Move the Golf Course Atop a Native American ‘Stonehenge’
Historians hoping to preserve the ancient Octagon Earthworks in Newark, Ohio, as a UNESCO World Heritage site face a problem: the golf club that leases the property.
Charlottesville Can Remove Confederate Statues, High Court Rules
Monuments to the Confederate generals Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson are not protected by state law and can come down, the Virginia Supreme Court ruled on Thursday.
Ruling in Minnesota Rape Case Fuels Calls to Change Sexual Assault Law
The state Supreme Court tossed out a man’s conviction on a third-degree sexual conduct charge because the woman he was accused of assaulting was “voluntarily intoxicated” at the time.
We Still Have to Worry About the Supreme Court and Elections
The justices are about to consider whether the Voting Rights Act applies to policies that restrict the vote.
Tennessee Executed Sedley Alley. Was He Innocent?
If DNA exonerates Sedley Alley, it will be the first time someone was proved to have been wrongly put to death.
How Progressive States Can Respond to Conservative Courts
We need to prepare now to protect the values and institutions that matter most.
The Supreme Court, Trump, Biden and the Election Explained
It is not at all clear that an election dispute will reach the justices.
Texas Supreme Court Denies G.O.P. Push to Throw Out 127,000 Votes
The Republican effort to invalidate the votes from Harris County, which includes Houston and is largely Democratic, now hinges on an effort at the federal level, where a hearing is set for Monday.
Supreme Court to Let PA, NC Accept Absentee Ballots After Election Day
The pair of decisions were welcomed by Democrats. Justice Amy Coney Barrett, who was expected to cast a deciding vote, did not participate in either decision.
Supreme Court Won’t Speed a Do-Over on Pennsylvania’s Ballot Deadlines
The court deadlocked last week in the same case, but Justice Amy Coney Barrett did not participate in the second request for review.
The Supreme Court Should Stay Out of State Election Law
Allowing federal courts to muck around with state election laws is dangerous and destabilizing.
Deadlocked Supreme Court Allows Extra Time for Some Pennsylvania Ballots
A 4-to-4 tie let stand a ruling from Pennsylvania’s highest court that had extended the deadline for counting some mailed ballots by three days, citing the pandemic and postal delays.
Scott Peterson’s Murder Convictions to Be Re-examined, Court Orders
The move comes two months after the California Supreme Court overturned a sentence of death for his 2004 convictions.
For 200 Years Courts Upheld Rules to Protect Americans’ Health. Until Now.
A catastrophic sequence of decisions has blocked states from responding to the pandemic.
Republicans’ Galling Bad Faith About the Supreme Court
It’s way too late for the right to pretend to care about civic norms.
Lagoa’s Role in Florida Will Be a Big Factor in Trump’s Supreme Court Pick
Judge Barbara Lagoa lacks some of the usual credentials of a Supreme Court justice, but her roots in the Cuban-American community could make her an attractive choice for President Trump.
Why Trump’s Supreme Court Fantasy List Is Bad for Real Life
Listing potential justices may distort how we see the judiciary and how it behaves. Joe Biden should stick to “no names.”
Daughter of Haitian Immigrants Would Be 1st Black Woman on N.J. High Court
Fabiana Pierre-Louis, 39, would also be the only Black judge currently seated on the state’s Supreme Court.
Judge Who Asked Woman if She Closed Her Legs to Prevent Assault Is Removed
“No witness, alleged victim or litigant should be treated that way in a court of law,” a justice in New Jersey Supreme Court wrote in the unanimous decision.
Indiana Attorney General Suspended by State Supreme Court in Groping Case
Curtis T. Hill Jr., a Republican, had his law license suspended for 30 days after the court found that he inappropriately touched four women at a party in 2018.
I’m the Judge Who Won in Wisconsin. This Principle Is More Important Than Winning.
We must get away from a partisan view of the law.
How a Supreme Court Decision Curtailed the Right to Vote in Wisconsin
The state’s final vote tallies show that the justices’ decision not to extend the mail voting deadline amid the coronavirus resulted in the disenfranchisement of thousands of voters.
Wisconsin Election Results: What to Watch For
Nearly a week after voters in the state went to the polls in the middle of a pandemic, results from an important Wisconsin Supreme Court race and the presidential primary will arrive.
Why Wisconsin Republicans Insisted on an Election in a Pandemic
Mask-wearing voters in endless lines. Five polling places instead of 180. Voting amid the coronavirus crisis is full of challenges — and connected to G.O.P. efforts to limit who gets a ballot in the state.