By a 6-to-3 vote, the court essentially allows consideration of mental status only at sentencing. Dissenters accuse the majority of abandoning centuries of Anglo-American law. Continue Reading Supreme Court Allows States To Virtually Read More
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau was established to prevent the abuses that led to the 2008 financial crisis. Now the Trump administration is questioning its independent structure. Continue Reading Supreme Court Casts Doubt On Read More
The "Bridgegate" scandal infuriated motorists and endangered public safety, but if the past is prologue, the high court could treat it as much ado about nothing. Continue Reading At Supreme Court, Another Potential Loss For Read More
It's billed as one of the most livable places in the country with its good schools, leafy streets and safe neighborhoods. That's what makes Boise, Idaho, an odd backdrop for a heated legal fight around homelessness that is reverberating across the western United States. Read More
With Justice Brett Kavanaugh replacing Anthony Kennedy, a clear conservative majority could make regulating guns very difficult. Continue Reading 1st Supreme Court Gun-Rights Battle In 10 Years May Transform Legal LandscapeRead More
The president and his lawyers are fighting two separate legal battles to gain access to his tax records. The other involves a subpoena for the documents issued by the House of Representatives. Continue Reading President Trump Read More
The Trump administration is asking the court to invalidate the program that temporarily protects from deportation some 700,000 DREAMers who were brought to the country illegally as children. Continue Reading Fate Of DACA Read More
LGBTQ Washingtonians have had job and housing protections since 2006. The U.S. Supreme Court will hear three cases October 8 over anti-discrimination protections for LGBTQ employees. Continue Reading LGBTQ Employees Are Read More
The U.S. Supreme Court kicks off its new term Monday with a case that has potentially sweeping implications for Oregon, and could end the state’s non-unanimous jury system. Continue Reading U.S. Supreme Court Hears Case That Could End Read More
Former Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens has died at the age of 99. Appointed by President Gerald Ford, he was known for his "crafty and genial hand" and as a "judge's judge." Continue Reading Retired Supreme Court Read More
The court did not take up the part of the law that banned abortions because of fetal abnormality or race or sex of the fetus, which a lower court had knocked down in addition to the burial provision. Continue Reading Supreme Court Read More
An Alabama man was denied the right to have his Muslim spiritual adviser in the death chamber. But a Texas prisoner's execution was delayed because he was denied his Buddhist minister. Continue Reading Supreme Court Sees 2 Similar Death Read More
A federal judge in New York has issued the first ruling out of multiple lawsuits over a question about U.S. citizenship status. The ruling is expected to be appealed all the way to the Supreme Court. Continue Reading Read More
The judges acknowledged that the complaints are "serious" but noted there is no existing authority for lower court judges to hold Supreme Court justices accountable. Continue Reading Federal Panel Of Judges Dismisses All 83 Read More
President Trump praised the ruling by a court in Texas as supporters of the ACA said they will appeal. Continue Reading Federal Judge Strikes Down Affordable Care Act As UnconstitutionalRead More
It's not the first time that the administration has asked the Supreme Court to intercede in the appeals process. Continue Reading White House And DOJ Ask Supreme Court To Fast-Track Ruling On Transgender Military BanRead More
The U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments Tuesday, Oct. 30 in a five-year-old case that questions the rights outlined in an 1855 treaty between the United States and Washington’s Yakama Nation. Yakama Tribal Chairman JoDe Goudy was denied entry to the court for wearing his traditional headdress. Read More
If all goes as expected, Kavanaugh will be confirmed to the Supreme Court by a nearly party-line vote. Continue Reading Senate Votes 50 – 48 To Confirm Brett Kavanaugh To U.S. Supreme CourtRead More
GOP Sens. Susan Collins and Jeff Flake said the FBI inquiry into sexual assault claims against Brett Kavanaugh was "thorough," with Flake seeing no new evidence. Their votes will be decisive. Continue Reading Brett Kavanaugh’s Read More
Arizona GOP Sen. Jeff Flake provided the critical vote to move the nomination to the full Senate while at the same time proposing that his colleagues support a one-week FBI investigation. Continue Reading President Read More
An NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist poll shows a tight contest for credibility between Christine Blasey Ford and high court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. But 42 percent are unsure who is telling the truth. Continue Reading Poll Finds Americans Read More
As it stands now, Hill tells NPR, the hearing cannot provide senators "with enough information to reach a reasonable conclusion." She testified in 1991 that Clarence Thomas sexually harassed her. Continue Reading Anita Hill Says Brett Kavanaugh Read More
A college classmate of Kavanaugh's says he acted inappropriately during a drunken party 35 years ago Kavanaugh, who's currently a federal appeals judge, denies the allegations. Continue Reading Brett Kavanaugh Denies New Sexual Read More
Christine Blasey Ford, the woman who alleges Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her at a high school party in the 1980s, is open to appearing before a Senate panel next week. Continue Reading Brett Kavanaugh Read More
Senate Democrats want to delay Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation vote, after a woman went public to accuse Kavanaugh of sexual assault at a high school party decades ago. Continue Reading Read More
The Senate Judiciary committee is slated to vote on Brett Kavanaugh's nomination to the Supreme Court next week. He has denied an allegation of sexual misconduct from more than 30 years ago. Continue Reading SCOTUS Read More
On Sunday, Sept. 9 at 9 p.m., the Washington State Department of Transportation closed Blewett Pass for five days to replace fish-blocking pipes with a fish-friendly concrete box. The construction will cost taxpayers $1.2 million, although that’s nowhere near the full cost of the project. Read More
Sen. Cory Booker was the first Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee to release documents that had been designated as "confidential" as the third day of the Kavanaugh hearings began. Continue Reading Democrats Release ‘Confidential’ Brett Read More
Nominee Judge Brett Kavanaugh sought to portray the high court as nonpartisan. "The justices on the Supreme Court do not sit on opposite sides of an aisle," he said Tuesday. Continue Reading Brett Kavanaugh Supreme Court Confirmation Read More
Last year, the Washington state Supreme Court granted the Yakama Nation the right to transport goods and services across state lines without taxation. Attorneys and tribal members called it a landmark case for tribal sovereignty. Now the U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to review it. Read More
By a 5-4 vote, the court reversed a series of lower-court decisions and said a rule banning nearly all travelers from five mainly Muslim countries was within the president's authority. Continue Reading In Big Win For White House, Read More
The Supreme Court ruled June 21 that states can collect state sales taxes from online retailers on consumer purchases. The decision overruled a decades-old precedent that had protected out-of-state sellers from being required to collect such taxes. Read More
A tie in the U.S. Supreme Court may cost Washington state $2 billion. The court split 4-4 June 11 in a long-running court battle between tribes and the state over salmon-blocking road culverts. Continue Reading Supreme Court Gives Read More
While the court's 7-2 decision skirted the main legal arguments the case presented, the court's ruling sets the stage for two similar cases in the Northwest: one involving a Washington florist and another with a bakery owner in Oregon. Read More
Seventeen years ago, 21 tribes sued Washington state to fix road culverts. On April 18, the U.S. Supreme Court is scheduled to take on the case. The question is whether state taxpayers should have to dish out billions to dig up roads so salmon can get through. The court’s decision will have repercussions for tribes all over the West. Read More
The court ruled that immigrants, even those who are permanent legal residents and asylum seekers, have no right to periodic bond hearings, meaning they could be held indefinitely in some cases. Continue Reading Supreme Court Ruling Means Read More
