Free Republic

Climate regulation could be the next Democratic priority to fall to the Supreme Court. The court released two major decisions this week - on guns and abortion - and is expected to soon rule on a case that has major implications for what powers the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has to regulate climate change. Experts say a court ruling in favor of those seeking to curb the EPA’s authority could stunt the agency’s ability to prevent climate change from worsening. “The more tools the court takes away from the EPA, under the Clean Air Act to address greenhouse gas emissions,...

>

The Department of Homeland Security expects violence could occur "for weeks" from domestic violent extremists following the Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade, according to a bulletin obtained first by ABC News. "We expect violence could occur for weeks following the release, particularly as DVEs may be mobilized to respond to changes in state laws and ballot measures on abortion stemming from the decision," the bulletin, dated June 24, said. "We base this assessment on an observed increase in violent incidents across the United States following the unauthorized disclosure in May of a draft majority opinion on the case,"...

We give thanks to God for today’s decision of the United States Supreme Court in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. This just decision will save countless innocent children simply waiting to be born. On this historic day, our gratitude extends to the millions of heroic Americans who have worked tirelessly toward this outcome for nearly a half-century. Women and men, children and adults, believers and non-believers, people of every culture and background have advocated for life. They have been a charitable and compelling voice for the voiceless, and today, their voice has been heard. As Catholics, we have prayed...

Biden would use the declaration of a public health emergency to shield doctors from legal liability for treating patients in a state where they are not licensed, according to a report in the New York Times. Other ideas include allowing doctors practicing in states that ban abortions to perform them on federal sites, such as military bases. Biden signaled his willingness to use executive action to blunt any state and local laws on abortion during an interview with ABC comedian/activist Jimmy Kimmel. The president warned that overturning Roe v. Wade would cause a “mini-revolution” in the United States. t’s just...

Several weeks ago, someone with access to the Supreme Court’s inner workings leaked a draft of Justice Samuel Alito’s opinion on Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization. Written in February, the draft decimated the legal foundation of abortion as a constitutional right and overturned the federal right to an abortion as guaranteed by Roe v. Wade. Although this draft did not represent a final decision, the leak itself was obviously meant to stir up controversy . It was perhaps also likely designed to persuade undecided justices to shift their votes. Regardless, it was incredibly damaging to the reputation of the...

In a statement, the Supreme Court said the man was armed and “made threats against Justice Kavanaugh.” The suspect was taken to a local police station after he was arrested at about 1:50 a.m., the court spokesperson said. He was carrying an unspecified weapon and burglary tools, according to the Washington Post.

The Supreme Court will soon issue its first major Second Amendment opinion in more than a decade, coming after a pair of recent mass shootings sent the nation reeling and reignited a tense debate over gun rights and public safety. The conservative majority court is expected to rule in the coming days or weeks in a pending dispute over New York state’s tight limits on the concealed carry of handguns. Experts said that while it’s unclear just how broadly the Supreme Court would rule, the restrictive New York law is likely to be invalidated in a decision that could have...

(CNN) - The Supreme Court will allow the Biden administration to continue to use a metric that estimates the real-world cost of the climate crisis while legal challenges play out. The court's order is a loss for Republican-led states that argued in part that the estimates were "speculative." The justices issued a one-line order and there were no noted dissents. The metric, known as "the social cost of carbon," uses economic models to assign a cost to planet-warming carbon dioxide emissions to help quantify the economic harm caused by the climate crisis, including sea level rise, more destructive hurricanes, extreme...

Big Law has thus far proven much better than the U.S. Supreme Court at keeping its opinions from leaking. As Law.com's Patrick Smith reports, large law firms have been noticeably mum since a draft SCOTUS opinion reversing Roe v. Wade was made public. The silence may be temporary, however. In interviews, leaders of several Am Law 100 firms, speaking anonymously due to the debate around the issue, told Smith that firm management feels constrained to talk about the decision publicly because it’s still a draft ruling and it’s not the law right now. But they expected some firms will take...

BREAKING NEWS: Internet sleuths say the first suspect in the still very preliminary investigation into the Supreme Court Leak is Justice Sonia Sotomayor's clerk: Amit Jain. A photo with additional content is available on Facebook, and perhaps elsewhere, but I don't know how to post it here.

Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. said Tuesday that the leaked draft opinion proposing to overturn Roe v. Wade is authentic but not final, and that he is opening an investigation into how it became public. “To the extent this betrayal of the confidences of the Court was intended to undermine the integrity of our operations, it will not succeed,” Roberts said. “The work of the Court will not be affected in any way.” While Roberts’s statement said the draft provided to Politico was genuine, “it does not represent a decision by the Court or the final position of any...

WASHINGTON - A Colorado man has died after setting himself on fire in front of the U.S. Supreme Court building in the nation’s capital Friday night. Officials identified the man as Wynn Bruce, 50, of Boulder. He was airlifted to a hospital after the incident. Police said Saturday that the man had died. The incident occurred on the plaza in front of the Supreme Court building around 6:30 p.m. No one else was injured. **SNIP** The man's neighbors told Denver7 that they are unsure how Bruce made it to Washington since he was unable to drive. They said a childhood...

GOP Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) on Tuesday met with Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson for a second time, saying she would decide “relatively soon” if she’ll support her Supreme Court nomination. “I had a good meeting with Judge Jackson. She provided clarification on some of the issues, so it was a useful meeting and I’ll reflect on her answers tonight,” Collins said after the meeting.

Eager fashionistas got physical outside a Manhattan store as they vied for a spot in line to buy a hotly anticipated clothing collaboration between Burberry and Supreme, according to videos and witnesses. One video posted early Thursday outside the Dover Street Market at 30th Street and Lexington Avenue shows tensions flaring among those in line waiting to snag the latest pricy wares from the British fashion brand and popular New York street wear label. “I’m still standing right here,” one man yelled at another in line, the footage shows. A second clip showed several men scrapping violently against a door...

President Joe Biden will nominate federal judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court, making her the first black woman selected to serve on the bench, the White House announced on Friday. She also would be the high court's first former public defender, although the Harvard graduate possesses the elite legal background of other justices. Friday marks two years to the day that Biden pledged to make history by nominating the first black woman to the high court. He made the vow during the 2020 primary debate in South Carolina. Biden had whittled down his search to replace retiring Justice...

Like an air-horn blast at summer camp, the news of 83-year-old United States Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer’s imminent retirement is calling Democrats to attention. For the first time since 2016, when then-President Barack Obama tried and failed to appoint Merrick Garland to the bench, a Democratic president has the chance to fill an open seat on the Supreme Court, and this time around, he will likely be successful. But who will President Joe Biden choose? We know that his nominee will almost certainly be a woman. In 2020, then-candidate Biden vowed that he would respond to a Supreme Court...

The U.S. Supreme Court tomorrow will hold oral arguments on whether to allow the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ and Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s vaccine mandates to go into effect while appeals are heard in the courts of appeals. Sean Marotta, a partner at Hogan Lovells and AHA outside counsel, will be providing real-time analysis of the oral arguments, which will begin at 10 a.m. ET. See a preview blog here breaking down the legal issues confronting the Court and what to look for when the Justices hear the oral arguments. Visit AHA’s webpage tomorrow at 10 a.m....

I hate asking the question, but nothing is guaranteed anymore. The fact that there are more Republican-appointed justices than not bodes well for inherent rights and freedom in 2022’s big cases, in particular the anon vaccine cases, but with Roberts the Squish and three neophyte Trump appointees coming into their own, anything is possible. As an interesting aside, the three surviving retired justices (O’Connor, Kennedy, and Souter) all joined the ranks courtesy of Republican presidents and subsequently tilted leftward. Has any justice ever moved right? When it’s all said and done, the idea of an absolutely safe constitutional court is...

Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) ripped former President Trump on Twitter Wednesday, stating that the former commander-in-chief did not take "specific and immediate action" on Jan. 6, adding that it was "supreme dereliction" of his duty in office. The tweets come after Cheney, a member of the House select committee to investigate the Capitol riot, read text messages on Monday from Trump allies to former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows into the public record. The messages from allies including Fox News hosts Sean Hannity, Laura Ingraham and the former president’s son, Donald Trump Jr., urging Meadows to get Trump...