Senate Republicans voted Tuesday to filibuster President Barack Obama's nominee to fill a seat on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, because they complained she is too liberal and would be an activist on the bench.
Justice Clarence Thomas is marking his two decades on the Supreme Court in his characteristic low-key manner. His former law clerks are organizing a reunion, a chance for him to get back in touch with his "kids," as he calls many of the young lawyers who served the prestigious one-year job under him.
The Supreme Court opens its 2011-12 term on Wednesday. Just how much do you know about the court? Here's a quiz to help you find out.
The black-robed figure stares straight ahead, stalwart and silent, his head nodding appreciatively. He carries a big stick, which happens to have an American flag attached. And the man proudly stands on a toy truck and a pair of pizza boxes.
A divided federal appeals court on Friday struck down Michigan's controversial ban on consideration of race and gender in college admissions.
California officials said Tuesday they won't arbitrarily free 33,000 inmates and they will submit plans to the federal courts in two weeks specifying ways to remedy prison overcrowding under a U.S. Supreme Court order this week.
The Supreme Court has affirmed a federal order telling California to reduce its overflowing prison population, a situation the majority said "falls below the standard of decency."
Liberal demagogue or mainstream intellectual? The Senate faces a Thursday showdown to force a floor vote on what could be President Barack Obama's most controversial judicial nominee.
A divided Supreme Court gave a big victory Wednesday to business interests, ruling that a cell phone carrier's arbitration clause in contracts that ban larger class-action lawsuits is permissible.
In the words of Judge Roslyn Silver, the situation is "dire." From her chambers in Phoenix, Arizona, the chief judge of federal judicial District of Arizona warns a bulging criminal caseload is being exacerbated by three unfilled bench seats, which the Obama administration and the Senate have, until recently, shown little urgency to address.
Dan Lothian reports on the problem of judical nominations held up in Congress and what that means for the federal court
A unique anniversary at the Supreme Court passed in silence Tuesday, befitting the occasion. It has been five years to the day since Justice Clarence Thomas last spoke at oral argument, another reflection of the complex, dynamic, often misunderstood personality of the court's only African-American jurist.
From 2010: CNN's Paul Steinhauser on Justice Samuel Alito's response to the president during the State of the Union.
Tuesday's State of the Union address will be watched closely not only for what is said, but also for who will there in person to hear it -- especially the black-robed members of the U.S. Supreme Court.
President Barack Obama's longtime legal mentor and current administration adviser has admitted privately telling him that Justice Sonia Sotomayor was "not nearly as smart as she seems to think she is."
Arizona officials confirm that convicted murderer Jeffrey Landrigan was executed on Tuesday night via lethal injection.
The state of Arizona executed convicted killer Jeffrey Landrigan late Tuesday after the U.S. Supreme Court cleared the way for the lethal injection, a corrections official said.
The Supreme Court cleared the way late Tuesday for the execution of convicted killer Jeffrey Landrigan in Arizona, with a majority of justices deciding to vacate a federal judge's order that had temporarily stopped the execution scheduled for earlier in the day.
The Supreme Court of the United States as of August 7.
Elena Kagan was confirmed by the Senate on Thursday to become the 112th justice on the Supreme Court. Here is a look at what happens next:
If confirmed to the Supreme Court as expected, Elena Kagan would work with and independently of Chief Justice John Roberts. That's the nature of the court's internal dynamics, and the concept of the one justice-one vote system in which the chief justice is often called "first among equals."
Though headline writers may want to obscure this fact, the impact of today's U.S. Supreme Court ruling striking down a portion of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 is easy to summarize: Zilch.
Diversity is not a word that describes the Supreme Court's makeup over most of its existence. Only three women justices have served (the first in 1981), and only two African-Americans (the first in 1967).
The U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in the criminal case against Enron CEO Jeff Skilling yesterday addressed two crucial and frequently recurring controversies that come up in white-collar criminal cases: What is the precise meaning of the federal statute that criminalizes schemes to defraud someone out of "the intangible right to honest services." And, two, when is a jury likely to have been so personally impacted by a crime, or so emotionally inflamed by pretrial publicity and adverse local sentiment, that the only way for a defendant to get a fair trial is to have his case moved to another location? Skilling raised both issues in challenging his convictions, which were handed down by a federal jury in Houston in 2006 and for which he is serving a sentence of 24 years imprisonment.
If criminal suspects fail to invoke their right to remain silent, they have waived that right, a divided Supreme Court ruled Tuesday.
Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan met with Sen. Harry Reid as part of a series of briefings with government officials.
Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan on Wednesday kicked off what has become a ritual for modern high court nominees: making the rounds of key senators' offices on Capitol Hill while saying little to a boisterous press corps in tow.
President Obama talks about the qualities he will be looking for in the next Supreme Court justice.
President Obama on Friday received his second opportunity to shape the U.S. Supreme Court when Justice John Paul Stevens announced his retirement.
Party of no? When it comes to Supreme Court nominations, the GOP is a flock of baby lambs compared with their opposites on the Democratic side.
Americans can expect a roaring debate over social issues in the discussion of the next Supreme Court nominee, but in the end, President Obama's choice to succeed Justice John Paul Stevens is likely to be confirmed, CNN senior legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin says.
As if this year's political climate wasn't heated enough, the retirement of Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens hands the Obama administration another difficult and high-stakes decision.
A Supreme Court justice is appointed for life, meaning the High Court's turnover is not great. Take a look at Supreme Court justices nominated by presidents since 1975.
CNN's Mark Preston says Justice John Paul Stevens retirement gives the President to make his mark on the Supreme Court.
If history is any guide, the White House could announce its nominee to replace retiring U.S. Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens within days.
Justice John Paul Stevens hints at retirement after almost 35 years on the Supreme Court. CNN's Kate Bolduan reports
In what may be former Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega's final showdown with the United States, his attorneys have filed a petition with the U.S. Supreme Court to block his extradition to France.
Two state supreme court justices from neighboring states find themselves in disagreement these days -- not over a legal issue, but over how they should have gotten their jobs.
The beautifully ornate Catholic church in the nation's capital has seen its share of history and controversy.
A century ago, Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes described Supreme Court deliberations among his colleagues as "nine scorpions in a bottle," fiercely protective of their own agendas and power bases.
The Supreme Court nomination of federal Judge Sonia Sotomayor gained even more momentum Wednesday as two more Republican senators announced their support for the country's first Hispanic high-court pick.
So what does the U.S. Supreme Court gain and lose by exchanging Justice David Souter for Sonia Sotomayor?
Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor has been given the American Bar Association's highest rating for "professional qualification," a political boost less than a week before her confirmation hearings begin in the Senate.
Newly released documents from Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor's service on the board of a Puerto Rican civil rights organization show the group opposed Robert Bork's nomination to the high court more than two decades ago.
Monday, in the much anticipated New Haven, Connecticut, firefighters' case, the Supreme Court reversed an opinion joined by Judge Sonia Sotomayor, President Obama's Supreme Court nominee.
An English-language immersion class failed Miriam Flores, her mother contended.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell took to the Senate floor Wednesday to blast Democrats for setting a start date on Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor's confirmation hearing.
CNN's Bill Schneider takes a look at some hot button legal issues and Judge Sonia Sotomayor.
The Constitution gives the president the exclusive power to nominate members of the Supreme Court. But it does not guarantee the political process will run smoothly for him or his nominee.
Onetime top Bush administration officials received a break from the Supreme Court on Monday.
Though no one would ever pigeonhole U.S. Supreme Court Justice David Souter as having been a pro-business judge, the announcement this month that he'll be stepping down in June has some top appellate advocates for the business community expressing some separation anxiety.
With the retirement of Justice David Souter, President Obama has the opportunity to bring a special kind of diversity to the Supreme Court: the diversity of broad and varied governmental experience.
President Obama took the first step Tuesday in what could be a legacy-making effort to restock the federal courts with more progressives, naming an Indiana political veteran as his first judicial nominee.
The Supreme Court has refused to reconsider its June ruling banning capital punishment for child rapists, rejecting Louisiana officials' argument that a "significant error" led to its conclusion that there is a "national consensus" against executing non-murderers.
The National Rifle Association is hailing the Supreme Court ruling that overturned a gun ban a 'monumental victory.'
It looked like the makings of a perfect storm of animosity in the last week of the Supreme Court's current term, before it wrapped up for the summer recess Thursday.
Despite two dramatic 5-4 decisions, the court is actually starting to move beyond its predictable ideological split
Mayor Adrian Fenty says Washington D.C. is re-working its handgun policy.
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Thursday that a sweeping ban on handguns in the nation's capital violated the Second Amendment right to bear arms.
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled 5-4 Wednesday that child rapists cannot be executed, concluding that capital punishment for crimes against individuals can be applied only to murderers.
Kelli Arena looks at the Supreme Court's ruling against the death penalty for child rape.
The Supreme Court rules Guantanamo detainees can challenge their detention in U.S. courts. CNN's Kelli Arena reports.
Suspected terrorists and foreign fighters held by the U.S. military at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, have the right to challenge their detention in federal court, the Supreme Court ruled Thursday.
Most of the Supreme Court justices piled up a lot frequent flyer miles in 2007, jetting to such exotic locales as Austria, India and Hawaii, according to financial disclosure reports released Friday.
CNN's Kelli Arena explains the U.S. Supreme Court ruling that could change voter guidelines in November.
The Supreme Court on Monday backed Indiana's law requiring voters to show photo identification, despite concerns thousands of elderly, poor and minority voters could be locked out of their right to cast ballots.
The Supreme Court has concluded Texas can execute a Mexican man sentenced to death for murder, ending an unusual capital appeal that pitted President Bush against his home state in a dispute over federal authority, local sovereignty and foreign treaties.
The Supreme Court dealt a blow Tuesday to investors seeking to recover damages from alleged corporate fraud, a potentially huge liability case being closely watched by owners of stock, the business community and government regulators.
The Supreme Court began the term last October with renewed calls for unanimity from the chief justice, but it ended the session Thursday with the latest in a series of two dozen closely divided rulings.
One Supreme Court justice says his fellow conservatives are "too dismissive" of government efforts to ensure racial diversity in schools. Another more liberal member says those on the right did "serious violence" to a high school student's free speech rights.
The Supreme Court strikes a blow against race-based integration, but the decision suggests it may not be fatal
Back in 1900, writer Finley Peter Dunne quoted Mr. Dooley, his fictional Irish bartender, as saying, "The Supreme Court follows the election returns."
A bitterly divided U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday issued what is likely to be a landmark opinion -- ruling that race cannot be a factor in the assignment of children to public schools.
The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday struck down public school choice plans in Seattle, Washington, and Louisville, Kentucky. The court ruled the two cases relied on an unconstitutional use of racial criteria, reflecting the deep legal and social rift over the issues of race, affirmative action and education.
The Supreme Court on Monday swept aside part of a campaign finance law dealing with "issue ads."
The Supreme Court once again split 5-4 on an important death penalty case on Monday, with a majority of conservative justices rejecting an Arizona killer's claims his legal team did not do enough to keep him off death row.
In a 5-4 ruling, the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday threw out a nearly $80 million punitive damages ruling against Philip Morris.
Splitting 5-4, the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday threw out a nearly $80 million punitive damages ruling against Philip Morris.
More than 50 years after the Supreme Court outlawed segregation in public schools, the justices struggled over one controversial outgrowth of that decision Monday.
The graphic details of a disputed abortion procedure filled the Supreme Court on Wednesday as justices voiced concern with a federal ban on that operation.
Sandra Day O'Connor noticed a disturbing development as her last day on the Supreme Court neared. Over her final years on the bench, more people were talking about "activist judges," an issue she said that appeared to be "erupting all over the country."
The buttons were 2 to 4 inches around, showing a man killed in a shooting, and were worn by his family at the murder trial of the accused shooter.
See Chief Justice John Roberts dressed as Groucho Marx. See Roberts cook Mickey Mouse waffles for his wife and children.
Abortion and race: The two most divisive social issues of recent decades will get high-profile hearings this fall before the U.S. Supreme Court.
With the Supreme Court beginning a new term, legal observers say the man to watch is Justice Anthony Kennedy, who holds the swing vote.
In just five months, Justice Samuel Alito has lived out two lifelong dreams. He sits on the highest court in the land, and last month took the mound to throw out the first pitch at a Philadelphia Phillies baseball game.
The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday strongly limited the power of the Bush administration to conduct military tribunals for suspected terrorists imprisoned at the U.S. Navy base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
The Supreme Court upheld Kansas' death penalty law Monday with a 5-4 decision that offers further proof of how deeply at odds the justices remain over the issue.
The Supreme Court Monday agreed to consider an appeal by the largest U.S. telephone carriers seeking the dismissal of a class-action antitrust suit against them.
A sharply divided Supreme Court limited the reach of federal regulators to block private development that might affect water quality, in an important property rights dispute that exposed deep divisions among the justices.
Ruling in an important property rights dispute, a divided U.S. Supreme Court limited the reach of federal regulators to block private development that might affect water quality.
Two death row inmates won separate victories in the Supreme Court Monday -- one hoping to prove he did not commit a 1985 Tennessee murder, the other seeking to show that lethal injection methods used in Florida are cruel and unusual punishment.
In a pair of cases that could reignite disputes over race and public education, the Supreme Court on Monday agreed to decide what role affirmative action should play in assigning students to competitive spots in elementary and secondary schools.
A divided Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that government workers who blow the whistle on alleged illegal conduct do not deserve First Amendment protection that would automatically shield them from discipline from their bosses.
The bipartisan "Gang of 14" senators met Wednesday on two of President Bush's judicial nominees, with members reserving judgment on one candidate and asking for a new hearing on the other.
Actress and model Anna Nicole Smith can add another line to her colorful resume: a winner in the U.S. Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court expressed concern Wednesday that the chemical cocktail used to execute Florida inmates could cause "excruciating pain" in violation of the Constitution's ban on cruel and unusual punishment.
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