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Supreme Court

The latest developments on the United States Supreme Court. Get senior correspondent Ian Millhiser’s analysis of what the Supreme Court is doing, delivered straight to your inbox with Scotus, Explained.

Policy
The impact of the Supreme Court’s reversal of affirmative action, explained in one chartThe impact of the Supreme Court’s reversal of affirmative action, explained in one chart
Policy

Preliminary data shows a negative impact on Black enrollment at some universities.

By Nicole Narea
Supreme Court
The huge stakes in the Supreme Court’s new abortion caseThe huge stakes in the Supreme Court’s new abortion case
Supreme Court

Oklahoma v. HHS could potentially blow up much of Medicare and Medicaid if the justices decide to wild out.

By Ian Millhiser
Supreme Court
A Trump judge ruled there’s a Second Amendment right to own machine gunsA Trump judge ruled there’s a Second Amendment right to own machine guns
Supreme Court

The Supreme Court’s Bruen decision will keep on creating chaos until it is overruled.

By Ian Millhiser
Supreme Court
The Supreme Court decides not to disenfranchise thousands of swing state votersThe Supreme Court decides not to disenfranchise thousands of swing state voters
Supreme Court

The Court’s decision in RNC v. Mi Familia Vota could have been much worse for democracy, even if it’s not all good.

By Ian Millhiser
Supreme Court
Republicans ask the Supreme Court to disenfranchise thousands of swing state votersRepublicans ask the Supreme Court to disenfranchise thousands of swing state voters
Supreme Court

A new Supreme Court case could potentially hand Arizona to Donald Trump.

By Ian Millhiser
Supreme Court
Did the Supreme Court just overrule one of its most important LGBTQ rights decisions?Did the Supreme Court just overrule one of its most important LGBTQ rights decisions?
Supreme Court

The Court appeared to abandon Bostock v. Clayton County this weekend.

By Ian Millhiser
Supreme Court
What can be done about this Supreme Court’s very worst decisions?What can be done about this Supreme Court’s very worst decisions?
Supreme Court

It is important to hang onto grudges against the Supreme Court.

By Ian Millhiser
Supreme Court
The First Amendment is in grave danger if Trump winsThe First Amendment is in grave danger if Trump wins
Supreme Court

Three Supreme Court justices want to drastically roll back the First Amendment. Trump could make it five.

By Ian Millhiser
Supreme Court
Chuck Schumer’s ambitious plan to take the Supreme Court down a pegChuck Schumer’s ambitious plan to take the Supreme Court down a peg
Supreme Court

Schumer wants to engage in jurisdiction stripping, a rarely used tactic that can shrink the Supreme Court’s authority.

By Ian Millhiser
Supreme Court
Biden’s new Supreme Court reform proposals are mostly uselessBiden’s new Supreme Court reform proposals are mostly useless
Supreme Court

The president is finally going after the high court, but his ideas are pretty weak.

By Ian Millhiser
Supreme Court
A new Supreme Court case threatens to gut the Court’s one good trans rights decisionA new Supreme Court case threatens to gut the Court’s one good trans rights decision
Supreme Court

Republican Justice Neil Gorsuch surprised most Court watchers by supporting trans rights in Bostock v. Clayton County. We’re about to find out if he actually meant it.

By Ian Millhiser
Supreme Court
Republicans ask the Supreme Court to gut student loan relief a second timeRepublicans ask the Supreme Court to gut student loan relief a second time
Supreme Court

The Court’s first decision blocking student loan forgiveness was a lawless mess.

By Ian Millhiser
Supreme Court
Could Republicans sue to keep Biden on the ballot?Could Republicans sue to keep Biden on the ballot?
Supreme Court

Speaker Mike Johnson’s threat to challenge Vice President Harris’s nomination in court should be frivolous. But who knows with this Supreme Court?

By Ian Millhiser
Supreme Court
The Supreme IncompetentsThe Supreme Incompetents
Supreme Court

The justices are awful at their jobs, and they don’t know that they are awful at their jobs.

By Ian Millhiser
Supreme Court
The Supreme Court handed down a hugely important First Amendment case todayThe Supreme Court handed down a hugely important First Amendment case today
Supreme Court

A few minutes before the Court held that Trump was allowed to do crimes, it did hand Republicans a meaningful loss.

By Ian Millhiser
Supreme Court
The Supreme Court’s disastrous Trump immunity decision, explainedThe Supreme Court’s disastrous Trump immunity decision, explained
Supreme Court

The Court’s Trump immunity case is a blueprint for dictatorship.

By Ian Millhiser
Supreme Court
Why the Supreme Court just ruled in favor of over 300 January 6 insurrectionistsWhy the Supreme Court just ruled in favor of over 300 January 6 insurrectionists
Supreme Court

The rules governing statutory construction often allow judges to choose how they want to read a law.

By Ian Millhiser
Supreme Court
The Supreme Court just made a massive power grab it will come to regretThe Supreme Court just made a massive power grab it will come to regret
Supreme Court

Welcome to hell, SCOTUS.

By Ian Millhiser
Homelessness
What a big new Supreme Court decision could mean for homeless AmericansWhat a big new Supreme Court decision could mean for homeless Americans
Homelessness

The Grants Pass v. Johnson decision does not spell the end to fights over tent encampments in America.

By Rachel Cohen Booth
Supreme Court
The Supreme Court just lit a match and tossed it into dozens of federal agenciesThe Supreme Court just lit a match and tossed it into dozens of federal agencies
Supreme Court

SEC v. Jarkesy could render much of the federal government unable to function.

By Ian Millhiser
Supreme Court
The Supreme Court’s new abortion decision, explainedThe Supreme Court’s new abortion decision, explained
Supreme Court

The leaked decision is not a victory for abortion rights.

By Ian Millhiser
Supreme Court
The Supreme Court rules that state officials can engage in a little corruption, as a treatThe Supreme Court rules that state officials can engage in a little corruption, as a treat
Supreme Court

Snyder v. US is the Republican justices’ latest decision weakening anti-corruption laws.

By Ian Millhiser
Supreme Court
The Supreme Court hands an embarrassing defeat to America’s Trumpiest courtThe Supreme Court hands an embarrassing defeat to America’s Trumpiest court
Supreme Court

No, MAGA judges don’t get to decide what the Biden administration is allowed to say.

By Ian Millhiser
Supreme Court
Louisiana wants the Ten Commandments in public schools. Will the Supreme Court let it?Louisiana wants the Ten Commandments in public schools. Will the Supreme Court let it?
Supreme Court
The Supreme Court will decide if the government can ban transgender health careThe Supreme Court will decide if the government can ban transgender health care
Supreme Court

Given the Court’s Republican supermajority, this case is unlikely to end well for trans people.

By Ian Millhiser
What two years without Roe looks like, in 8 charts
Explainers

Americans are confronting a whole new reality of patchwork abortion access after the Dobbs decision.

By Nicole Narea
Supreme Court
The Supreme Court refuses to accept blame for its worst guns decisionThe Supreme Court refuses to accept blame for its worst guns decision
Supreme Court

US v. Rahimi is completely incoherent, and it faults lower courts for the justices’ own incompetence.

By Ian Millhiser
Supreme Court
The Supreme Court’s new tax decision is great news for billionairesThe Supreme Court’s new tax decision is great news for billionaires
Supreme Court

Most of the justices voted not to blow up the US tax code, but the opinion has bad news for progressive proponents of wealth taxes.

By Ian Millhiser
Supreme Court
What can Democrats actually do about Thomas’s and Alito’s corruption?What can Democrats actually do about Thomas’s and Alito’s corruption?
Supreme Court

Nothing, unless they win the election.

By Ian Millhiser
Supreme Court
The Supreme Court just effectively legalized machine gunsThe Supreme Court just effectively legalized machine guns
Supreme Court

On a party line vote, the Court legalized “bump stocks,” which convert semiautomatic guns into fully automatic ones.

By Ian Millhiser
Supreme Court
The Supreme Court’s abortion pill case is only a narrow and temporary victory for abortionThe Supreme Court’s abortion pill case is only a narrow and temporary victory for abortion
Supreme Court

The decision is unanimous, but it leaves open two routes Republicans could take to pull mifepristone from the market.

By Ian Millhiser
Supreme Court
Justices Sotomayor and Kagan must retire nowJustices Sotomayor and Kagan must retire now
Supreme Court

I am begging the justices to learn from Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s historic mistake.

By Ian Millhiser
Supreme Court
Trump wants the Supreme Court to toss out his conviction. Will they?Trump wants the Supreme Court to toss out his conviction. Will they?
Supreme Court

It’s hard to see how they’d do it legally, but this Court has a history of reading the law creatively.

By Ian Millhiser
Supreme Court
The NRA just won a big Supreme Court victory. Good.The NRA just won a big Supreme Court victory. Good.
Supreme Court

Even truly repulsive speakers have First Amendment rights.

By Ian Millhiser
Supreme Court
Alito says the Supreme Court’s fake ethics code allows him to be unethicalAlito says the Supreme Court’s fake ethics code allows him to be unethical
Supreme Court

The Supreme Court’s new ethics code is worse than nothing — Alito just proved it.

By Ian Millhiser
Abortion
The Comstock Act, the long-dead law Trump could use to ban abortion, explainedThe Comstock Act, the long-dead law Trump could use to ban abortion, explained
Abortion

A defunct federal law is Republicans’ best hope of banning abortion throughout the United States.

By Ian Millhiser
Supreme Court
The Supreme Court’s new voting rights decision is a love letter to gerrymanderingThe Supreme Court’s new voting rights decision is a love letter to gerrymandering
Supreme Court

Thanks to an opinion by Sam Alito, rigged maps now enjoy the Supreme Court’s unambiguous support.

By Ian Millhiser
Supreme Court
The Republican Party’s man inside the Supreme CourtThe Republican Party’s man inside the Supreme Court
Supreme Court

Justice Samuel Alito brings no vision and no unique insights to his job — other than unrelenting loyalty to the GOP.

By Ian Millhiser
Supreme Court
The Supreme Court decides not to trigger a second Great DepressionThe Supreme Court decides not to trigger a second Great Depression
Supreme Court

Two justices dissent.

By Ian Millhiser
Supreme Court
The messy SCOTUS drama about Black voters in Louisiana, explainedThe messy SCOTUS drama about Black voters in Louisiana, explained
Supreme Court

Multiple federal courts are fighting over Louisiana’s illegal racial gerrymander.

By Ian Millhiser