BREAKING: Supreme Court allows the Trump administration to fire three democrats from the Consumer Product Safety Commission, Justice Kavanaugh concurred. Justice Kagan dissented, joined by Justice Sotomayor and Jackson. https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/24pdf/25a11_2cp3.pdf

JUST IN: SCOTUS stays Eighth Circuit Court ruling that limits enforcement of section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. Justice Thomas, Alito and Gorsuch publicly dissented.

Is this thing on? 🎤

Don’t worry, we’re still here, we are just enjoying the concept of the Court’s “summer recess”.

Things to keep in mind, as we move closer to the long conference (defined as the conference once a year where the justices review piled up petitions from over the summer), we won’t be seeing much activity from the Court, aside from the occasional emergency orders. The long conference is scheduled for September 29, a week from the first day of oral arguments.

In the meantime, enjoy the rest of your summer and we’ll see you this fall, or tomorrow, who knows, we are always on call, thanks to the infamous shadow docket.

ATTENTION: The October and November argument sitting schedules have been published. If there are any cases you are looking forward to, take a look and see if they are scheduled for either month, and try to reserve a spot in the gallery.

October Calendar: https://www.supremecourt.gov/oral_arguments/argument_calendars/MonthlyArgumentCalOctober2025.pdf

November Calendar: https://www.supremecourt.gov/oral_arguments/argument_calendars/MonthlyArgumentCalNovember2025.pdf

JUST IN: Supreme Court allows Mississippi to enforce a new law which requires age verification on social media platforms, including parental consent requirements for minors. Justice Kavanaugh concurred. https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/24pdf/25a97_5h25.pdf

BREAKING: Supreme Court rules 5-4 allowing the Trump administration to freeze over $700 million in NIH “diversity, equity, and inclusion” funding. Chief Justice Roberts joined Justice Sotomayor, Kagan and Jackson against the order. Justice Thomas, Alito, Gorsuch, and Kavanaugh would have granted the full application. Justice Barrett concurred in the partial granting of the application.

Link: https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/24pdf/25a103_kh7p.pdf

As the summer season ends and the fall season begins, the Supreme Court’s 25-26 term is just around the corner. As is the case every term, we will be here every step of the way, stay tuned!


In the meantime, the courtroom lectures are once again open for the month. You may not be in school anymore, but there’s never a dull moment to learn something new, so how about learning Supreme Court history? Here is a link to the schedule of the lectures, choose the time that feels right for you and head on over.

https://www.supremecourt.gov/visiting/courtroomlectures.aspx#Calendar

BREAKING: Supreme Court allows the Trump administration, for now, to continue I.C.E. Operations in Los Angeles. Justice Sotomayor, Justice Kagan and Justice Jackson dissented. Justice Kavanaugh Concurred.

Link: https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/24pdf/25a169_5h25.pdf

JUST IN: Supreme Court will hear a case this fall about President Trump’s use of tariffs, including whether the IEEPA authorizes the President to impose tariffs without congressional approval.

As we have said in the past, we are not a political entity and never will be, we report on Supreme Court issues only. However, as was apparent last summer, we must reiterate one thing, violence is NEVER the answer, no matter what. We pray for those involved in the incident today.

NEW: Supreme Court in what appears to be a 6-3 decision has voted to allow, for now, transgender students to use the boys bathroom. Justice Thomas, Alito, and Gorsuch dissented.

JUST IN - Supreme Court will hear a case this December on whether President Trump has the authority to reshape independent agency’s, challenging a 90-year old case law known as “Humphrey’s Executor”. The Court has already put the lower court ruling on pause for now while it considers the matter, allowing, in the meantime, for the President to fire FTC commissioner Rebecca Slaughter.

Justice Kagan, Justice Sotomayor, and Justice Jackson dissented from the decision to pause the lower court ruling during the appeal process. https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/24pdf/25a264_o759.pdf

BREAKING - Supreme Court rules 6-3 to uphold President Trump’s $4B foreign aid cut, citing lack of standing and sweeping foreign policy authority.

Justice Kagan dissented, joined by Justice Sotomayor and Justice Jackson.

Link: https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/24pdf/25a269_bp7c.pdf

Happy Catchup Day: We are officially one week away from the start of the 2025-2026 Supreme Court term, which means today is the special day called “the long conference”.

The long conference, held the week before the first day of oral arguments, is the Supreme Court’s version of a student catching up on three months of homework in one day. The justices will convene to consider hundreds of petitions that have been submitted to the Court over the duration of the summer. While they decide a handful of them (mostly time sensitive issues) over the summer, most are reserved for this day.

We will find out the result of the long conference on Monday October 6, at 9:30amET when the order list is released.

NOTE - The Supreme Court will continue to function as normal in the event of a government shutdown, just to clarify any confusion surrounding that possibility.

BREAKING - Supreme Court agrees to hear a case involving President Trump’s attempt to fire Lisa Cook from the Fed Board. Arguments are set for sometime in January.

NEW - Supreme Court has granted five new cases for oral argument this term.

BREAKING: Supreme Court, in a 6-3 vote, allows the Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem to end the Temporary Protection Status of over 600,000 Venezuelan nationals currently living in the United States. Justice Sotomayor and Justice Kagan would deny the application, Justice Jackson issued a dissent: https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/24pdf/25a326_3ebh.pdf

Happy Monday Everyone!

It is officially back to work for the justices as they begin their first day of oral arguments for the 2025-2026 Supreme Court term. This is set to be another blockbuster term, so let’s jump right in.

Starting at 9:30amET, the Court will release its order list from the “long conference” held last week. Following that, they will convene to hear two cases for oral arguments this morning.

Villarreal v. Texas - A case involving the sixth amendment right to counsel, including the defendant’s discussing their testimony with defending counsel.

Berk v. Choy - A case involving the implications of a state law being applied in federal court.

Arguments begin at 10amET, here is a link to listen to oral arguments as they begin: https://www.supremecourt.gov/oral_arguments/live.aspx

P.S. If you enjoy our work and want to support what we do here, we now have optional star reactions enabled. Every little bit helps, and we truly appreciate your continued support. Let’s make this term a great one!

Here’s the order list from the Supreme Court’s long conference last week: https://www.supremecourt.gov/orders/courtorders/100625zor_5368.pdf