Outside the Beltway

Despite similar paths to the Supreme Court, it turns out the two don’t share the same style and approach.

A longstanding legal question may finally come to a head.

A novel argument, untested in court, suggests that it might.

Before he started his campaign for President, former Vice-President Biden reached out to Anita Hill to apologize for his conduct during the confirmation hearings for Clarence Thomas in 1991.

The replacement of Anthony Kennedy with Brett Kavanaugh is already having a significant impact.

After a flood of stories saying the former Vice President is unsuitable for the modern era, the inevitable pushback is happening.

The early frontrunner for the Democratic nomination is drawing fire from multiple fronts. It may destroy his candidacy before it begins.

The Senate yesterday confirmed a 37-year-old to a lifetime Court of Appeals seat.

The Supreme Court issued a ruling that places new limits on civil asset forfeiture by state and local government.

Justice Clarence Thomas argues that a 55-year-old precedent should be overturned.

Supreme Court watcher Jeffrey Toobin speculates that Clarence Thomas could be the next Supreme Court Justice to step aside.

Late last night, the Supreme Court blocked a Louisiana abortion law from going into effect, the first significant abortion rights ruling since Justice Kavanaugh took the bench.

Doctors have declared Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg cancer free but she is still expected to miss one more week of oral argument as she recovers from her surgery in December.

The Supreme Court has rejected an attempt by the Trump Administration to have an injunction against its new asylum policy lifted.

The Supreme Court declined to hear a case involving state laws banning Medicaid reimbursement for non-abortion services provided by Planned Parenthood.

The Supreme Court appears reluctant to overturn a century of case law that established a significant exception to the Double Jeopardy Clause.

Later this week, the Supreme Court will hear a case that could rewrite decades of law interpreting the Fifth Amendment’s Double Jeopardy rule.

Justice Sonia Sotomayor sat down to talk about the Supreme Court, her career, and the newest member of the nation’s highest court.

President Trump’s selection to serve as Acting Attorney General does not appear to be Constitutionally authorized to serve in that position.

Sad news from the first woman to serve on the United States Supreme Court.

With four weeks to go until Election Day, Donald Trump and the Republicans are continuing to stoke the divisions laid bare by the Kavanaugh nomination.

The Merrick Garland precedent is power politics, nothing more.

Fifty years ago, a young college student who would become one of the most influential women in Washington was sexually assaulted by a Senator. She didn’t come forward with her story for more than fifty years, and the reasons why strike close to what we’ve been talking about for three weeks now.

With the support of two holdout Senators, the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh now appears to be all but official.

Brett Kavanaugh is expressing some regrets over his performance last Thursday, but it’s largely far too little, far too late.

For the second time in two years, the Supreme Court starts a new term down one Justice. That isn’t as big a problem as it might seem.

Saturday Night Live inevitably mocked the Ford/Kavanaugh hearing on Thursday in their cold open.

An ugly day for the United States Senate and the United States of America.

In what appears to be a first, Judge Brett Kavanaugh took to the media to defend his nomination. Not surprisingly, he chose a friendly venue.

Despite what seems to be the prevailing mythos, most nominations fights are nothing like the current one.

New allegations of sexual misconduct mark the start of a crucial week for the confirmation of Judge Brett Kavanaugh.

The status of a potential hearing in the Brett Kavanaugh nomination regarding the charges made by Dr. Christine Blasey Ford remain unclear, but the likelihood is that she will testify in the end.

Prominent supporters of the embattled Supreme Court nominee, including the President, are doing him no favors.

Monday’s hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee regarding the charges made against Judge Brett Kavanaugh is still on as scheduled, but the details are still being negotiated.

The status of Judge Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation remains up in the air, as does the question of whether or not Christine Blasey Ford will appear for a hearing on Monday morning.

Attorneys for Christine Blasey Ford want the F.B.I. to investigate the charges she has made against Judge Kavanaugh before she testifies, but it’s entirely unclear what such an investigation would accomplish.

After a day of political pressure, Senate Republicans have agreed to hold a hearing regarding the sexual assault allegations against Judge Brett Kavanaugh next week.

A woman accusing Brett Kavanaugh of having assaulted her when he was 17 and she was 15 has come forward. What happens next is anyone’s guess.

In what amounts to a significant, albeit not surprising, change in Catholic doctrine, Pope Francis has declared that the death penalty is unacceptable in all circumstances.

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg says she’d like to stay on the Court at least until she turns 90, but it’s unlikely she’ll go anywhere voluntarily as long as Donald Trump is President.

Initial polling on Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination to the Supreme Court find the public more divided than they have been for other recent SCOTUS picks, but that’s unlikely to impact the fate of his nomination.

At least in these early days, Democrats appear to lack a coherent message, or a coherent strategy, to propel any effort to block Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination to the Supreme Court.

As Washington gets ready to fight a new battle over Roe v. Wade an new poll shows that most Americans oppose overturning that decision.

After thirty years on the bench, during which he played a central role in some of the Supreme Court’s most significant rulings, Justice Anthony Kennedy is retiring.

In a 5-4 decision, the Supreme Court has ruled that public sector unions cannot force employees to pay membership fees.

It’s been eight years since we’ve seen a Supreme Court retirement, and despite speculation there were none announced today.

In a 5-4 ruling, the Supreme Court struck down a California law requiring Crisis Pregnancy Centers to provide information about abortion.

The Supreme Court has largely rejected a challenge to state and Federal redistricting maps in the State of Texas.

Overruling precedent dating back 51 years, the Court has ruled that states can require businesses that sell to residents within their state collect and remit appropriate sales taxes.

We may finally get a ruling applying the Excessive Fine Clause to the states and limiting the ability of police to confiscate property.