Justice Barrett – the zombie (noun) slayer
Suppose a Bond villain (or Dr. Evil) demanded $1 million unless you read every word of a SCOTUS majority opinion. And just to make it interesting, he required you to…
Planes, beer, and forfeiture
On Dec. 1, the Supreme Court is scheduled to hear oral argument in Jouppi v. Alaska, a case stemming from the seizure of an airplane valued at $95,000 as punishment…
The Supreme Court’s two decades of constitutional change
This series for SCOTUSblog will recount two decades of constitutional change through the five editions of our casebook, the first published in 2008 and the latest to be published this…
The Supreme Court is building power no one gave it
On Sept. 18, over 2,000 people gathered around the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. – and held hands. Former employees, performing legends, long-time D.C. residents, and regular people from all…
The “born free and equal” clauses and the right to pursue a profession of one’s choice
This is the last of seven introductory articles on the relevance for constitutional law and the Supreme Court of the “born free and equal” clauses, which appeared in the Declaration…
Devolving standards of decency
Over the summer, Judge Joshua Divine of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri issued an unusual (to put it mildly) “.” The defendant in the case…
The rule of four and role of custom on the Supreme Court
When the justices return to meet in conference next week and take the bench on Oct. 5, the first day of the 2026-27 term, a major focus will be on…
The decision before the decision
On Friday, Aug. 21, Chief Justice John Roberts issued an administrative, or temporary, stay, allowing construction to continue on the White House ballroom. The order put on hold a district…
Respecting our multi-branch lawmaking process
In my inaugural entry for this column, I critiqued the Supreme Court’s reliance on an abstract conception of the “separation of powers.” Because the Constitution does not contain a “separation…
The Supreme Court refuses to become partisan in two fights over the midterms
People complain that the current Supreme Court is a partisan institution, with the six Republican appointees deciding cases based on their partisan beliefs. Read more The court’s coming climate-change case…