End of Term for SCOTUS

This term the U.S. Supreme Court has decided several landmark cases. The most important one so far overturned what is known as the doctrine of Chevron deference. The courts now, not regulatory agencies, will have the final word interpreting federal laws. NPR's Nina Totenberg explains here the history of the question and what a revolution this decision is. Totenberg also presents another decision about one of the laws applied to some January 6, 2021 insurrectionists. 7 min., transcript available. 

More about the criminal law case (January 6th) can be found here. 3 min., transcript available.

More about the case overruling the Chevron doctrine can be found here. 4 min. 43 sec. transcript available.

Coming on Monday, the decisions about presidential immunity and social media. 

U.S. Supreme Court End-of-Term Cases - beyond Roe

The U.S. Supreme Court has ended its 2021-2022 term with several more blockbusters in addition to the Dobbs case (reversing Roe v. Wade). You can hear about one of two cases eroding the barrier between church and state on NPR here (3 min. 51 sec. transcript available) and hear about the influence of the Christian right here (6 min. 42 sec.).  You can find a story about the decision eroding the power of administrative agencies to fight climate change here (4 min. 58 sec. transcript available). The end of the piece presents a voting rights case the Court has just agreed to hear next term which law professor Rick Hasen describes as potentially an earthquake in American election law.

 U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer Is to Retire

The basic story about Justice Stephen Breyer's decision to retire at the end of this year's Supreme Court term and what it means can be found here on NPR. 13 min., transcript available.

A legal topic that we don't often find in the news is administrative law. Justice Breyer "wrote the book" on the subject. Harvard Law professor Adrian Vermeule gives us a short presentation Breyer's place in this field and of the controversies surrounding this area of law here. 7 min. 33 sec., transcript available.

October 2018 U.S. Supreme Court Term Opens

The Brett Kavanaugh nomination to fill the seat of departing Justice Kennedy on the Supreme Court is still pending, so the Court has begun its new year (or term) with only 8 justices. Nina Totenberg of NPR has this report about the first cases on the new docket. 3 min 58 sec, transcript available. The recording talks about a case involving the protection of an endangered species, the dusky gopher frog, but Totenberg’s article accompaning the recording also presents upcoming cases involving the death penalty, the rule of precedent, the power of administrative agencies and immigration.

Whom Can President Trump Fire?

On NPR's Morning Edition, Nina Totenberg presents the question of just whom an American president can fire. Some, including Brett Kavanaugh, President Trump's nominee for the Supreme Court, hold a "unitary executive" theory: a president should be able, for any reason, to fire the heads of various departments that have executive powers. The agencies whose independence would be threatened include the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Federal Trade Commission, among others. 5 min 44 sec, transcript available soon.

More on interpreting the U.S. Affordable Care Act

Michael Dorf, professor of constitutional law at Cornell University School of Law, explains here two conflicting interpretations of the controversial Affordable Care Act in the context of different methods courts can use to interpret texts. 12 min, transcript available (in fact Dorf reads the piece he wrote for the internet site Verdict - with minor differences).