Supreme Court

Two of the three most infamous Supreme Court decisions were erased by events. The Civil War and postwar constitutional amendments effectively overturned Dred Scott v. Sandford (1857), which held that blacks could never have rights that whites must respect. Plessy v. Ferguson (1896), which upheld legally enforced segregation, was undone by court decisions and legislation. The third, Korematsu v. United States (1944), which affirmed the president's wartime power to sweep Americans of disfavored...

Kevin Turner wasn't always certain he'd live to see this, but now that it's here – his day in court -- the former NFL fullback isn't about to stay home in Alabama. "There's no way I'd miss it," said Turner, who suffers from Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, the terminal illness more commonly called ALS or Lou Gehrig's disease. Turner, who feels his condition is related to his eight-year pro football career, plans to be among the plaintiffs in the courtroom in Philadelphia Tuesday when a high-profile...

BRASILIA, Brazil — Brazilian notary publics must register same-sex civil unions as marriages if the couple requests it, the country's National Council of Justice said Tuesday. The council that oversees the country's judiciary said in a statement that notary publics cannot refuse to marry gay couples or convert a same-sex civil union into a marriage if that's what the pair wants. The council based its decision on a 2011 Supreme Court ruling that recognized same-sex civil unions.

Justice Antonin Scalia needs to resign from the Supreme Court. He'd have a lot of things to do. He's a fine public speaker and teacher. He'd be a heck of a columnist and blogger. But he really seems to aspire to being a politician — and that's the problem. So often, Scalia has chosen to ignore the obligation of a Supreme Court justice to be, and appear to be, impartial. He's turned "judicial restraint" into an oxymoronic phrase. But what he did this week, when the court announced its decision on the Arizona immigration law , should be the...

A cautious and conflicted Supreme Court on Tuesday seemed wary of a broad constitutional finding on whether same-sex couples have the right to marry, and some justices indicated that it may be premature for them to intervene in a fast-moving, unsettled political environment. Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, considered to be the pivotal vote on the issue, said the court was in "uncharted waters. " He questioned whether it should have even accepted the case, in which lower courts struck down California's...

Talk of a Supreme Court nomination for Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton by Sen. Barack Obama, should he gain the White House, is based on poor judgment ["Next Stop, Supreme Court?" op-ed, May 21]. The idea that a Supreme Court position could be offered simply as a consolation prize for losing the Democratic presidential nomination is insulting to all the qualified justices on the court. What qualification does Ms. Clinton have for such a position? Surely she is no more qualified than former nominee Harriet Miers was. Ms. Clinton's...

All oral arguments are open to the public, but seating is limited and on a first-come, first-seated basis. Before a session begins, two lines form on the plaza in front of the building. One is for those who wish to attend an entire argument, and the other, a three-minute line, is for those who wish to observe the Court in session only briefly. Please do not hold a space in either line for others who have not yet arrived. Seating for the first argument begins at 9:30 a.m. and seating for the three-minute line begins at 10 a.m. The locations for...

CORRECTION: A photograph with the essay showing President Obama talking to Justices John Paul Stevens and Anthony Kennedy, was credited incorrectly. Steve Petteway is a staff photographer for the Supreme Court, not the Associated Press. He's too detached and cerebral . Too deferential to Congress. Too willing to compromise . And he's too much of a law professor and not enough of a commander in chief, as Sarah Palin recently admonished . These are some of the qualities for which the president, rightly or wrongly, is criticized.

Regarding Chief Justice G. Roberts Jr.'s probable motivations for his decision on the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act [" High court speculation: Did Roberts switch vote? ", front page, June 30], as a conservative I want to make clear my key objection. Mr. Roberts's decision self-evidently elevated political and institutional considerations over fealty to the Constitution. However, the oath of a Supreme Court justice is to "support and defend the Constitution of the United States," not "support and defend the Supreme...

PATENT VIOLATION: The Supreme Court said Monday that an Indiana farmer violated Monsanto Co.'s patents on soybean seeds resistant to its weed-killer. The farmer had been growing the beans without buying new seeds from the corporation. NARROW RULING: While Monsanto won this case, the court refused to make a sweeping decision that would cover other self-replicating technologies like DNA molecules and nanotechnologies, leaving that for another day. Businesses and researchers had been closely...

Farmers must pay Monsanto each time they plant the company's genetically modified soybeans, the Supreme Court ruled Monday, rejecting an Indiana farmer's argument that his un­or­tho­dox techniques did not violate the company's patent. Farmer Vernon Hugh Bowman asserted that because the company's herbicide-resistent Roundup Ready soybeans replicate themselves, he was not violating the company's patent by planting progeny seeds he bought elsewhere. But the...

WASHINGTON — In roughly 75 hours of arguments at the Supreme Court since October, only one African-American lawyer appeared before the justices, and for just over 11 minutes. The numbers were marginally better for Hispanic lawyers. Four of them argued for a total of 1 hour, 45 minutes. Women were better represented, accounting for just over 17 percent of the arguments before the justices. In an era when three women, a Hispanic and an African-American sit on the court and...

PITTSBURGH — Former Pennsylvania Supreme Court Justice Joan Orie Melvin avoided prison time Tuesday for her campaign corruption conviction but was ordered to send a letter of apology to every judge in the state because she abused her office. Melvin and her sister and former aide Janine Orie each received house arrest for illegally using the judge's state-funded staff as part of her two campaigns for a seat on the state's highest court. Allegheny County Judge Lester...

The Supreme Court will hear two cases on gay marriage Tuesday and Wednesday. Tuesday's case concerns California's Proposition 8, passed by voters there in 2008. On Wednesday, the justices will consider the Defense of Marriage Act, passed by Congress in 1996. Robert Barnes reports that the justices have " an unusually wide range of options " for deciding the cases: With an overwhelming majority of state laws pointing one way and public opinion trending rapidly in the other, the Supreme Court may enter this week's historic arguments...

Ethics laws that require a legislator to abstain from voting when there is a potential conflict of interest are as old as the union, the Supreme Court ruled Monday, and do not violate the First Amendment's protection of free speech. The court's unanimous decision overturned a Nevada Supreme Court decision that said public officials' votes were a form of constitutionally protected self-expression. In an opinion by Justice Antonin Scalia , the court said laws requiring legislators to recuse themselves from voting on issues...