“The Case Against Separating Church and State”: Online at Bloomberg View, law professor Noah Feldman has an essay that begins, “Is the separation of church and state unconstitutional? You read that right. The U.S. Supreme Court said Friday that it would consider whether Missouri’s constitution, which bars state aid to religious groups, violates the U.S. Constitution by discriminating against religion.”
“Hovercraft-riding moose hunter targets federal land policy”: Robin Bravender of Greenwire has this report.
“High court split over police officer’s First Amendment case”: The Associated Press has this report.
And Robert Iafolla of Reuters reports that “U.S. justices split on New Jersey cop’s political retaliation claim.”
You can access at this link the transcript of today’s U.S. Supreme Court oral argument in Heffernan v. City of Paterson, No. 14-1280.
“Worse than Death”: Last Friday, The Yale Law Journal Forum posted online this contribution from Ninth Circuit Judge Alex Kozinski about solitary confinement in prison.
“The Story Behind The Deadliest Prison Bus Crash In Texas History: In January 2015, a prison transport carrying 15 men — three guards and 12 chained-together inmates — ran off the road; It was one of the bloodiest days in the history of Texas prisons.” Albert Samaha of BuzzFeed News has this report.
“Ten Years After Last Execution, California’s Death Row Continues to Grow”: Liliana Segura has this report online at The Intercept.
“In Union Case, Counting to Five to Overrule Precedent”: Kenneth Jost had this post Sunday at his blog, “Jost on Justice.”
Access online today’s Order List of the U.S. Supreme Court: At this link. The Court today granted review in four new cases.
In early news coverage, Adam Liptak and Michael D. Shear of The New York Times report that “Supreme Court to Hear Challenge to Obama Immigration Actions.”
Robert Barnes of The Washington Post reports that “Supreme Court to review Obama’s power on deportation policy.”
Richard Wolf of USA Today reports that “Supreme Court will rule on President Obama’s immigration plan” and “Supreme Court refuses to hear another Obamacare case.”
Jess Bravin of The Wall Street Journal reports that “Supreme Court to Rule on Obama’s Bid to Block Deportations; Sets the stage for a blockbuster ruling on presidential powers in key immigration case.”
The Associated Press reports that “Supreme Court sets election-year clash on immigration“; “High court rejects new challenge to Obama health overhaul“; “Supreme Court rejects Arkansas bid to revive abortion law“; “High court rejects challenge over contractor contributions“; and “High court rejects appeal over Picasso painting.”
Lawrence Hurley of Reuters reports that “U.S. top court agrees to review Obama immigration action“; “U.S. Supreme Court agrees to hear insider trading appeal“; “U.S. top court rejects new challenge to Obamacare“; and “U.S. justices reject Arkansas bid to revive abortion law.” In addition, Jessica Dye reports that “U.S. Supreme Court won’t review J&J appeal of $140 million judgment.”
Greg Stohr of Bloomberg News reports that “Obama’s Immigration Plan Gets Review From U.S. Supreme Court“; “Insider-Trading Clash Will Get Review From U.S. Supreme Court“; “Obamacare Left Intact as U.S. Supreme Court Rejects Appeal“; and “Arkansas Rejected by U.S. Supreme Court on 12-Week Abortion Ban.”
Cristian Farias and Elise Foley of The Huffington Post report that “Supreme Court To Decide Fate Of Obama’s Immigration Policy Before The Election; Over Texas’ objections, the justices agree to hear the case this spring.”
And at “SCOTUSblog,” Lyle Denniston has a post titled “Immigration policy: Review and decision this Term.”
“Constitution Check: Are the states’ ‘Blaine Amendments’ on shaky ground?” Lyle Denniston has this post today at the “Constitution Daily” blog of the National Constitution Center.
“Finding Certainty in Cert: An Empirical Analysis of the Factors Involved in Supreme Court Certiorari Decisions from 2001-2015.” Adam Feldman and Alexander Kappner have posted this paper online at SSRN.
“An Employee Mistakenly Steps Into Politics; Can The Government Retaliate?” Nina Totenberg had this audio segment on today’s broadcast of NPR’s “Morning Edition.”