The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Espinoza v. Montana Department of Revenue that the application of Article X, Section 6 of the Montana Constitution violated the free exercise clause of the U.S. Constitution. Article X, Section 6, known as the state’s Blaine Amendment or as a no aid provision, prohibited the state from making direct…
In a 5-4 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Seila v. CFPB that limiting the power of the president to remove the director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) violates the separation of powers of the U.S. Constitution. Congress created the CFPB as an independent agency with a director insulated from direct presidential…
The U.S. Supreme Court’s June 22 ruling in Liu v. SEC limited the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) enforcement powers. The court ruled 8-1 that the SEC could ask courts to issue disgorgement orders, which require wrongdoers to give up money gathered illegally, with some restrictions. The court held that valid disgorgement orders must be…
The U.S. Senate has confirmed 200 of President Trump’s Article III judicial nominees—two Supreme Court justices, 53 appellate court judges, 143 district court judges, and two U.S. Court of International Trade judges—since January 2017. On June 24, the Senate confirmed Cory Wilson to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit. The 5th Circuit…
In a 5-4 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in DHS v. Regents of the University of California that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) did not properly follow Administrative Procedure Act (APA) procedures when it sought to end the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program in 2017. DHS started the program…
Raymond Lucia, the plaintiff in the 2018 U.S. Supreme Court case Lucia v. SEC, reached a settlement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on June 17 after eight years of litigation. The settlement requires Lucia to pay a $25,000 fine and allows him to reapply for reinstatement as an investment advisor. The Lucia…
On June 15, the Supreme Court of the United States (“SCOTUS”) granted review in two cases for its upcoming October 2020-2021 term. The Supreme Court will begin hearing cases for the term on October 5, 2020. The court’s yearly term begins on the first Monday in October and lasts until the first Monday in October…
On June 16, the Democratic Party of Texas appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court an appellate court order staying a district court decision that had extended absentee voting eligibility in response to the COVID-19 outbreak. On May 19, Judge Samuel Frederick Biery of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas ordered that…
The U.S. Supreme Court issued two opinions in five cases. In Bostock v. Clayton County, Georgia (consolidated with Altitude Express Inc. v. Zarda and R.G. & G.R. Harris Funeral Homes v. EEOC), SCOTUS ruled “an employer who fires an individual merely for being gay or transgender violates” Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of…
On June 8, 2020, the Supreme Court of the United States (“SCOTUS”) issued a unanimous ruling in one case, Lomax v. Ortiz-Marquez. The case originated from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit and was argued before SCOTUS on February 26, 2020. The case: Arthur James Lomax is a prisoner at the Limon…