Law360's The Term - News & Analysis on the Supreme Court

The Supreme Court on Tuesday considered whether residents of Puerto Rico should be eligible for federal disability benefits in a case that examines the island's unique status in the eyes of the United States government. On this week's episode of The Term, we welcome Law360 senior reporter Carolina Bolado, who has been tracking this case for years. She talks us through what the justices were asking on Tuesday, and what the case could mean not just for Puerto Rico but for U.S. territories everywhere.

The Supreme Court's conservative majority seems likely to strike down New York's century-old restrictions on carrying firearms in public, but it's unclear what limits the court will set to keep guns out of "sensitive" places. Law360's The Term examines this week's blockbuster oral arguments in New York Rifle and Pistol Assn. v. Bruen, plus a summary of the arguments that took place Monday in a pair of explosive cases over Texas’ 6-week abortion ban.

It was finally the Second Amendment's turn to steal the show at the Supreme Court next week—until the justices caught court watchers by surprise by adding a pair of explosive cases over Texas' 6-week abortion ban to Monday's docket. On this week’s episode of The Term, we discuss what’s behind the last minute maneuvers and break down everything you need to know before the high court hears the landmark abortion rights cases next week.

The Supreme Court stayed busy this week despite oral arguments, issuing a pair of rulings on Monday that granted qualified immunity to law enforcement officers involved in alleged violations of civil rights. On this week’s episode, we welcome guest Jay Schweikert, an attorney and research fellow with the Cato Institute’s Project on Criminal Justice, to discuss what the rulings mean for the future of the controversial doctrine. Also this week, an update on the latest round of briefs filed at the high court over Texas’ 6-week abortion ban and a deeper dive into why President Joe Biden’s bipartisan commission is at loggerheads over a draft report condemning court-packing proposals.

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was convicted and sentenced to death in 2015 for his role in the deadly Boston Bombings that killed three people and injured nearly 300 others, but last year his sentence was overturned by a First Circuit that found he didn’t receive a fair trial. The case reached the Supreme Court on Wednesday, where the justices grappled with arguments about mitigating evidence and appeared to lean in favor of reinstating his punishment. Law360’s senior Boston courts reporter Chris Villani has followed this case for years and joins The Term podcast this week to discuss it.

The Supreme Court capped its first oral arguments of the term with the case of Abu Zubaydah, the first detainee subjected to CIA torture during the War on Terror. Can Zubaydah collect evidence to hold the CIA's alleged Polish collaborators liable? Journalist Spencer Ackerman joins Law360's The Term to break down the case.

We’re back! With the start of the 2021 SCOTUS term just days away, Law360’s weekly Supreme Court podcast is kicking off its third season by welcoming special guest Amy Howe of SCOTUSblog and Howe on the Court to preview all the blockbuster cases on the docket, from the biggest challenge to Roe v. Wade in 30 years, to a gun rights case that would expand the Second Amendment outside the home, and many more.

An uptick in unanimous decisions caught U.S. Supreme Court watchers off-guard this term, but simmering beneath the surface are stark differences among the justices on the direction of the court. We’re talking big takeaways and wrapping up the term this week with the help of Law360 data editor Jackie Bell, who will break down the numbers behind the cases -- including who’s the new “Mr. Majority.”

Eight years after its Shelby County decision, the Supreme Court’s conservative majority has once again blunted a key provision of the 1965 Voting Rights Act over the outraged dissents of the liberal minority. This week, the hosts explore the consequences of Brnovich v. DNC and other high court action on the final day of the October 2020 term.

When a high school cheerleader posted a profane Snapchat three years ago, she could hardly have known the episode would give rise to the biggest Supreme Court ruling on student free speech rights in half a century. This week, The Term talks to the ACLU’s David Cole, who argued her case, on what the victory means. Also this week, the high court rejects NCAA rules limiting education-related compensation for college athletes, and lands on the side of property rights over organized farm labor in California.