U.S. Supreme Court

Ginsburg, Champion Of Gender Equality, Becomes 1st Woman To Lie In State

By • Sep 25, 2020

Updated at 1:47 p.m. ET

Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg lay in state Friday at the U.S. Capitol, the first woman and the first Jewish person to be given that honor in the nation's history.

Ginsburg, Role Model And 'Rock Star,' Lies In Repose At Supreme Court

By • Sep 23, 2020

Updated at 11:01 a.m. ET

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is lying in repose at the U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday and Thursday, a two-day event honoring a justice who was both a cultural and legal icon.

As Ginsburg's casket arrived at the high court, former law clerks lined the Supreme Court steps. Supreme Court police officers served as pallbearers. Then the justice's family, close friends and members of the court held a brief ceremony in the court's Great Hall.

"Supreme Inequality" By Adam Cohen

By • Sep 18, 2020

Supreme Inequality is a revelatory examination of the conservative direction of the Supreme Court over the last fifty years.  Contrary to what Americans would like to believe, the Court does surprisingly little to protect the rights of the poor and disadvantaged. 


ACLU Of Idaho Celebrates Recent Rulings, Focuses On Current Legal Battles

By • Jun 24, 2020
SalFalko / Flickr

In the wake of a pair of landmark Supreme Court rulings on the future of DACA dreamers and upholding the constitutional protections for LGBTQ persons, ACLU of Idaho recognizes there's little time to celebrate.

Supreme Court Shelves Second Amendment Cases—For Now

By editor • Jun 16, 2020

The Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear challenges to 10 gun-related cases next term, likely denying for the time being at least the majority-conservative court the prospect of reshaping gun regulations for the first time this decade.

Many court watchers, whether for or against gun regulations, expected the court to take a Second Amendment case this term; several firearm-related cases have been circulating at the justices’ weekly conferences. Gun rights supporters hope the conservative majority will strengthen an individual’s rights to own and carry guns.

Audio Archive: Supreme Court Hears Oral Arguments Remotely

By • May 3, 2020

Updated on Wednesday, May 13, at 3:45 p.m. ET

Amid the coronavirus pandemic, the Supreme Court has over two weeks heard oral arguments remotely, with audio streaming live for the public — a first for the court.

The arguments included high-profile cases about religious freedom, President Trump's financial records and the Electoral College.

For each case, both sides had the same amount of time, beginning with two minutes of uninterrupted argument. Then, each justice was allotted two minutes for questioning.

Why Boise's Supreme Court Appeal Could Change How Homelessness Is Treated

By • Sep 24, 2019
J. Scott Applewhite / AP Images

The City of Boise has been in a years-long battle in an attempt to implement an anti-camping ordinance that would prevent a person from sleeping outside in public places, unless the homeless shelters are full. After the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled the ordinance to be unconstitutional, the city is atempting to take the issue to the U.S Supreme Court for a final ruling. Mountain West News Bureau reporter Madelyn Beck talks about the latest on this story.

Idaho's D.C. Politicians React To Trump's SCOTUS Nominee

By Matt Guilhem • Feb 1, 2017
Carolyn Kaster / AP

Idaho's entirely Republican political delegation in Washington DC offered kind words for President Donald Trump's Supreme Court nominee.

Both Senator Mike Crapo and Representative Raul Labrador praised Trump's selection of Judge Neil Gorsuch to fill the vacancy left by the late conservative Justice Antonin Scalia.

Idaho Senator Crapo Joins Judiciary Committee

By • Jan 4, 2017
Mike Crapo / United States Senate

Idaho Senator Mike Crapo will start his next term in Congress by joining the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Crapo already sits on four committees, Budget, Finance, Indian Affairs, as well as Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs. Now he joins the Judiciary Committee.

Crapo will be part of the group that has jurisdiction for judicial and executive nominations - everything from Attorney General to the nation’s highest court. Plus, many district and appeal courts. Crapo says he’s ready to weigh in on a new Supreme Court nominee, to replace Judge Antonin Scalia, who died last year.

Supreme Court Sides With Idaho Over Medicaid Rates, Providers Fear Patients Will Be Hurt

By • Apr 1, 2015
Wally Gobetz / Flickr Creative Commons

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled 5-4 Tuesday in favor of the State of Idaho in a fight over Medicaid payments to providers. The decision could impact Medicaid's low-income patients across the state. 

The case began after a 2009 lawsuit against the state. Officials with Idaho's Department of Health and Welfare had recommended increasing payment rates to private medical providers who serve Medicaid patients.

U.S. Supreme Court Sides With Idaho In Medicaid Pay Dispute

By • Mar 31, 2015
Zacklur / Flickr Creative Commons

The Supreme Court says private sector health care companies cannot sue to force states to raise their Medicaid reimbursement rates to keep up with rising medical costs.

The justices ruled 5-4 Tuesday that the medical companies have no private right to enforce federal Medicaid funding laws against states if Congress has not created such a right.

Gov. Otter Asks Supreme Court To Hear Idaho Gay Marriage Case

By • Dec 17, 2014
Butch Otter
Emilie Ritter Saunders / Boise State Public Radio

Idaho Gov. Butch Otter says the U.S. Supreme Court should wait until it receives arguments from Idaho before deciding a case involving gay marriage in the United States.

In documents filed with the nation's highest court, lawyers for Otter said waiting for Idaho's case would help the Supreme Court resolve "the marriage-litigation wave in all respects."

Is Idaho's Gay Marriage Case Unique Enough To Yield A Different Supreme Court Decision?

By Scott Graf • Oct 8, 2014
David / Flickr Creative Commons

A reporter for the blog covering the Supreme Court, "Scotusblog" says the state of Idaho likely faces an uphill battle in convincing justices that their case against gay marriage is any different than the seven states the court turned away Monday.

U.S. Supreme Court Effectively Makes Gay Marriage Legal In 30 States, Not Idaho

By & Adam Cotterell • Oct 6, 2014
wedding rings
MyTudut / Flickr Creative Commons

This story was updated at 5:45 p.m.

State bans on same-sex marriages have been falling around the country since summer 2013, when the Supreme Court ordered the federal government to recognize state-sanctioned gay marriages. The high court Monday cleared the way for more expansion by turning away appeals from five states seeking to prohibit it.  

Abortion Seekers Still Protected At Northwest Clinics After Supreme Court Ruling

By • Jun 26, 2014

Abortion services providers say the Supreme Court’s ruling on 35-foot “buffer zones” around Massachusetts clinics won’t have much effect in the Northwest.

Supreme Court Justice Scalia To Speak At Idaho Water Conference

By Emilie Ritter Saunders • Jun 23, 2014
Shawn / Flickr Creative Commons

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia will visit Boise in August to give the keynote speech at a conference marking the end of a nearly 30-year water adjudication process.

The University of Idaho announced the upcoming event is sponsored by the Idaho Supreme Court, the Kempthorne Institute, and U of I’s College of Law.

Scalia is speaking at a conference celebrating the end of the Snake River Basin Adjudication process which negotiated water rights in Idaho. That adjudication started in 1987.

U.S. Supreme Court Could Examine Oregon Gay Marriage Case

By • May 30, 2014

The issue of whether gay marriage is legal in Oregon may not be settled after all.

A Unanimous Supreme Court Ruling, But Still No House For Idaho Couple

By • Oct 2, 2013

The U.S. Supreme Court is scheduled to begin its new term Monday – despite the federal government shutdown. The new round of legal cases will likely continue a pattern of closely divided rulings.

Effect Of DOMA Ruling Murky For Idaho, Oregon Couples Married Elsewhere

By • Jun 26, 2013

It's still not clear what the Supreme Court's ruling on the Defense of Marriage Act will mean for many same-sex couples in the Northwest. That's because of new legal questions surrounding the hundreds of couples who have marriage licenses from Washington state but live in states like Idaho and Oregon that have banned same-sex marriage.

Supreme Court's Gay Marriage Decisions Won’t Affect Idaho Law

By Scott Graf • Jun 26, 2013
US Supreme Court

Law experts in Idaho say today’s decisions from the Supreme Court that strike down the Defense of Marriage Act and allow gay marriage to resume in California will have no effect on Idaho law.

Gay couples do not have the right to marry in Idaho.  Idaho passed a constitutional amendment in 2006 that says the only marriage the state will recognize is between a man and woman. 

Idaho Lawyer Allen Derr, Who Won Landmark Anti-Discrimination Case, Dies

By Associated Press • Jun 10, 2013
Courtesy of the Idaho Press Club

Allen Derr, an Idaho lawyer who won a landmark U.S. Supreme Court ruling to bolster anti-discrimination protections for women, died Monday in Boise. He was 85.

On Nov. 22, 1971, the Supreme Court justices issued their Reed vs. Reed decision, holding states cannot discriminate against people because of their gender. It marked a departure from the era when courts often excluded women from full participation in important civil affairs.

Supreme Court Rules Logging Roads Don’t Violate Pollution Law

By Amelia Templeton • Mar 21, 2013

The Supreme Court today decided in favor of the timber industry in a case about the regulation of muddy waters that flow off logging roads.  In a surprising move, one of the court’s conservative justices dissented, and sided with the environmentalists.

Environmental groups in Oregon filed the case.

They argued that muddy water flowing from ditches into forest streams, harms fish, and should be considered industrial pollution.

In a 7-1 decision the Court said it would defer to the Environmental Protection Agency’s read of the law.

Supreme Court Lets Limits On River Mining Stand

By • Mar 19, 2013
Aaron Kunz / EarthFix

A U.S. Supreme Court ruling Monday makes it harder for miners to gain access to Northwest rivers. Environmental groups hailed the decision as a major victory.

Supreme Court: EPA Rule Could Make Logging Road Case Moot

By Amelia Templeton • Dec 4, 2012
Amelia Templeton

The U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments Monday in a case from Oregon over water pollution from logging roads. But a last minute rule change may have made the case moot.

Attorneys involved in the case say that at 5 pm last Friday, the Environmental Protection Agency issued a new rule trying to clarify that the runoff from logging roads should not be considered industrial pollution. 

Supreme Court Rejects ‘Roadless Rule’ Appeal

By Courtney Flatt • Oct 1, 2012

The U.S. Supreme Court will not hear an appeal to the so-called Roadless Rule. The law bans development on nearly 60,000,000 acres of national forest land.

Since its enactment in early 2001, the Roadless Rule has drawn fire from Western states and industry groups -- most recently the state of Wyoming and the Colorado Mining Association.

Pages