Supreme Court and judiciary news, redistricting and elections. Analysis is my own.
Judge Livingston said the INA's exclusive review scheme channels legal and constitutional challenges arising from removal proceedings to the immigration courts and, ultimately, a petition for review in the U.S. Court of Appeals, leaving district courts without jurisdiction.
The majority held that Biden failed to show he was likely to succeed on the merits. It found the public has a strong interest in evaluating Special Counsel Hur's decision not to charge him, and that DOJ's extensive redactions left Biden's remaining privacy interests outweighed under FOIA Exemption 7(C).
Judge Freeman wrote that the ban on semi-automatic rifles violates the Second Amendment because the firearms are commonly possessed for lawful purposes, and the State failed to identify a historical tradition of analogous firearm regulations that justifies prohibiting them.
Judge Smith said the case turns on the plain text of federal law, which bars states from giving in-state tuition to undocumented immigrants based on residency unless the same benefit is available to all U.S. citizens regardless of where they live. Texas's law did exactly that.
The majority said the ban survives the Supreme Court's Bruen test because America has a historical tradition of restricting particularly dangerous weapons, likening AR-15s and 30-round magazines to weapons historically subject to special regulation, such as Bowie knives.
The dispute centers on DHS's expanded SAVE system, which let states use Social Security numbers and bulk searches to verify citizenship and immigration status for voter rolls and certain other lawful purposes. Judge Sooknanan ruled those changes violated federal law.
Florida sued the American Academy of Pediatrics in state court, alleging it misled families about medical treatments for gender dysphoria in minors through its clinical guidance, policy statements, and advocacy. A Chicago federal judge later blocked that lawsuit.
The majority said Congress cannot define the scope of the Fifth Amendment by labeling someone an "applicant for admission." While the INA mandates detention, the Constitution independently protects people who have lived in the U.S. for years and developed substantial ties.
Judge Mathis, joined by Judge Cole, said the Civil Rights Act of 1960 only covers voting records that election officials "acquire" from others, such as voter-registration applications. Michigan's statewide voter database is created and maintained by the state itself.
The court ruled the agencies violated the Privacy Act, the Social Security Act, and the APA, and found they proceeded despite knowing the citizenship data contained accuracy problems that could wrongly flag eligible U.S. citizens as non-citizens.
The case stems from the 1979 disappearance and murder of six-year-old Etan Patz. Pedro Hernandez confessed multiple times in 2012, and a New York jury convicted him of kidnapping and felony murder. The Second Circuit had ordered habeas relief based on the trial court's response to a jury question about the confessions.
Judge Friedrich ruled Biden is unlikely to succeed on the merits because the Privacy Act does not clearly bar disclosure, and DOJ reasonably concluded that the public interest in records relied upon by Hur outweighs Biden's diminished privacy interests after redactions.
Plaintiffs argue that Louisiana’s leading proposed congressional map, SB121, preserves the race-based structure of the current majority-Black 2nd District, emulating the 2022 and 2011 maps.
Judge Joshua Hawkes says Florida courts cannot block the state’s new congressional map by temporarily reinstating the old 2022 map, because state leaders contend that map itself contains unconstitutional race-based districts.
The three-judge panel finds that Plaintiffs are likely to succeed on their Section 2 claims even after Callais. 
Justice Thomas dissents, arguing that shipping mifepristone for abortion violates the federal Comstock Act. He says the manufacturers cannot claim irreparable harm from losing profits tied to what he described as a criminal enterprise.
Plaintiffs have already filed for a Temporary Restraining Order. The Court invites them to file motions for preliminary injunctions under Section 2 and the 14th Amendment, briefing the effect of Callais.
The majority said Congress only gave presidents limited emergency tariff powers under Section 122, aimed at specific international payments crises tied to the old Bretton Woods financial system.
This is honestly the most unhinged opinion of a federal judge that I've ever read. The scathing and antagonistic language is one thing, but he makes a sweeping holding that the 4th Amendment requires an independent judicial officer, not administrative warrants, with ZERO analysis.
The new map must be in place by February 6th, 2026. The current NY-11 has existed since 1980.