Court Watch with Alex Swoyer
The 'Court Watch' podcast with Washington Times legal affairs reporter Alex Swoyer breaks down the Supreme Court's major cases and top news stories about the justices, federal courts and perplexing legal battles with key insight from court watchers from both sides of the aisle.
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Recent Stories
DOJ seeks penalties for Minnesota judges who gave press interview criticizing Trump on immigration
The Justice Department filed a misconduct complaint Wednesday against a group of federal judges in Minnesota who publicly complained about President Trump's immigration policies, which the government said ruined their ability to be impartial.
New Jersey man to be jailed 70 months for threatening to bomb Supreme Court justices
A New Jersey man will spend 70 months in prison for threats he made to detonate explosives at a religious service attended annually by Supreme Court justices.
Justice Alito recuses from major climate-change case to be heard next week
Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. will recuse himself when the Supreme Court hears a major climate change case next week.
Supreme Court lets DHS maintain third-country deportation policy
The Supreme Court gave tentative permission on Tuesday for the Department of Homeland Security to keep carrying out deportations of migrants to third countries when their own homes won't take them back, setting aside limits imposed by a lower court.
The Supreme Court can stop states' hijacking of national energy policy
As Virginia's attorney general and then governor, I spent years defending the right of states to regulate and protect their own environment.
Supreme Court agrees to hear new religious liberty case over shrine to Virgin Mary
The Supreme Court said Thursday it will take up a new religious liberty case that could determine how much churches and other houses of worship must bow to local land-use rules.
3 GOP states go to U.S. Supreme Court to challenge 3 Democratic-led states' abortion 'shield' laws
Three Republican states went to the U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday to challenge abortion "shield laws" protecting providers in three Democratic states, escalating the legal conflict over pills that account for a majority of abortions.
Tennessee was about an hour from executing Christa Pike. Then a federal court stepped in
A federal appeals court halted Christa Pike's execution about an hour before it was set to begin. She would have been Tennessee's first woman executed in at least 200 years.
News organizations ask court to bar White House enforcement of access ban until case is resolved
Three news organizations banished from White House grounds asked a court late Monday to block enforcement of the action until the case is resolved, saying the Trump administration has "persisted in unpredictably and inconsistently implementing its ban" despite a judge's restraining order -- including by barring CNN from fulfilling its role in the White House television pool over the weekend.
Trump takes fight over prisoners' transgender medical treatment to Supreme Court
President Trump on Monday asked the Supreme Court to approve the federal prisons' new policy of refusing to pay for hormone treatments and surgeries for prisoners who seek to undergo gender transitions while behind bars.
Supreme Court vote shadows Maine Sen. Susan Collins in her first bid after abortion rights decision
For years, Planned Parenthood's endorsement of Susan Collins was enough to persuade Erin Evans to vote for Maine's longtime U.S. senator, believing that the moderate Republican would protect abortion access.
Nearly 90 million Americans own guns, and a quarter of them pack an AR-15, study finds
Americans collectively own 461 million firearms -- and AR-15-style rifles account for about 40 million of those, according to a new study by Georgetown University professor William English.
NYC's high school affirmative action policy challenged in Supreme Court
A New York City mother has asked the Supreme Court to step in and order her son be allowed to take a seat at the selective Stuyvesant High School, saying he's being blocked by affirmative action policies that punish him for being Asian American.
Supreme Court revives DHS' database letting states check voters' citizenship
The Supreme Court issued an order allowing the Department of Homeland Security to keep using a database that lets states scour their voter lists for ineligible noncitizens, saying the system appears to be lawful.
DHS takes 'third countries' deportation fight to Supreme Court
Homeland Security asked the Supreme Court on Thursday to step into a fight over the government's ability to remove illegal immigrants to 'third countries' when their homelands won't take them back.
Judge reinstates media outlets banned by Trump, orders 14-day temporary restraining order
A judge temporarily reinstated three media outlets that President Trump ejected from the White House.
New York's climate law that tried to punish oil companies is ruled unconstitutional
A federal judge ruled Wednesday that New York's attempt to make fossil fuel companies pay up $75 billion to combat climate change was unconstitutional, delivering a victory to the Trump administration.
Supreme Court asked to halt Missouri's gerrymandered map -- again
Missouri's new Republican-friendly congressional map is back before the Supreme Court, where opponents are begging the justices to once again set the new districts aside and force November's election to take place under the old, more Democrat-tilted map.
Supreme Court allows custody for parents who wanted surrogate mother to abort baby
A surrogate mother lost her bid Tuesday to gain control of the child she birthed, after Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan denied her petition.
Why federal courts are split on banning guns at the post office
Can you legally carry a handgun into a post office? Depending on where you live, federal district courts now disagree, and a final answer could be years away.
Trump asks Supreme Court to allow DHS detention of pro-Palestinian scholar
President Trump has asked the Supreme Court to hear a case involving a Georgetown University scholar who was targeted for deportation last year after a government artificial intelligence tool flagged his social media posts as too pro-Palestinian.
Appeals court oks Trump-backed Missouri congressional map, but Supreme Court will have final say
A long-running legal fight over Missouri's congressional map took another turn Monday when a federal appeals panel ruled in favor of new districts backed by President Donald Trump, even though the U.S. Supreme Court has blocked those districts from being used in the November election.
Postal Service chief says work stopped on computer system key to Trump effort to limit mail voting
The top official at the U.S. Postal Service said Thursday that the agency has stopped work on developing a controversial computer system that was central to President Donald Trump's effort to limit mail voting after the Supreme Court rejected his executive order this week.
Appeals court weighs Trump-backed Missouri congressional map despite Supreme Court block
A federal appeals court panel on Thursday was considering an attempt to resurrect new Missouri congressional districts backed by President Donald Trump, even though the U.S. Supreme Court blocked those districts from being used in the November election.
Rep. Beatty asks judge to block Kennedy Center closure
Fresh off a court victory preventing President Trump from slapping his name on the Kennedy Center, Rep. Joyce Beatty asked the judge on Wednesday to head off his plan for a two-year shutdown for renovations.
Todd Blanche: Supreme Court setback on mail-in ballots won't stop election integrity efforts
Attorney General Todd Blanche on Tuesday said efforts to tighten rules around mail-in voting will continue beyond November despite the Supreme Court's refusal to step in and revive President Trump's plan to police mail-in ballots for the midterm elections.
Trump unloads on Supreme Court appointees: 'Shell of their original selves'
President Trump on Tuesday scolded the Supreme Court as a letdown that's done "irreparable and unrecoverable harm" with a series of decisions that went against his wishes.
Supreme Court won't let Trump use post office to block mailed ballots
The Supreme Court on Monday declined to lift an injunction blocking President Trump's attempt to use the U.S. Postal Service to regulate mailed ballots in this year's election, dealing a significant blow to the administration's effort to impose new mail voting rules.
Supreme Court to decide whether to hear Maine lobsterman's challenge to GPS boat tracker requirement
The Supreme Court will decide later this month whether to hear a lobster fisherman's challenge to a government requirement that boats use electronic tracking devices. That case could have broad consequences for the American commercial fishing industry.
Supreme Court rejects latest bid to use pro-GOP congressional map in Missouri
The Supreme Court swatted away yet another attempt on Thursday to force Missouri to use a Republican-slanted map for this year's congressional elections, leaving the state to return to the old map used in 2024.
Democrats' court packing strategy could be the death of democracy
By voting against a proposed constitutional amendment to permanently fix the number of Supreme Court justices, Democrats have signaled that once in power, they will expand the court and destroy democracy with it.
An appeals court is considering a push to restrict most common abortion method
A panel of federal judges heard arguments Wednesday over whether prescribing rules should be tightened for a key drug used in the most common abortion method in the United States, one of several ongoing efforts to restrict abortion access four years after the U.S. Supreme Court allowed states to decide the issue.
Supreme Court won't revive Missouri's GOP-friendly congressional map
Supreme Court Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh on Tuesday rejected Missouri's request to restore its Republican-tilted congressional map for this year's elections.
DHS asks Supreme Court to revive database to screen out noncitizen voters
The Department of Homeland Security rushed to the Supreme Court on Tuesday, asking permission to restart a system that states were using to check their voter rolls to identify potential noncitizens who registered to vote.
Democrats reject constitutional amendment to limit Supreme Court to nine justices
House Democrats on Wednesday overwhelmingly voted against a constitutional amendment to set the number of Supreme Court justices at nine.
Democrats plot crackdown on Supreme Court
Democrats eyeing majorities in the House and Senate are plotting how they will police Supreme Court justices they say are influenced by right-wing, dark money groups.
New Jersey wants Supreme Court to weigh in on sports betting regulation
New Jersey is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to decide a dispute over prediction markets and the laws regulating betting on sporting events.
Republicans seek Supreme Court OK for lower campaign ad rates; case could swing Senate races
Republican committees are asking the Supreme Court to block a lower court ruling that effectively raised the rates they must pay for campaign ads, in a case that could affect the winners of several key congressional elections.
Snubbed by Big Law, Clarence Thomas found his path to the Supreme Court
Justice Clarence Thomas says those who dislike him and the direction he's led the Supreme Court should blame the snobbish law firms that didn't offer him a job when he emerged from Yale Law School in the 1970s.
Why Clarence Thomas was 'scary' in law school
Justice Clarence Thomas says those who dislike him and the direction he's led the Supreme Court should blame the snobbish law firms that didn't offer him a job when he emerged from Yale Law School in the 1970s.
Supreme Court's mail-voting ruling settles nothing -- and chaos may follow anyway
The Supreme Court sided with Trump on mail voting Monday, but didn't say his order is legal. Here's why the fight -- and the confusion -- is far from over.
Capitol Police arrest California man in possession of a guillotine near Supreme Court
A 35-year-old California man was arrested Tuesday on charges of possessing an assembled guillotine, which U.S. Capitol Police spotted in the bed of his pickup truck near the U.S. Supreme Court.
Democrats file new challenge to Trump postal service election plans
Congressional Democrats and voting rights advocates mounted new challenges Tuesday to President Trump's plans to have the post office police this year's elections, moving just a day after the Supreme Court gave the administration some wiggle room.
Elon Musk faces no criminal charges for million-dollar voter giveaway
Elon Musk will not face criminal charges for alleged election bribery over promising to dole out $1 million checks to voters during Wisconsin's Supreme Court election last year, a state prosecutor said Tuesday.
Nothing changes yet with the Supreme Court's order on elections. But it could open door to 'chaos'
The Supreme Court's decision giving preliminary approval for President Donald Trump's order restricting mail voting may not lead to a single election procedure changing during the November midterms, but it has already thrown into uncertainty the method that nearly one-third of the country uses to vote.
Supreme Court gives Trump room to run on plan to have post office police mail-in ballots
The Supreme Court on Monday gave President Trump some leeway to work on plans to have the U.S. Postal Service decide which mailed ballots to deliver, saying it was too early for lower courts to intervene and block him.
Goldwater Institute makes the case for Supreme Court to strike down home distilling ban
The libertarian Goldwater Institute has filed a brief in the U.S. Supreme Court backing the end of a 19th-century law against distilling booze at home.
California Supreme Court hears arguments over sheriff's seizure of ballots
The California Supreme Court is weighing whether a Southern California sheriff who seized election ballots must return them to county election officials.
The Supreme Court should review the E. Jean Carroll case
Lawyers representing President Trump have been pilloried in the media for asking the Supreme Court to review the larger E. Jean Carroll defamation judgment, totaling $83.3 million.
Preservation group urges Supreme Court to suspend Trump's White House ballroom project
A historic preservation group that sued to block construction of President Donald Trump's White House ballroom urged the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday to suspend the project while it considers whether the work can continue.