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Thu 28 Jun, 2012

With the momentous opinions this week in the Affordable Care Act cases and the Arizona immigration case, we've already received requests to post the bench statements by the justices. Unfortunately, the Court does not release recordings of these sessions to the National Archives until the beginning of the following term, usually sometime in October. We will transcribe and post the announcement recordings when we receive them later this year.

Thu 28 Jun, 2012

Carolyn Shapiro, frequent Oyez contributor and director of the Institute on the Supreme Court of the United States, appeared on Chicago Tonight yesterday evening. When asked about the outcome, she correctly predicted the Court would uphold the individual mandate.

Thu 28 Jun, 2012

The Court today issued a long, complex decision in the closely watched cases dealing with President Obama's signature healthcare reform legislation. Oyez is working to assemble a simplified summary of the conclusion, but most provisions, including the controversial Individual Mandate, were upheld.

Wed 27 Jun, 2012

The Court doesn't allow live broadcasts of its proceedings, and it won't release the audio recordings of tomorrow's opinion announcements until October, but you can still get play-by-play coverage of the Court's decisions from our friends at SCOTUSblog, who will be live-blogging the Court's session tomorrow morning at 10:00 AM EDT.

Tue 26 Jun, 2012

David Letterman highlights ten things you didn't know about the Court.

Update: The Daily Beast chimes in with 11 real facts you probably didn't know about the Court.

Mon 25 Jun, 2012

In a 5-4 decision, the Supreme Court held that the sentencing of two fourteen-year-old boys to life without parole violated the Eighth Amendment's prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment.

Mon 25 Jun, 2012

The Supreme Court today rejected most of the state of Arizona's controversial immigration enforcement law as unconstitutionally infringing on the Federal government's powers. While most of the law was struck down, one provision, which allows state law enforcement personell to inquire about immigration status where there is reasonable suspicion that an individual might be in the country illegally, was upheld, at least for now.

Mon 25 Jun, 2012

The Court today announced that the final session of the 2011 term will be this Thursday, June 28. This almost certainly means the Court will rule then on the closely watched cases involving President Obama's signature healthcare reform legislation.

Mon 14 May, 2012

While the world awaits the Court's ruling in The Affordable Care Act Cases with bated breath, Jeffrey Toobin takes a fascinating look at the behind the scenes wrangling during the Court's review of Citizens United v. FEC. While reading Toobin's piece, one wonders what's going on now, as the Court reviews yet another landmark case.

Tue 1 May, 2012

For the last quarter century, the American public's approval of the Supreme Court has been consistently high and generally more stable than approval ratings of the other branches of the Federal government. However, a Pew Research survey has detected a steady decline in the Court's favorability that cuts across political party lines.

Mon 23 Apr, 2012

The Court this week will hear the the final arguments of the 2011 Term. The last argument, on Wednesday, will be in Arizona v. United States, the widely watched challenge to Arizona's controversial immigration law.

The Court is expected to issue opinions on all pending cases by late June.

New cases are already being docketed for the 2012 Term, which will open in October.

Mon 12 Dec, 2011

The Court today granted review in the Federal government's challenge to Arizona's controversial immigration reform law, with Justice Kagan recusing herself from the case. SCOTUSblog has a nice summary of the law.

Update: Oyez's summary of the case is now available.

Fri 13 Jan, 2012

Recordings and transcripts of this week's oral arguments are now available from Oyez.

Fri 20 Jan, 2012

The Supreme Court on Friday issued an unsigned, per curiam opinion in Perry v. Perez halting the implementation of a congressional district map drawn by a Federal district court, after the lower court rejected the Texas legislature's map.

Check out Oyez's summary of the case.

Fri 20 Jan, 2012

The Oyez Project at Chicago-Kent has posted audio and transcripts of this week's oral arguments.

The Court heard arguments this week in the following cases:

United States v. Home Concrete & Supply

Filarsky v. Delia

Holder v. Gutierrez

Vartelas v. Holder

Mon 23 Jan, 2012

In a significant Fourth Amendment decision, the Court today found that law enforcement authorities must obtain warrants before using GPS tracking devices to monitor a vehicle. The decision was unanimous.

The case is No. 10-1259, United States v. Jones.

Mon 14 Nov, 2011

The Court has granted certiorari in three cases pertaining to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

Update: Oyez's summary of the cases is now available.

Fri 11 Nov, 2011

We have aligned the audio + transcripts for this week's arguments and made some corrections to the transcripts in the process. (We provide all six audio files but the audio+transcripts in two cases argued on November 9 will be released on November 11). Two cases argued on November 7 and Nov ember 8 received considerable press attention: Zivotovsky v. Clinton and United States v. Jones.

Wed 2 Nov, 2011

We have posted audio and transcripts of last term's opinion announcements. You can now access the audio via the website or by subscribing to Oyez's 2010 Opinion Announcements podcast via iTunes U.

Tue 18 Oct, 2011

The Court agreed on Monday, October 17 to hear arguments in a case addressing whether patently false statements are protected by the Freedom of Speech clause of the First Amendment. Specifically, the Court will examine the Stolen Valor Act of 2005, which makes it a crime for an individual to falsely claim that they have received a military decoration.