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☆ Biden says he's 'not confident' his student-loan forgiveness plan will be upheld by the Supreme Court
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-02 | by ( Ayelet Sheffey | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Biden said he's "not confident" the Supreme Court will uphold his student-debt relief plan. The Supreme Court will make a final decision on the student-loan forgiveness by June. On Tuesday, the Supreme Court took on the two conservative-backed lawsuits that temporarily paused Biden's plan to cancel up to $20,000 in student debt at the end of August. If the Supreme Court finds the cases do not have standing, the cases will be dismissed — the court would not even have the authority to rule on the other issues of executive overreach after that point. Even with the conservatives in the majority, it's unclear how exactly the Supreme Court will rule.

☆ The Supreme Court justices deciding whether to axe Biden's student loan relief program paid an average of $42,539 to go to college. Today, they'd have to pay around $320,531.
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-01 | by ( Sarah Al-Arshani | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

The Supreme Court heard oral arguments for Biden's student debt relief on Tuesday. The cost of getting an undergraduate degree was significantly cheaper when they graduated than now. When Roberts graduated in 1979, it cost $21,400; in 1992 when Jackson earned her undergraduate degree, it would have cost $75,360. When Roberts graduated in 1979, it cost $21,400; in 1992 when Jackson earned her undergraduate degree, it would have cost $75,360. Student loan borrowers gathered at the Supreme Court today to tell the court that student loan relief is legal on January 2, 2023.

☆ Sonia Sotomayor pushes back on conservative SCOTUS justices who questioned the fairness of Biden's student-loan forgiveness plan, saying the US is 'not a society of unlimited resources'
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-01 | by ( Azmi Haroun | Ayelet Sheffey | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

SCOTUS Justice Sonia Sotomayor questioned efforts to gut the Biden student-loan forgiveness plan Tuesday. Sotomayor was among a few justices pushing back on common GOP arguments on the "fairness" of the program. Sotomayor was joined by justices Ketanji Brown Jackson, Elena Kagan, and Amy Coney Barrett in scrutinizing the cases' standing to sue. Every law has people who encompass it or people outside it," Sotomayor said, adding that "that's not an issue of fairness. Conservative Justice Amy Coney Barrett joined the liberal justices in challenging the standing of both of the cases, but it would require the vote of an additional conservative justice to uphold Biden's debt relief plan.

Questions posed by the conservative justices during arguments on Tuesday over Biden's debt relief indicated that the conservative-majority court could strike down the plan as an unlawful overreach of executive power. "If Congress can't or won't step up, and the court won't let presidents do so, what are we left with? Its conservative justices already have invoked it to scuttle a pandemic-era residential eviction moratorium, a COVID-19 vaccination-or-testing mandate for large businesses and federal limits on carbon emissions from power plants. In some instances, like Biden's unilateral effort to extend the eviction moratorium, he took executive action following congressional inaction. "I'm concerned that we're going to have a problem in terms of the federal government's ability to operate," Jackson said.

☆ Amy Coney Barrett joins liberal Supreme Court justices in scrutinizing a student-loan company's involvement in one of the lawsuits blocking Biden's debt relief
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-28 | by ( Ayelet Sheffey | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Amy Coney Barrett joined liberal Supreme Court justices in questioning GOP-led states' standing to block student-debt relief. The states said the relief would harm student-loan company MOHELA, based in Missouri where the case was filed. As expected, MOHELA's role in the lawsuit fell under scrutiny by liberal justices like Ketanji Brown Jackson and Elana Kagan. Barrett joined in that line of questioning, asking Nebraska's Solicitor General James Campbell: "Do you want to address why MOHELA's not here?" Conservative justices took a hard line of questioning with Biden's lawyer, asking about fairness of the relief and whether it was executive overreach.

☆ Biden's student-loan forgiveness plan is in jeopardy. Here are 4 major takeaways from the Supreme Court's oral arguments.
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-28 | by ( Ayelet Sheffey | Oma Seddiq | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +11 min

The Supreme Court heard oral arguments for Biden's student-debt relief on Tuesday. The nation's highest court heard more than four hours of oral arguments in two high-profile cases that reviewed Biden's plan to cancel up to $20,000 in debt for federal borrowers, which lower courts temporarily paused in November. "We're talking about half a trillion dollars and 43 million Americans," Chief Justice John Roberts said, referring to the estimated costs of Biden's plan and the number of affected borrowers. Justice Elena Kagan raised a hypothetical national emergency of an earthquake and the education secretary responded by deciding to cancel student loans for those harmed. Still, even if Barrett and the court's three liberals find that the states and borrowers lack standing, they would need another conservative vote to uphold Biden's debt relief.

☆ How the Supreme Court could re-shape the internet as you know it
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-24 | by ( Brian Fung | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +11 min

Nearly 30 years of protectionsA view of the U.S. Supreme Court on February 21, 2023 in Washington, DC. The Supreme Court isn't the only one reviewing Section 230; Congress and the White House have also proposed changes to the law, though legislation to update Section 230 has consistently stalled. For skeptics of the tech industry, and critics of social media platforms, more lawsuits would imply more opportunities to hold tech companies accountable. Allowing the courts to scrutinize the tech industry more would bring it in line with other industries, some have argued. Even a 'like' could trigger a lawsuitLiability could also extend to individual internet users.

[1/2] Television equipment is seen outside the U.S. Supreme Court as Justices hear oral arguments on Twitter's appeal to an anti-terror law violation, in Washington, U.S., February 22, 2023. Both lawsuits were brought under a U.S. law that enables Americans to recover damages related to "an act of international terrorism." Conservative Justice Neil Gorsuch said the statute focuses liability on aiding a person who engaged in a terrorist act. Islamic State called the attack revenge for Turkish military involvement in Syria. In the Twitter case, the San Francisco-based 9th U.S.

☆ Supreme Court rules 9-0 that bankruptcy filers can't avoid debt incurred by another's fraud
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-22 | by ( Dan Mangan | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

"Innocent people are sometimes held liable for fraud they did not personally commit, and, if they de-clare bankruptcy, [the bankruptcy code] bars discharge of that debt," Barrett wrote. The couple was unable to pay the award or other creditors and filed for protection under Chapter 7 of the bankruptcy code, which normally allows people to void all of their debts. . . false pretenses, a false representation, or actual fraud,'" Barrett wrote. A U.S. Bankruptcy Court judge ruled in his favor, saying "that neither David nor Kate Bartenwerfer could discharge their debt to Buckley," the opinion by Barrett noted. "Based on testimony from the parties, real-estate agents, and contractors, the court found that David had knowingly concealed the house's defects from Buckley," Barrett wrote.

☆ Supreme Court considers whether Twitter can be held liable for failing to remove terrorist content
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-22 | by ( Lauren Feiner | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

The Supreme Court heard arguments Wednesday in a case that will help determine whether social media platforms can be held liable for aiding and abetting terrorism for failing to remove content and accounts promoting it. The case revolves around a specific international terrorist act, and contends that Twitter should be held accountable for not taking aggressive enough action against that content on its platform. Justice Elena Kagan at one point asked Waxman whether Twitter could be held liable if it actually didn't enforce any policy against terrorist content on its site. Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson asked if it would be illegal to sell Osama bin Laden a phone without knowing it would be used for a terrorist specific terrorist act. Schnapper said it would not be necessary to prove the phone was used for a specific terrorist act, because it "aids the terrorist enterprise."

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Monday belatedly issued the first ruling of its nine-month term that started in October, more than a month behind its normal schedule. Conservative Justice Amy Coney Barrett wrote the court's first opinion, with the justices ruling unanimously against Navy veteran Adolfo Arellano in a technical dispute over disability benefits. The court dismissed a second case concerning the scope of attorney-client privilege without issuing a written ruling. With the court term running from October to June, the first opinions are usually released in November or December. Adam Feldman, who tracks Supreme Court statistics, found that this term is the first since 1917 that the court had not released a ruling by the beginning of December.

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Friday agreed to hear an evangelical Christian mail carrier's employment discrimination claim in a case that could force employers to do more to accommodate the religious practices of their workers. Postal Service could have granted his request that he be spared Sunday shifts based on his religious belief that it is a day of worship and rest. Based on his request for an accommodation, his managers arranged for other postal workers to deliver packages on Sundays until July 2018. Upon resigning, he sued the Postal Service for failing to accommodate his request. In the earlier ruling, the court said that employers are not required to make accommodation if it would impose even a minimal burden.

☆ Justice Jackson working on a memoir, titled ‘Lovely One’
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-05 | by ( Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +3 min

Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson is working on a memoir. Jackson, the first Black woman appointed to the court, is calling the book “Lovely One.”“Mine has been an unlikely journey,” Jackson said in a statement released Thursday by Random House. This memoir marries the public record of my life with what is less known. Jackson joined the court last year after President Joe Biden named her to succeed the retiring Stephen Breyer. Justice Amy Coney Barrett has a deal with the Penguin Random House imprint Sentinel.

☆ Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson dominated oral arguments and challenged conservative thinking in her first months on the Supreme Court, observers say
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-26 | by ( Oma Seddiq | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson has sat on the Supreme Court for a little more than two months. The Supreme Court of the United States on Thursday, Oct. 6, 2022 in Washington, DC. Justices of the U.S. Supreme Court during a formal group photograph at the Supreme Court in Washington, D.C. on Friday, Oct. 7, 2022. Some court observers say oral arguments can potentially be an opportunity for justices to sway their colleagues' thinking – though that doesn't happen often. During the three hours of oral arguments, Jackson frequently threw cold water on the idea.

On its face, Moore v. Harper, the case being considered by the Supreme Court on Wednesday, deals with whether the North Carolina Supreme Court acted within its rights last year. In 2021, the state's highest court overturned the congressional redistricting maps drawn by the GOP-controlled state Legislature for being gerrymandered along partisan lines. The Independent State Legislature doctrine could open the door to giving state legislators the power to decide, for example, which presidential candidate will receive their state’s Electoral College votes. With the Supreme Court potentially lending their imprimatur to ISL this spring, each state legislative election could put the integrity of our democracy at risk. For those of us who believe in democracy, that means only one thing: We cannot rest on our laurels.

REUTERS/Lucy NicholsonWASHINGTON, Nov 29 (Reuters) - U.S. Supreme Court justices on Tuesday struggled over a bid by President Joe Biden's administration to implement guidelines - challenged by two conservative-leaning states - shifting immigration enforcement toward countering public safety threats. The justices voted 5-4 vote in July not to block Tipton's ruling halting the guidelines, announced last year by Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. When the Supreme Court also declined to stay Tipton's ruling, conservative Justice Amy Coney Barrett joined liberal justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson in dissent. Prelogar called the states' claims of indirect harms insufficient to allow them to sue and urged the Supreme Court to limit the ability of states more generally to challenge federal policies in court. Reporting by Nate Raymond in Boston and Andrew Chung in Washington; Editing by Will DunhamOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

The court on a 5-4 vote declined in July to put U.S. District Judge Drew Tipton's ruling hold. On Tuesday, some of the conservative justices who were in the majority in that decision signaled that they were likely to rule against the administration again. Republican state attorneys general in Texas and Louisiana sued to block the guidelines after Republican-led legal challenges successfully thwarted other Biden administration attempts to ease enforcement. When the Supreme Court declined to stay Tipton's ruling, conservative Justice Amy Coney Barrett joined liberal justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson in dissent. Prelogar called those indirect harms insufficient and urged the Supreme Court to limit the ability of states more generally to challenge federal policies.

WASHINGTON, Nov 29 (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday is set to consider whether President Joe Biden's administration can implement guidelines - challenged by two conservative-leaning states - shifting immigration enforcement toward public safety threats in a case testing executive branch power to set enforcement priorities. Biden campaigned on a more humane approach to immigration but has been faced with large numbers of migrants crossing the U.S.-Mexico border. Republican state attorneys general in Texas and Louisiana sued to block the guidelines after Republican-led legal challenges successfully thwarted other Biden administration attempts to ease enforcement. Circuit Court of Appeals in July declined to put that ruling on hold, Biden's administration turned to the Supreme Court. The administration also told the justices that the guidelines do not violate federal immigration law and that the mandatory language of those statutes does not supersede the longstanding principle of law enforcement discretion.

☆ Biden's administration just asked the Supreme Court to reinstate its student-loan forgiveness plan to 'avoid prolonging this uncertainty for the millions of affected borrowers'
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-18 | by ( Ayelet Sheffey | Oma Seddiq | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The Biden administration on Friday asked the Supreme Court to revive its student-debt relief plan. It comes after a lower federal court ruled on Monday to keep the relief paused. The Biden administration also told the Supreme Court that the appeal can be considered a formal petition for a full briefing on the dispute "to avoid prolonging this uncertainty for the millions of affected borrowers," Prelogar wrote. Since Biden announced the one-time debt cancellation in August, a number of conservative lawsuits have attempted to block the debt relief. Given the lower courts' rulings blocking the relief, it's unclear how the Supreme Court will intervene.

☆ Biden will ask the Supreme Court to allow his student-loan forgiveness plan to move forward after lower courts blocked the relief
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-17 | by ( Ayelet Sheffey | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

The 8th Circuit Court blocked Biden's student-debt relief from moving forward on Monday. On Thursday, the Justice Department said it's planning to ask the Supreme Court to reverse that decision. It also appealed another ruling from a Texas judge who declared the debt relief illegal. On Thursday, Politico first reported that the Justice Department is planning to ask the Supreme Court to allow Biden's debt relief plan to move forward. Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett has already dismissed two requests from different conservative lawsuits that were seeking to block Biden's debt relief, but it's unclear how the Court will rule on the lawsuits Biden's administration is challenging given the lower courts' decisions to block the debt cancellation.

☆ Dianne Feinstein could be third in line to the presidency as Senate president pro tempore. She appears unaware that she's already declined the job.
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-15 | by ( Bryan Metzger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Dianne Feinstein's office has said the 89-year-old doesn't want to be president pro tempore of the Senate. That would put her third in line to the presidency, behind the vice president and House Speaker. Feinstein — who will also be the chamber's oldest currently-serving member come January — issued a statement to the Washington Post last month saying that she's not interested in running for and serving as president pro tempore of the Senate. "This is about the Senate pro tem position," he said. With Feinstein no longer in contention for the president pro tempore post, Democratic Sen. Patty Murray of Washington would be next in line in terms of seniority, having taken office just two months after Feinstein in January 1993.

☆ The fate of Biden's student-loan forgiveness rests in the federal courts after neither party looks likely to gain a significant majority in the midterms
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-12 | by ( Ayelet Sheffey | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

That means that the fate of President Joe Biden's student-loan forgiveness doesn't lie in the hands of lawmakers, but rather, the federal courts. "We are disappointed in the decision of the Texas court to block loan relief moving forward. Amidst efforts to block our debt relief program, we are not standing down," he added. The department also aims to roll out improvements to targeted loan forgiveness programs, like Public Service Loan Forgiveness, by next summer. "It must use all of its tools to fight to ensure that borrowers receive the debt relief they need."

Among the provisions being challenged is one that gives a preference to Native Americans seeking to foster or adopt Native American children, which those challenging the law say discriminates on the basis of race. The challengers are led by Chad and Jennifer Brackeen — a white evangelical Christian couple who sought to adopt a Native American boy — as well as the states of Texas, Indiana and Louisiana. Tribes have also warned that a ruling striking down provisions of the law on racial discrimination grounds would threaten centuries of law that treat Native American tribes as distinct entities. Both sides appealed to the Supreme Court after the New Orleans-based 5th U.S. The Supreme Court has been closely divided in two major recent cases on Native American issues.

WASHINGTON — Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett on Friday rejected a second challenge to President Joe Biden’s student loan forgiveness plan, keeping the court out of the fight over the program that’s raging in the lower courts. The decision has little practical effect, as an appeals court ruling had already put implementation of the policy on hold. Garrison works for the Pacific Legal Foundation while Johnson works for another conservative group, the Public Interest Legal Foundation. The challengers argue they will be worse off because of the cancellation of student debt. Biden’s student debt relief program would provide up to $10,000 in debt cancellation for those earning less than $125,000 a year and couples who file taxes jointly and earn less than $250,000 annually.

☆ U.S. Supreme Court's Barrett again declines to block Biden student debt relief
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-04 | by ( Gram Slattery | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/2] Judge Amy Coney Barrett testifies during the third day of her Senate confirmation hearing to the Supreme Court on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, U.S., October 14, 2020. Barrett denied an emergency request by the Indiana borrowers, represented by a conservative legal group, to bar the U.S. Department of Education from implementing the Democratic president's plan to forgive debt held by qualified people who had taken loans to pay for college. Barrett on Oct. 20 denied a similar request by a Wisconsin taxpayers organization represented by another conservative legal group. The justice acted in the cases because she is the justice assigned to handle certain emergency requests from a group of states that includes Indiana and Wisconsin. Reporting by Nate Raymond in Boston; editing by Jonathan OatisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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