Today, the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals is known as a conservative juggernaut. But that hasn’t always been the case.
Watch These Judges Rip Into Lawyers For Citing Cases That Don't Exist
“It's striking, concerning, disappointing, and saddening to think that members of the bar would forward cases to a court that don't exist, and to think that the lawyers on the other side of that didn’t read it for whatever reason, didn’t check it.”
The Key Cases Impacted by Supreme Court Chevron Deference Ruling — ProPublica
One recent Supreme Court decision is already rippling through dozens of key lower court cases involving everything from airline fees to gun sales to abortion access, affecting people’s lives in important — and sometimes contradictory — ways.
Justices Rule Police Do Not Have a Constitutional Duty to Protect Someone (Published 2005)
Supreme Court rules that police do not have constitutional duty to protect person from harm, even woman who obtained court-issued protective order against violent husband which made arrest mandatory for violation; decision overturns ruling by federal appeals court in Colorado; it had permitted lawsuit to proceed against town of Castle Rock, whose police failed to respond to woman's pleas for help after her estranged husband violated protective order by kidnapping their three children, whom he eventually killed; in another ruling, Supreme Court rebukes US Court of Appeals in Cincinnati for reopening death penalty appeal, on basis of newly discovered evidence, after Supreme Court had ruled on matter; 5-to-4 decision involves convicted murderer Gregory Thompson (M)
Restorative Justice
The Paper Pilot's digital garden of thoughts on philosophy, politics, and sociology. Reading time: ~1 minute read | Published: Apr 13, 2025 | Updated: Oct 4, 2026
Adequate indigent defense should be a top priority
This past weekend, I published a story for The Commonwealth assessing Mississippi’s 23 circuit court districts’ indigent defense plans — that is how each of those courts provides lawyers to indigent, or poor, criminal defendants charged with a felony who can’t afford their own counsel.
10,000 Court Decisions Can’t Be Wrong, Even If Trump Thinks Otherwise
It’s absolutely amazing how wrong this administration has been when it comes to immigration enforcement. That some people still think the Supreme Court is in the best position to resolve this…
Texas Age Verification Law Upheld: U.S. Supreme Court Balances Free Speech and Child Protection in the Digital Age | Data Matters Privacy Blog
On June 27, 2025, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its opinion in Free Speech Coalition, Inc. v. Paxton, a groundbreaking decision with significant implications for online content regulation. The Court upheld […]
From Haymarket to Prairieland: How dissent has unleashed the long arm of the law
The Prairieland sentencing has dark historical parallels, Kim Kelly writes. But we can change the end of the current story.
Charlie Kirk’s legacy is a 30-year sentence for moving zines
Judges handed down harsh sentences connected to a shooting at an ICE facility — but some of the defendants weren’t even there.
Supreme Court - Recently Posted Judgments
This webpage lists judgments recently released by the Supreme Court and provides links to copies of those judgments.
Appeals Court Compares ICE Detention to Japanese Internment in Scathing Ruling
The Trump administration’s policy of holding undocumented immigrants without bond faced its ninth appeals court loss on Thursday.
Former SPLC official charged in Justice Department's broader criminal case against group
A former Southern Poverty Law Center official has been charged in the Department of Justice’s broader criminal case against the Alabama-based civil rights group, a frequent target of conservative critics who claim the nonprofit is politically biased.
Ken Paxton wanted to limit forum shopping. Now lawyers say he’s improperly seeking favorable courts.
ProPublica and The Texas Tribune have identified at least 30 lawsuits filed by the attorney general over the past nine years that have a tenuous connection to the counties in which they were filed.
Unlike The Defendants, One Of The Prairieland Judges Is Part Of An Organized Cell Of Extremists | Defector
Whether you remember his name or not, you’ve probably been reading about Judge Reed O’Connor and his judicial malevolence for years. O’Connor is making headlines again for being one of two judges to sentence 15 ICE protestors to a combined 547 years in prison. As the writer Lauren Fadiman pointed out in The Baffler, the…
The Prairieland Sentences Are a National Emergency
A federal court has punished Texas ICE demonstrators with decades in prison. This is dark news, not just for them but for anyone who may want to register political dissent.
6 other ways Trump is meddling in the midterms
The Supreme Court ruled against Trump’s mail voting rules, but the president is still trying to mess with the election.
