The beautifully ornate Catholic church in the nation's capital has seen its share of history and controversy.
A century ago, Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes described Supreme Court deliberations among his colleagues as "nine scorpions in a bottle," fiercely protective of their own agendas and power bases.
The Supreme Court nomination of federal Judge Sonia Sotomayor gained even more momentum Wednesday as two more Republican senators announced their support for the country's first Hispanic high-court pick.
So what does the U.S. Supreme Court gain and lose by exchanging Justice David Souter for Sonia Sotomayor?
Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor has been given the American Bar Association's highest rating for "professional qualification," a political boost less than a week before her confirmation hearings begin in the Senate.
Newly released documents from Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor's service on the board of a Puerto Rican civil rights organization show the group opposed Robert Bork's nomination to the high court more than two decades ago.
Monday, in the much anticipated New Haven, Connecticut, firefighters' case, the Supreme Court reversed an opinion joined by Judge Sonia Sotomayor, President Obama's Supreme Court nominee.
An English-language immersion class failed Miriam Flores, her mother contended.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell took to the Senate floor Wednesday to blast Democrats for setting a start date on Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor's confirmation hearing.
The Constitution gives the president the exclusive power to nominate members of the Supreme Court. But it does not guarantee the political process will run smoothly for him or his nominee.
The beautifully ornate Catholic church in the nation's capital has seen its share of history and controversy.
A century ago, Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes described Supreme Court deliberations among his colleagues as "nine scorpions in a bottle," fiercely protective of their own agendas and power bases.
The Supreme Court nomination of federal Judge Sonia Sotomayor gained even more momentum Wednesday as two more Republican senators announced their support for the country's first Hispanic high-court pick.
So what does the U.S. Supreme Court gain and lose by exchanging Justice David Souter for Sonia Sotomayor?
Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor has been given the American Bar Association's highest rating for "professional qualification," a political boost less than a week before her confirmation hearings begin in the Senate.
Newly released documents from Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor's service on the board of a Puerto Rican civil rights organization show the group opposed Robert Bork's nomination to the high court more than two decades ago.
Monday, in the much anticipated New Haven, Connecticut, firefighters' case, the Supreme Court reversed an opinion joined by Judge Sonia Sotomayor, President Obama's Supreme Court nominee.
An English-language immersion class failed Miriam Flores, her mother contended.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell took to the Senate floor Wednesday to blast Democrats for setting a start date on Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor's confirmation hearing.
The Constitution gives the president the exclusive power to nominate members of the Supreme Court. But it does not guarantee the political process will run smoothly for him or his nominee.
Onetime top Bush administration officials received a break from the Supreme Court on Monday.
Though no one would ever pigeonhole U.S. Supreme Court Justice David Souter as having been a pro-business judge, the announcement this month that he'll be stepping down in June has some top appellate advocates for the business community expressing some separation anxiety.
With the retirement of Justice David Souter, President Obama has the opportunity to bring a special kind of diversity to the Supreme Court: the diversity of broad and varied governmental experience.
President Obama took the first step Tuesday in what could be a legacy-making effort to restock the federal courts with more progressives, naming an Indiana political veteran as his first judicial nominee.
The Supreme Court has refused to reconsider its June ruling banning capital punishment for child rapists, rejecting Louisiana officials' argument that a "significant error" led to its conclusion that there is a "national consensus" against executing non-murderers.
It looked like the makings of a perfect storm of animosity in the last week of the Supreme Court's current term, before it wrapped up for the summer recess Thursday.
Despite two dramatic 5-4 decisions, the court is actually starting to move beyond its predictable ideological split
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Thursday that a sweeping ban on handguns in the nation's capital violated the Second Amendment right to bear arms.
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled 5-4 Wednesday that child rapists cannot be executed, concluding that capital punishment for crimes against individuals can be applied only to murderers.
Suspected terrorists and foreign fighters held by the U.S. military at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, have the right to challenge their detention in federal court, the Supreme Court ruled Thursday.
Most of the Supreme Court justices piled up a lot frequent flyer miles in 2007, jetting to such exotic locales as Austria, India and Hawaii, according to financial disclosure reports released Friday.
The Supreme Court on Monday backed Indiana's law requiring voters to show photo identification, despite concerns thousands of elderly, poor and minority voters could be locked out of their right to cast ballots.
The Supreme Court has concluded Texas can execute a Mexican man sentenced to death for murder, ending an unusual capital appeal that pitted President Bush against his home state in a dispute over federal authority, local sovereignty and foreign treaties.
The Supreme Court dealt a blow Tuesday to investors seeking to recover damages from alleged corporate fraud, a potentially huge liability case being closely watched by owners of stock, the business community and government regulators.
The Supreme Court began the term last October with renewed calls for unanimity from the chief justice, but it ended the session Thursday with the latest in a series of two dozen closely divided rulings.
One Supreme Court justice says his fellow conservatives are "too dismissive" of government efforts to ensure racial diversity in schools. Another more liberal member says those on the right did "serious violence" to a high school student's free speech rights.
The Supreme Court strikes a blow against race-based integration, but the decision suggests it may not be fatal
Back in 1900, writer Finley Peter Dunne quoted Mr. Dooley, his fictional Irish bartender, as saying, "The Supreme Court follows the election returns."
A bitterly divided U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday issued what is likely to be a landmark opinion -- ruling that race cannot be a factor in the assignment of children to public schools.
The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday struck down public school choice plans in Seattle, Washington, and Louisville, Kentucky. The court ruled the two cases relied on an unconstitutional use of racial criteria, reflecting the deep legal and social rift over the issues of race, affirmative action and education.
The Supreme Court on Monday swept aside part of a campaign finance law dealing with "issue ads."
The Supreme Court once again split 5-4 on an important death penalty case on Monday, with a majority of conservative justices rejecting an Arizona killer's claims his legal team did not do enough to keep him off death row.
In a 5-4 ruling, the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday threw out a nearly $80 million punitive damages ruling against Philip Morris.
Splitting 5-4, the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday threw out a nearly $80 million punitive damages ruling against Philip Morris.
More than 50 years after the Supreme Court outlawed segregation in public schools, the justices struggled over one controversial outgrowth of that decision Monday.
The graphic details of a disputed abortion procedure filled the Supreme Court on Wednesday as justices voiced concern with a federal ban on that operation.
Sandra Day O'Connor noticed a disturbing development as her last day on the Supreme Court neared. Over her final years on the bench, more people were talking about "activist judges," an issue she said that appeared to be "erupting all over the country."
The buttons were 2 to 4 inches around, showing a man killed in a shooting, and were worn by his family at the murder trial of the accused shooter.
See Chief Justice John Roberts dressed as Groucho Marx. See Roberts cook Mickey Mouse waffles for his wife and children.
Abortion and race: The two most divisive social issues of recent decades will get high-profile hearings this fall before the U.S. Supreme Court.
With the Supreme Court beginning a new term, legal observers say the man to watch is Justice Anthony Kennedy, who holds the swing vote.
In just five months, Justice Samuel Alito has lived out two lifelong dreams. He sits on the highest court in the land, and last month took the mound to throw out the first pitch at a Philadelphia Phillies baseball game.
The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday strongly limited the power of the Bush administration to conduct military tribunals for suspected terrorists imprisoned at the U.S. Navy base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
The Supreme Court upheld Kansas' death penalty law Monday with a 5-4 decision that offers further proof of how deeply at odds the justices remain over the issue.
The Supreme Court Monday agreed to consider an appeal by the largest U.S. telephone carriers seeking the dismissal of a class-action antitrust suit against them.
A sharply divided Supreme Court limited the reach of federal regulators to block private development that might affect water quality, in an important property rights dispute that exposed deep divisions among the justices.
Ruling in an important property rights dispute, a divided U.S. Supreme Court limited the reach of federal regulators to block private development that might affect water quality.
Two death row inmates won separate victories in the Supreme Court Monday -- one hoping to prove he did not commit a 1985 Tennessee murder, the other seeking to show that lethal injection methods used in Florida are cruel and unusual punishment.
In a pair of cases that could reignite disputes over race and public education, the Supreme Court on Monday agreed to decide what role affirmative action should play in assigning students to competitive spots in elementary and secondary schools.
A divided Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that government workers who blow the whistle on alleged illegal conduct do not deserve First Amendment protection that would automatically shield them from discipline from their bosses.
The bipartisan "Gang of 14" senators met Wednesday on two of President Bush's judicial nominees, with members reserving judgment on one candidate and asking for a new hearing on the other.
Actress and model Anna Nicole Smith can add another line to her colorful resume: a winner in the U.S. Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court expressed concern Wednesday that the chemical cocktail used to execute Florida inmates could cause "excruciating pain" in violation of the Constitution's ban on cruel and unusual punishment.
The Supreme Court used a shocking decade-old Kansas murder Tuesday to examine the factors juries must weigh when deciding whether defendants deserve the death penalty.
A divided Supreme Court on Monday rejected an appeal from a U.S. citizen held until recently as an "enemy combatant" without traditional legal rights.
The Supreme Court heard arguments Tuesday in what could prove a landmark case on the president's power in a wartime setting.
Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg has acknowledged a specific death threat against her and her retired colleague Sandra Day O'Connor, blaming lawmakers for fueling "the irrational fringe."
The Supreme Court appeared concerned Tuesday that the family of a Texas oil tycoon tried to keep part of a multimillion-dollar fortune from his widow, former stripper and Playboy Playmate Anna Nicole Smith.
Sandra Day O'Connor may be officially retired from the Supreme Court, but do not expect her to ride off into the Arizona sunset. The former justice is keeping a hectic schedule.
In his first day on the job, Justice Samuel Alito broke ranks Wednesday night with the Supreme Court's conservatives by refusing to allow Missouri to execute death-row inmate Michael Taylor.
Samuel Alito was sworn in as the nation's 110th Supreme Court justice Tuesday after being confirmed by the Senate by a vote of 58-42.
Judge Samuel Alito stands just one step away from a lifetime appointment to the U.S. Supreme Court after a spirited ninth-inning campaign by some Democratic senators to block his nomination fizzled Monday evening.
The Senate's top Republican decided Thursday to force a showdown on Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito early next week, with the two Democratic senators from Massachusetts pushing to block a vote.
Three Democratic members of the Senate Judiciary Committee said Thursday that they would vote against President Bush's Supreme Court nominee.
A quiet milestone passed on Wednesday as Justice Sandra Day O'Connor heard what is likely her final oral argument, after nearly a quarter century as a pioneering role model and powerful force on an ideologically divided Supreme Court.
Sandra Day O'Connor is a woman, a Westerner, a conservative, a grandmother, and a retiring Supreme Court justice. They all inform her unique and undoubtedly powerful presence in American law and society.
President Bush on Saturday asked the U.S. Senate to confirm Judge Samuel Alito, who underwent a five-day confirmation hearing this week, to serve as an associate justice of the Supreme Court.
For Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito, it may be all over but the waiting as his confirmation hearings wrapped up Friday with Democrats mustering little momentum to block his Senate confirmation.
As the fourth day of sometimes-contentious hearings for Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito came to a close Thursday, Democrats expressed concern over an unusual move in which seven of Alito's fellow judges on a U.S. appeals court testified on his behalf.
During a break in the Supreme Court nomination hearings of Judge Samuel Alito, CNN's Wolf Blitzer asks Senate Judiciary Committee member Sen. Charles Schumer, D-New York, whether Democrats intend to block Alito's nomination.
Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito has what his supporters say is the perfect legal background to become a leader on the Supreme Court bench: he has been a federal judge, a U.S. attorney and a top Justice Department official.
Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito has been given the American Bar Association's highest rating for professional stature and integrity, an important political legal barometer, as he prepares for confirmation hearings next week.
Chief Justice John Roberts picked up where his late predecessor had left off, declaring in his first year-end report that the problem of pay for judges "has gotten worse, not better."
Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito had a private meeting with the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee on Friday as he sought to reassure lawmakers that he would respect legal precedent on abortion rights and put his personal views aside.
JUST HOURS after President Bush nominated Samuel A. Alito Jr. to the U.S. Supreme Court, the predictable rush to judgment began. Pro-life leaders called Alito a fast train to a world without Roe v....
A member of the Senate Judiciary Committee said Tuesday that Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito had distanced himself from a memo he wrote 20 years ago that said "the Constitution does not protect a right to an abortion."
Just hours after President Bush nominated Samuel A. Alito Jr. to the U.S. Supreme Court, the predictable rush to judgment began. Pro-life leaders called Alito a fast train to a world without Roe v. Wade. Liberals called him an opponent of fundamental rights and protections.
In a two-decades old document, Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito voiced his support of the Reagan administration's fight to show "the Constitution does not protect a right to an abortion."
Three Supreme Court justices expressed reluctance to allow cameras into their courtroom, citing the infamous O.J. Simpson murder trial watched on television by millions.
An accused terrorist and former driver for Osama bin Laden will get his day before the Supreme Court in a case testing the constitutionality of military tribunals.
President Bush -- who had wanted an up-or-down vote on his Supreme Court nominee, Samuel Alito, by the end of the year -- said Friday he was disappointed that hearings on his nominee will not begin until January.
Confirmation hearings are to begin in January for Samuel Alito, President Bush's nominee for the Supreme Court seat held by retiring Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, leaders of the Senate Judiciary Committee said Thursday.
President Bush on Monday nominated Circuit Court Judge Samuel Alito to replace Justice Sandra Day O'Connor. Alito, a former U.S. attorney who has been a judge for 15 years, is considered a favorite of conservatives.
Samuel Alito, President Bush's latest nominee to the Supreme Court, has what many conservatives say is the perfect legal background to become a leader on the Supreme Court bench: he has been a judge, a U.S. attorney, and a top Justice Department official.
Political observers are bracing for a firestorm with President Bush's most recent nomination to the Supreme Court, but business groups are likely to back the candidate hailed for his staunchly conservative record.
Conservatives lauded President Bush on Monday for his choice of Judge Samuel Alito for the Supreme Court, while liberals signaled a contentious confirmation hearing is ahead for the nominee.
President Bush is expected Monday to name his nominee to replace Sandra Day O'Connor, who is retiring from the U.S. Supreme Court, senior administration officials told CNN Sunday.
The long common practice of manufacturers giving certain retailers preferential deals on merchandise could come to an end in a case being argued before the Supreme Court.
As the White House turns its attention to finding a new Supreme Court nominee, conservative activists relieved at Harriet Miers' withdrawal are vowing to oppose President Bush's next nominee unless the candidate has solid conservative credentials.
Two questions were asked in conservative circles Monday when it was learned President Bush had nominated his lawyer, Harriet Miers, for the Supreme Court. Question No. 1: "Is this what we fought for?" Question No. 2: "What was he thinking?"
The Supreme Court convened for a new session Monday with a number of cases on its docket that could have a huge impact on the business world.
John Roberts wasted little time getting down to business, spending his first full day Friday as chief justice of the United States making the rounds at the U.S. Supreme Court.
John G. Roberts Jr. was sworn in Thursday as the 17th chief justice of the United States after winning Senate approval with a solid majority.
In a vote packed with more historical significance than any real suspense, the Senate is expected to easily confirm Judge John Roberts as the nation's new chief justice Thursday.
John Roberts now awaits two Senate votes to decide whether he will be the next chief justice, after telling lawmakers Thursday, "I am not an ideologue."
President Bush moved quickly Monday to fill the U.S. Supreme Court vacancy left by the death of Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist Saturday. Bush nominated federal Judge John Roberts to the nation's top judicial post.
Moving quickly to fill the vacancy left by Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist's death, President Bush on Monday nominated Judge John Roberts to the nation's top judicial post.
The Supreme Court released statements by seven Supreme Court justices who paid tribute to Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist, who died Saturday. A statement from Justice David Souter is not expected, the court said.
President Bush has the rare opportunity to name two justices to the U.S. Supreme Court after the death Saturday of Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist.
He's going to be on the Supreme Court for life. So what kind of justice will he be?
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