Court Term

• The Supreme Court concluded a term characterized by critics as a significant blow to judicial legitimacy, moving beyond mere credibility issues. • Key rulings accelerated the Trump administration's agenda, including decisions in Noem v. Vasquez Perdomo regarding racial profiling and Louisiana v. Callais, which weakened the Voting Rights Act. • The Court limited LGBTQ+ rights through rulings in Shilling v. United States, Trump v. Orr, and U.S. v. Skrmetti, restricting military service, passport options, and gender-affirming care.

• A mall known for hosting "Living Dead Weekend" is set to be demolished after being purchased by Walmart and a developer. • Approximately 3,000 fans recently attended the site's final themed event, dressing as zombies to bid a final farewell. • The demolition marks the end of a local cultural landmark that drew significant crowds for its horror-themed gatherings.

• The Supreme Court has issued several rulings that broaden presidential power, despite some setbacks regarding tariffs and birthright citizenship. • The court upheld the ability of immigration agents to turn asylum seekers away before they reach U.S. soil, effectively bypassing laws that allow individuals to apply for safety. • In a separate decision, the court sided with Vice President JD Vance and other Republicans to remove restrictions on electoral spending, permitting unlimited donations from wealthy donors to political parties.

• The Supreme Court has issued a decision rolling back limits on coordinated campaign spending, significantly increasing the potential influence of political parties. • Democratic donor adviser Alex Hoffman warns that the party must continue courting high-net-worth donors to remain competitive in upcoming midterm elections. • The ruling creates a strategic tension for Democrats, who must balance the need for billionaire funding with their public platform against the influence of wealth in politics.

• The Supreme Court concluded its term with a 6-3 majority ruling that struck down specific restrictions on political speech, which Justice Brett Kavanaugh described as a "severe infringement" on First Amendment rights. • The decision aligns with the precedent set by the Citizen United case, which previously blocked efforts to outlaw certain political speech occurring shortly before elections. • This ruling is significant as it demonstrates that the current Court is not simply "rubber-stamping" White House priorities, maintaining a level of judicial independence.

• The Supreme Court concluded a transformative term marked by a mix of rejected Trump-era initiatives and significant, long-sought conservative victories. • In a landmark Monday decision, the Court overturned a 90-year precedent, stripping protections from federal regulators and allowing them to be removed more easily by political leadership. • The conservative majority also narrowed the scope of the Voting Rights Act, potentially enabling Republicans in the South to redraw congressional maps and dismantle majority-Black districts.

• The Supreme Court has loosened campaign finance laws by eliminating limits on how much political parties can spend in coordination with candidates. • The ruling is expected to primarily benefit Republicans, who initiated the legal challenge and rely more heavily on contributions from large donors. • Reform advocates, including Issue One's Michael Beckel, argue the decision follows a "disastrous" trend started by Citizens United that grants wealthy donors and special interests outsized influence.

• The Supreme Court ruled that state laws, rather than federal statutes, determine the deadlines for when mail-in ballots must be received and counted. • The decision follows a challenge by Republicans who argued that federal law required all ballots to be counted by Election Day instead of allowing a multi-day grace period. • The ruling is significant as it preserves the ability of various states to extend counting deadlines, potentially impacting the finality of midterm election results.

• Former President Trump attempted to remove a Federal Reserve governor, Cook, citing unsubstantiated mortgage fraud allegations which Cook has denied. • The legal dispute centers on a congressional statute requiring governors to be removed only "for cause," a term that remains undefined by law. • Cook argues that the fraud allegations were a pretext used by Trump to oust her due to fundamental disagreements over monetary policy.

Court expected to hand down decisions on several outstanding cases, wrapping up term that has focussed on Trump’s expansive claims of presidential powerHello and welcome to the US politics live blog.The supreme court is expected to hand down decisions later today on several outstanding cases, before wrapping up a term that has focused on Donald Trump’s expansive claims of presidential power.Joe Biden has said Donald Trump has diminished America’s standing in the world “more than any president in history”. The former president delivered remarks highly critical of his successor, while giving the keynote address at a gala in Hanover, Maryland, hosted by the state’s Democratic party, which is hoping to help wrest control of Congress away from Trump and his Republican allies during November’s midterm elections.A new round of escalating strikes between Iran and the US has continued, further undermining the fragile interim peace agreement between the two countries, and prompting Trump to threaten violence that would ensure Iran “will no longer exist”. On Sunday, Tehran launched drone and missile attacks against Bahrain and Kuwait after new US strikes on sites in southern Iran, and threatened a “complete halt” to negotiations to end the war.Migrants in the US on temporary protected status should seek permanent residence or leave, Markwayne Mullin, the Homeland Security secretary, said in the wake of last week’s supreme court decision that stripped humanitarian protections from hundreds of thousands of immigrants.An opaque White House office staffed largely by veterans of Elon Musk’s “department of government efficiency” (Doge) has quietly rebuilt some of the federal government’s most sensitive websites – for passport applications, voter registration, prescription-drug pricing and children’s savings – in ways critics say appear to violate federal law. Continue reading...

• The Supreme Court is preparing to release several key rulings by early July regarding presidential authority, birthright citizenship, and election rules. • These decisions will address critical disputes involving immigration policy and the legal status of independent federal agencies. • The rulings are significant as they could fundamentally redefine executive power and shift the legal landscape for future administrations.

• The U.S. Supreme Court is reviewing Donald Trump's attempts to fire officials from the Federal Reserve and the Federal Trade Commission as its term concludes. • The court previously rejected Trump's sweeping tariffs in February, while justices expressed skepticism in January regarding his bid to remove Fed Governor Lisa Cook. • This case is significant because no president has attempted to fire a Fed official since 1913, potentially threatening the central bank's independence and the "for cause" removal protections established by Congress.

• The U.S. Supreme Court rejected legal challenges against the termination of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Haiti, ruling that the action likely did not violate the Constitution. • The Court determined that judicial review of the Secretary of Homeland Security's decisions regarding the designation, termination, or extension of TPS is barred by statute. • This ruling reverses previous outcomes where a district court had granted interim relief and the government's arguments had failed before the D.C. Circuit.

• The Supreme Court ruled in favor of the manufacturer of Roundup, effectively blocking thousands of state-court "failure-to-warn" lawsuits alleging the weed killer causes cancer. • The decision follows a specific case where a Missouri resident had previously been awarded $1.25 million after developing non-Hodgkin lymphoma from decades of product use. • This ruling is significant as it aligns with the current administration's stance but contradicts the goals of the "Make America Healthy Again" (MAHA) movement.

• SCOTUSblog says several of the term’s most important cases remain undecided as the Supreme Court heads into its final stretch. • The article highlights the legal fight involving Cook, who is challenging Trump’s mortgage fraud allegations after lower courts required the dispute to proceed in federal court. • The remaining decisions matter because they could shape executive power, financial regulation and other high-stakes policy questions before the Court.

Ketanji Brown Jackson blasted the decision, saying the court has hastened it ruling only twice before in 25 yearsThe US supreme court went out of its way on Monday to help Louisiana Republicans redraw their congressional maps before this year’s midterm elections by allowing a recent ruling that gutted a key part of the Voting Rights Act to take effect ahead of schedule.The procedural move comes less than a week after the court’s landmark decision striking down Louisiana’s congressional map and gutting section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. Usually, the court waits 32 days to formally issue its judgment to the lower court. Last week, Louisiana asked the court to speed up that process, citing the urgency with which it needed to redraw its congressional maps. On Monday, the court agreed to do so. Continue reading...

Liberals see chance to strengthen majority in state where Trump and allies could try to overturn election resultsWisconsin voters on Tuesday will select a state supreme court judge to replace an outgoing conservative in a race that could further solidify the liberal majority on the bench ahead of the midterms, when Trump and his allies could try to overturn election results again.Justice Rebecca Bradley, a conservative, is retiring, giving liberals a chance to further consolidate their hold on the high court ahead of the next presidential election, when the swing state is sure to see challenges to election results. Continue reading...

Broadcaster takes Kiis FM to court to argue licensee was wrong to terminate him for serious breach of contractFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesSign up for Guardian Australia’s free weekly media newsletter hereKyle Sandilands’ court case was not an occasion for a “royal commission” into his career and he just wants to get back to work quickly, the shock jock’s lawyers have told the federal court.Sandilands, who was earning $10m a year to front the Kyle and Jackie O Show, has taken Kiis FM to court to argue the licensee, Commonwealth Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), was wrong to terminate him for serious breach of contract earlier this month. Continue reading...

Shaine March fatally stabbed Alana Odysseos, who was in early stages of pregnancy, after being released on licence for killing teenager in 2000A man who murdered his pregnant girlfriend after being released from prison on licence must spend the rest of his life in jail, the court of appeal has ruled after finding that the original 42-year sentence was “too lenient”.Alana Odysseos, 32, was in the early stages of pregnancy with her third child when she was killed by Shaine March last July at her home in Walthamstow, east London. She died at the scene from 23 slash and stab wounds. Continue reading...

Case focuses on RNC’s challenge to a Mississippi law that allows ballots to count if they are arrive after election dayUS politics live – latest updatesThe US supreme court is hearing arguments Monday about whether mail-in ballots can be counted if they arrive after election day, which would affect laws in more than a dozen states during a midterm election year.The justice are considering Watson v Republican National Committee, a challenge over a Mississippi state law that was brought in 2024 by the Republican party. Mississippi allows mailed ballots to be counted if they arrive within five business days of election day, so long as they were postmarked by election day. Fourteen states, Washington DC and three US territories have similar laws that allow for late-arriving ballots to be counted. Continue reading...