Judicary

NPR

Supreme Court to review Trump-era gun rule banning bump stocks : NPR

The Supreme Court has agreed to hear a second major gun case this term. On Friday the justices said they will review a Trump-era ban on bump stocks, a device the ATF says converts a semi-automatic weapon into a machine gun by firing multiple rounds with a single pull on the trigger. Machine guns have been banned under federal law since 1934. Supreme Court to consider whether domestic abusers can own guns Law Supreme Court to consider whether domestic abusers can own guns

The Trump administration reclassified the devices in 2018 after a mass shooting in Las Vegas in which the shooter used bump stocks on 14 guns and opened fire on a music festival, killing 60 people and wounding more than 400 in less than 10 minutes.

Prior to the shooting, the ATF had not classified bump stocks as illegal, but the shooting prompted a re-evaluation of how the devices work, and the agency ultimately banned them as illegal because a single pull of the finger causes the firing of multiple rounds; the ATF said the devices converted legal guns, like the semi-automatic AR-15, into illegal machine guns. A U.S. appeals court blocks a ban on rapid-fire 'bump stocks' Law A U.S. appeals court blocks a ban on rapid-fire 'bump stocks'

The rule went into effect in 2019 after the Supreme Court declined to block it. But in January of this year, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, by a 13-to-3 vote ruled that the classification was illegal.

NPR

Abortion, guns back at the Supreme Court in its new term : NPR

The U.S. Supreme Court formally opens a new term on Monday, with all manner of political lightning rods already on its docket, or on their way.

Guns, abortion, extreme partisan gerrymandering ... you thought those legal issues were gone, or at least resolved? The conservative court seemed to think so, too. But those issues are back this term.

Take abortion: When the conservative majority struck down Roe v. Wade, eliminating the constitutional right to abortion, the conservative justices said they were simply returning to the states the question of whether abortion could be legal. Similarly, in another case, the conservative justices ruled that the court was out of the business of policing any form of extreme partisan gerrymandering. And in a broad ruling about gun rights, it said that in the future, gun regulations would be legal only if they were analogous to regulations at the time the constitution was written.

NPR

Supreme Court rules against USPS in Sunday work case : NPR

The U.S. Supreme Court unanimously handed a major victory to religious groups by greatly expanding how far employers must go to accommodate the religious views of their employees.

The court ruled in favor of Gerald Groff, an evangelical Christian postal worker, who refused to work on Sundays for religious reasons and said the U.S. Postal Service should accommodate his religious belief. He sued USPS for religious discrimination when he got in trouble for refusing to work Sunday shifts.

Supreme Court upholds North Carolina ruling that congressional districts violated state law – ABC7 Chicago

Moore v Harper decision: Supreme Court upholds North Carolina ruling that congressional districts violated state law – ABC7 Chicago

The Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled that North Carolina's top court did not overstep its bounds in striking down a congressional districting plan as excessively partisan under state law.

The justices rejected the broadest view of a legal theory that could have transformed elections for Congress and president.

The court declined to invoke for the first time the "independent state legislature" theory, which would leave state legislatures virtually unchecked by their state courts when dealing with federal elections.

The high court did, though, suggest there could be limits on state court efforts to police elections for Congress and president.

The practical effect of the decision is minimal in that the North Carolina Supreme Court, under a new Republican majority, already has undone its redistricting ruling.