Investigative Journalism in the Public Interest
The millions in campaign funding poured into the Wisconsin Supreme Court election spotlights the increasing partisanship around these supposedly neutral court roles. It also feeds a growing concern nationally about the independence of state high courts.
The move follows an investigation by ProPublica and the Anchorage Daily News that found some cases have taken as long as a decade to reach juries, potentially violating the rights of victims and defendants alike.
Much attention has been paid to the young Silicon Valley engineers working for Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, but the group has also hired high-powered legal talent.
Republican Jefferson Griffin conceded after a monthslong legal battle. But Democrats suffered a defeat that may be more consequential: losing control of the state board that sets voting rules and adjudicates election disputes.
The award marks ProPublica’s 7th Pulitzer; Uvalde shooting investigation is named a Pulitzer finalist.
The decision revives a lawsuit filed by 94 women who said their OB-GYN sexually abused them. Previously, a lower court determined that the actions they alleged had to be treated as medical malpractice.
The court upheld a ban on camping in Grants Pass, Oregon, empowering local governments to punish people for living outside. ProPublica found that some cities are discarding homeless people’s property despite policies to preserve their belongings.
The move gives the court time to consider a challenge by Republican Jefferson Griffin, who has cited debunked legal theories in his previous failed attempts to block Justice Allison Riggs’ reelection.
Find organizations and people that have paid the current justices, reimbursed them for travel, given them gifts and more.
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.
Republican Jefferson Griffin narrowly lost his race for a seat on the state Supreme Court. Now he’s asking that 60,000 ballots be thrown out based on a theory that an election denier said amounted to “voter suppression.”
Republican Jefferson Griffin is trying to overturn his election loss by asking the North Carolina Supreme Court to toss 5,500 military and overseas absentee ballots. He used the same method to vote in 2019 and 2020.
Experts say it is unclear if the new rules, which come after reporting by ProPublica and others revealed that justices had repeatedly failed to disclose gifts and travel from wealthy donors, would address the issues raised by the recent revelations.
In a call with donors, First Liberty Institute’s Kelly Shackelford read the supportive email he said came from Thomas. The leader of the religious-rights group also labeled Justice Elena Kagan “treasonous” for backing a stronger ethics code.
The decisions came despite the Judicial Standards Commission’s recommendations to publicly reprimand the judges, and these are likely the only times in more than a decade in which the court didn’t follow the commission’s guidance.
Scholars say the case could have far-reaching consequences, even if the justices don’t throw Trump off the ballot.
An email from a reader helped a team of ProPublica reporters uncover secret tuition payments Harlan Crow made for a family member of Clarence Thomas. Now we’re looking for tips on the election, and you can help.
Decades of negotiations between the tribe and Arizona over water rights have proven fruitless. The court case was the Navajo Nation’s bid to accelerate the process and secure water for its reservation.
The subpoenas ask for details on gifts, travel and other perks the two men provided or helped arrange for Supreme Court justices and their relatives, but Senate Democrats will need help from their GOP colleagues if Crow and Leo defy the subpoenas.
The ruling was a victory for state attorney general, Jeff Landry, but defense attorneys say it could also help their clients’ requests for reduced sentences.
The inside story of how Leonard Leo built a machine that remade the American legal system — and what he plans to do next.
The court will hear a case about whether South Carolina Republicans illegally took race into account when they created the current voting districts.
The court’s ruling on United States v. Rahimi could clarify an earlier decision on guns. Or it could take away one of the best options to protect domestic violence victims. In states like Tennessee, the consequences could be deadly.
In a sit-down conversation with ProPublica, Biden discusses Kevin McCarthy’s “terrible bargain,” the fear of change that drives threats to democracy and the Supreme Court’s need for an ethics policy.
Months after the state’s highest court directed judges to ensure that all criminal defendants have legal representation while awaiting indictment, one justice has acknowledged that the rule isn’t being widely followed.
An abortion ban struck down. The lone female justice retiring. And a majority-male legislature rallying behind the one male candidate to replace her. This is how South Carolina ended up with an all-male Supreme Court as new abortion legislation looms.
A recent ProPublica investigation showed how ICWA was being unevenly applied in some states, breaking up Native American families that should have received additional protections under the law. There’s still room for improvement, advocates say.
The fullest accounting yet shows how Thomas has secretly reaped the benefits from a network of wealthy and well-connected patrons that is far more extensive than previously understood.
As many as five House seats could flip in 2024 after the Allen v. Milligan ruling, in which the Supreme Court upheld a key provision of the Voting Rights Act.
Criminal justice reformers have long complained that the state’s rules on appointing public defenders leave poor defendants without a lawyer as they wait to be indicted.
The letters cite ProPublica’s reporting on an undisclosed private jet flight and Alaska fishing vacation provided to Justice Samuel Alito.
The NAACP successfully challenged the state’s new congressional maps as racially motivated. Republicans argued that they fielded requests from the powerful Black Democrat before redrawing district lines.
Moore v. Harper could transform the law — but not in the way that many pundits, or even politicians, anticipate.
After overturning abortion rights and weakening gun controls, an overwhelmingly conservative court is set to consider vital matters involving elections, the environment and possibly the first prosecution of a U.S. president.
Newly obtained records show how Leonard Leo, an architect of the right-wing takeover of the courts, has been funding groups pushing to change elections and anti-discrimination laws.
Paul Newby, a born-again Christian, has turned his perch atop North Carolina’s Supreme Court into an instrument of political power. Over two decades, he’s driven changes that have reverberated well beyond the borders of his state.
Five years ago, the Supreme Court decided that nonunanimous jury verdicts are unconstitutional. But for this Louisiana prisoner — and hundreds of others — “tough on crime” state leaders have ensured that doesn’t change anything.
Months after a judge tossed out his 1998 murder conviction, Jimmie Duncan is free on bail. But prosecutors have asked the Louisiana Supreme Court to reinstate the death penalty for Duncan, even as the victim’s mother has come to support his release.
Spurred by ProPublica’s reporting, Democrats have introduced a measure designed to block a right-wing strategy to disallow ballots after they were cast. It’s being used to try to upend the results of a key state Supreme Court race.
Ten years ago, Wisconsin approved unlimited political spending. Now, as spending for its Supreme Court race surpasses more than $80 million, some campaign reformers are wondering if the state is reaching a tipping point.
The agency will still be allowed to regulate many forms of air pollution, but would need explicit direction from Congress on how to tackle some of the worst aspects of climate change and other pressing issues.
Today, a split verdict would mean a mistrial. But in 1980s Louisiana, when nonunanimous juries were still legal, 19-year-old Lloyd Gray, a Black man, was sentenced to prison for life — even though the only two Black jurors had voted not guilty.
President Donald Trump has praised Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele as a crime fighter, but new reporting based on interviews and documents reveals how senior Salvadoran officials have impeded a U.S. investigation of the MS-13 gang.
The city dropped more than 250 domestic violence assault cases and more than 270 drunken driving cases between May 1 and Oct. 2 last year. Now it says it has hired a full staff of 12 “frontline” prosecutors who will take cases to trial.
Months after fighting to keep secret emails between Gov. Greg Abbott and Elon Musk, Texas officials released 1,400 pages of records. But they reveal little about the two men’s relationship or Musk’s influence over state government.
The Trump administration is using the claim that immigrants have “invaded” the country to justify possibly suspending habeas corpus, part of the constitutional right to due process. A faction of the far right has been building this case for years.
The federal criminal investigation was the most serious legal threat the once-embattled Republican faced. With the probe now over, Paxton is gearing up to likely challenge U.S. Sen. John Cornyn in 2026.
The second-term president likely will seek to cut off spending that lawmakers have already appropriated, setting off a constitutional struggle within the branches. If successful, he could wield the power to punish perceived foes.
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