ANTONIN SCALIA

Constitution Day means we should honor our chief governing document as one of history’s highest political achievements. The place to start is by reading it.

The new conservative majority promised to heed the intent of the Constitution’s framers to restrain judicial overreach. Instead, it cherry-picks history to rationalize its activism.

The Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade at a time when it has an unprecedented Catholic supermajority.

Last week Clarence Thomas achieved two long-sought goals: expanding gun rights and overturning Roe v. Wade’s nationwide protection for abortion.

I assume that a word used in the Constitution in one section has the same meaning or definition when used elsewhere in the Constitution.

Democrats can look across the aisle if they want pointers on how to overcome the challenges of an unrepresentative political system, a stacked Court, and their internal divisions.

Sweeping Supreme Court rulings on guns and abortion this past week have sent an unmistakable message.

A man armed with a machete once broke into Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer’s vacation home in the Caribbean and took $1,000.

Justice Clarence Thomas says that the Supreme Court has been changed by the shocking leak of a draft opinion earlier this month.

Justice Clarence Thomas says that the Supreme Court has been changed by the shocking leak of a draft opinion earlier this month.

The Supreme Court’s nine justices met in private for the first time since the leak of a draft opinion that would overrule Roe v.

A fixture of the conservative legal establishment outlined the Republican Party's strategy for undercutting American voters.

Harvard Law professor Richard J. Lazarus writes about the most important environmental cases ever decided by the nation's highest court: restricting greenhouse gas emissions from new cars.

A milestone Supreme Court confirmation that endured a flawed process.

Tearfully embracing a history-making moment, Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson said Friday her confirmation as the first Black woman to the Supreme Court shows the progress of America.

Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson will join a Supreme Court that is both more diverse than ever and more conservative than it’s been since the 1930s.

Live news and analysis of the day in politics from the staff of the Washington Post.

Ginni Thomas's text messages to former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows leading up to the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the Capitol have sparked questions over the extent of her activism within the GOP. It's also left Republican lawmakers grappling with how to respond to Thomas and her husband, Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas.Thomas sent a total of 21 text messages to Meadows, then the president's chief of staff, urging him to find a way to...

Ginni Thomas, wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, urged Trump's chief of staff Mark Meadows to seek to overturn the election of Joe Biden.

The late Supreme Court giant united his philosophical heirs behind theories of originalism and textualism. Now those ideas are becoming a source of conflict.

When presidents nominate a candidate to serve on the Supreme Court, they often ask an experienced Washington hand to help shepherd that candidate through the Senate confirmation process.

Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson may not get any Republican votes.

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas says he's worried about efforts to politicize the court or add additional justices.

President Joe Biden knows better than anyone the unexpected turns a Supreme Court nomination can take after it lands on Capitol Hill.

The Justice Department is scrapping the name of a Trump-era initiative intended to crack down on economic espionage by Beijing but criticized as unfairly targeting Chinese professors at American colleges because of their ethnicity.

If President Joe Biden’s search for a nominee to the Supreme Court could be summed up by a Help Wanted ad it might read: “Seeking a well-respected liberal jurist.

Sen. Lindsey Graham is among a handful of Republicans declaring a willingness to back President Joe Biden's yet-to-be-announced Supreme Court nominee.

When Ketanji Brown Jackson’s younger daughter was 11, she drafted a letter to President Barack Obama suggesting her federal-judge mom for a vacancy on the Supreme Court.

For years the Supreme Court moved to the left or right only as far as Justices Sandra Day O’Connor and Anthony Kennedy allowed.

Justice Neil Gorsuch is speaking this weekend to the conservative legal group that boosted his Supreme Court candidacy.

Democrats have fractured repeatedly over President Joe Biden’s agenda, stalling legislation and creating an atmosphere of mistrust that threatens the party’s political prospects in November.

In the nearly 30 years that Justice Stephen Breyer has spent on the Supreme Court, it's been conservative, then more conservative and now much more conservative.

Multiple sources say Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer is planning to retire.

The highest bid so far: $18,000, for a signed copy of "My Life on the Road," the memoir of leading feminist activist Gloria Steinem.

The commission tasked by President Joe Biden with studying potential changes to the Supreme Court has released its final draft report.

Merrick Garland finally made his Supreme Court debut on Tuesday.

A bold change in the Supreme Court’s jurisprudence on abortion could reinforce a growing perception among Americans that the justices’ decisions are political.

Justices Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett are seen as pivotal to the outcome of New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen, which seeks to answer to what extent Americans have a constitutional right to carry concealed firearms outside the home and in public places.

The court's originalists look to history to determine the meaning of the 2nd Amendment and the right to 'keep and bear arms.'

A commission tasked with studying potential changes to the Supreme Court is releasing a first look at its review.

To some observers, the Supreme Court is facing the most serious threat to its legitimacy since its decision in Bush v.

Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett is expressing concerns that the public may increasingly see the court as a partisan institution.

The road to a Texas law that bans most abortions in the state began in a town called Waskom, population 1,600.

Stephen Breyer hints at retiring from the Supreme Court

President Joe Biden and Senate Democrats are putting judges on federal trial and appellate courts at a much faster clip than Biden’s recent predecessors.

The end of the current Supreme Court term is coming up, and Stephen Breyer is the justice to watch.

A closely watched voting rights dispute from Arizona is among five cases standing between the Supreme Court and its summer break.

A closely watched voting rights dispute from Arizona is among five cases standing between the Supreme Court and its summer break.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell says it would be “highly unlikely” that he’d allow President Biden to fill a Supreme Court vacancy in 2024 if Republicans were to take control of the chamber.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) told radio host Hugh Hewitt on Monday that it is "highly unlikely" a Supreme Court nominee picked by Biden would be confirmed in 2024 if Republicans take control of the Senate.Why it matters: A record number of judges, plus three Supreme Court justices, were confirmed under Trump. Democrats have pledged to "restore the balance" of the courts.Get market news worthy of your time with Axios Markets. Subscribe for free.What they're saying: Hewitt asked

Abortion.

President Joe Biden has put the kibosh on his predecessor’s planned “National Garden of American Heroes."

An Australian judge on Monday rejected a challenge to a temporary COVID-19 ban on citizens returning from India. The government imposed the Indian travel ban on April 30 to relieve pressure on quarantine facilities for returned international travelers. The ban will be lifted on Friday when a government-chartered plane is expected to repatriate 150 of the 9,000 Australians in India who want to come home.

The decision could gut state laws, at a time when more and more Americans favor stricter gun regulation.

Legislation introduced by a group of Democratic lawmakers would to add four seats to the nine-member Supreme Court, in a long-shot bid designed to counter the court’s rightward tilt during the Trump administration.

President Joe Biden has ordered a study of adding seats to the Supreme Court, creating a commission that will spend the next 180 days examining the incendiary political issues of expanding the court and instituting term limits for its justices.

Justice Stephen Breyer is telling liberal advocates of big changes at the Supreme Court, including expanding the number of justices, to think “long and hard” about what they’re proposing.

FILE - In this Nov. 30, 2018, file photo, Associate Justice Stephen Breyer sits with fellow Supreme Court justices for a group portrait at the Supreme Court Building in Washington. Scott Applewhite, File)WASHINGTON – Forgive progressives who aren't looking forward to the sequel of their personal “Nightmare on First Street," a Supreme Court succession story. Other liberal voices have said Breyer should retire when the court finishes its work for the term, usually by early summer. Among the names being circulated are California Supreme Court Justice Leondra Kruger, U.S. District Court Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson and U.S. District Court Judge Michelle Childs. Breyer's departure wouldn't do anything to change the conservatives' 6-3 edge on the Supreme Court.

FILE - In this Nov. 2, 2020, file photo the Supreme Court is seen at sundown in Washington. Barring an improbable expansion of the Supreme Court, Biden won’t be able to do anything about the high court’s entrenched conservative majority any time soon. That’s because Republicans who controlled the Senate in the final two years of the Obama White House confirmed relatively few judges. Biden already has pledged to name a Black woman to the Supreme Court if a seat opens up. But some Republicans and conservative groups are wary about what Democrats might try to do now that they control Congress and the White House.

Judge Merrick Garland, nominee to be Attorney General, is sworn in at his confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Monday, Feb. 22, 2021 on Capitol Hill in Washington. That is what I intend to do as the attorney general," Garland said. Garland said his first briefing as attorney general would be focused on the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6. Other backers include two sons of former Attorney General Edward Levi. “There have been few moments in history where the role of attorney general — and the occupant of that post — have mattered more,” said Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., the Senate Judiciary chairman.

The once-snubbed Supreme Court pick will finally come before the Senate, this time as President Joe Biden's choice for attorney general. Now, the once-snubbed Supreme Court pick will finally come before the Senate, this time as President Joe Biden's choice for attorney general. Garland's high court nomination by President Barack Obama in 2016 died because the Republican-controlled Senate refused to hold a hearing. The Justice Department on late Saturday released a copy of Garland’s opening statement. Graham said in a tweet that Garland would be a “sound choice” to lead the Justice Department.

Attorney General nominee Merrick Garland speaks during an event with President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris at The Queen theater in Wilmington, Del., Thursday, Jan. 7, 2021. If confirmed by the Senate, which is likely, Garland would take over as the U.S. attorney general at a critical moment for the country and the agency. His confirmation prospects as attorney general were all but ensured when Democrats scored control of the Senate majority by winning both Georgia Senate seats. Biden also introduced three others for senior Justice Department leadership posts on Thursday, including Obama administration homeland security adviser Lisa Monaco as deputy attorney general and former Justice Department civil rights chief Vanita Gupta as associate attorney general, the No. Garland was selected over other finalists including former Sen. Doug Jones, D-Ala., and former Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates.

President Donald Trumps deep imprint on the federal courts is a rare point of agreement about the president across the political spectrum. The three Supreme Court picks could still be on the court at the 21st century’s midpoint, 30 years from now. In Trump’s first two years, they pushed through 30 appellate court judges and 53 district court nominees. “You know, when I got in, we had over 100 federal judges that weren’t appointed," he said. That nominee was Stephen Breyer, now a Supreme Court justice.

WASHINGTON – Alabama Sen. Doug Jones and federal appeals court judge Merrick Garland are emerging as the leading contenders to be nominated as President-elect Joe Biden’s attorney general, three people familiar with the matter told The Associated Press. Biden's thinking was described by people with knowledge of the presidential transition's internal thinking who were not authorized to speak publicly. Jones, who is white, has had a long-standing personal relationship with Biden dating back to Biden’s first presidential campaign in 1988. Jones would not comment Tuesday on the possibility of a nomination as attorney general. The Biden team has also been considering a number of other potential candidates for the post, including former Justice Department official Lisa Monaco.

WASHINGTON – Amy Coney Barrett was confirmed to the Supreme Court late Monday by a deeply divided Senate, with Republicans overpowering Democrats to install President Donald Trump’s nominee days before the election and secure a likely conservative court majority for years to come. Democrats were unable to stop the outcome, Trump's third justice on the court, as Republicans race to reshape the judiciary. Democratic senators emptied their side, heeding party leadership's advice to not linger in the chamber. While two Democratic senators voted to confirm Barrett in 2017 after Trump nominated the Notre Dame Law School professor to the appellate court, none voted to confirm her to the high court. No other Supreme Court justice has been confirmed on a recorded vote with no support from the minority party in at least 150 years, according to information provided by the Senate Historical Office.

Scott Applewhite)WASHINGTON – Senate Republicans voted overwhelmingly Sunday to advance Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett toward final confirmation despite Democratic objections, just over a week before the presidential election. Republicans are excited by the chance to install a third Trump justice on the court, locking in a conservative majority for years to come. "The Senate is doing the right thing," said Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, vowing to install Barrett to the court by Monday. Now the only Republican expected to vote against Barrett is Collins, who faces a tight reelection in Maine. Two Democrats joined at that time to confirm her, but none is expected to vote for her in the days ahead.

Barrett's nomination already appeared to have enough votes for confirmation from Senate Republicans who hold the majority in the chamber. But the minority party has no realistic chance of stopping Barrett’s confirmation, which is set to lock a 6-3 conservative court majority for years to come. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., noted the political rancor, but defended his handling of the process. Majority Republicans turned aside those efforts and kept Barrett's confirmation on track. With a 53-47 GOP majority, Barrett’s confirmation is almost certain.

Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer of New York warned Republicans that they were making a “colossal and historic mistake.”Republicans appeared unmoved. In a lengthy speech, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell praised Barrett as an “extraordinary” nominee and defended her quick confirmation. With a 53-47 GOP majority, Barrett’s confirmation is almost certain. That rate outpaces Graham’s third-quarter total of $28 million, which his campaign said represented the largest amount ever raised by any Republican Senate candidate in a single quarter, in any state. In trying to derail or at least slow Barrett's confirmation, Democrats argue the winner of the presidential election should decide who replaces Ginsburg.

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., shakes hands with Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., at the close of the confirmation hearing for Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett, before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Thursday, Oct. 15, 2020, on Capitol Hill in Washington. “This has been one of the best set of hearings that I’ve participated in,” Feinstein said at the Senate Judiciary Committee. “It’s time for Sen. Feinstein to step down from her leadership position on the Senate Judiciary Committee,” said Brian Fallon, the executive director of Demand Justice, which opposes conservative nominees to the courts. Trump has been able to install more than 200 judges on the federal bench and is now poised to seat his third justice on the Supreme Court. “Judiciary Committee Democrats had one goal this week: to show what’s at stake under a 6-3 conservative Supreme Court — and we did that,” Feinstein said.

U.S. Judge Amy Coney Barrett, who has been nominated to the U.S. Supreme Court, on Capitol Hill in Washington, September 30, 2020. Judge Amy Coney Barrett will focus on her family in the opening statement of her Supreme Court confirmation hearings set to begin on Monday, according to prepared remarks obtained by NBC News. The 48-year-old will say that becoming a Supreme Court justice was "not a position I had sought out, and I thought carefully before accepting." "I believe Americans of all backgrounds deserve an independent Supreme Court that interprets our Constitution and laws as they are written." Barrett will also use the speech to praise Ginsburg, saying she was "nominated to fill Justice Ginsburg's seat, but no one will ever take her place.

Republicans will protect Americans who have preexisting conditions, even if the Supreme Court rules the Affordable Care Act is unconstitutional, Sen. Ted Cruz told CNBC on Monday. Cruz, a Republican from Texas, said on "Squawk Box" he is not sure how the Supreme Court would rule in the upcoming case. "What they're talking about is what they think politically resonates, but 100 out of 100 senators agree we're going to protect preexisting conditions regardless of what happens with Obamacare." In the text of Trump's order, it contends the Affordable Care Act was "flawed from its inception and should be struck down." A recent poll from The New York Times and Siena College found 57% of Americans support the Affordable Care Act while 38% oppose it.

Barrett paid homage to Scalia, praising the late justice as her mentor. Scalia led the conservative wing of the high court before his death in 2016 and was a frequent target of liberal ire. A former Notre Dame law professor, Barrett drew clear comparisons between her approach to the law and Scalia's, saying "his judicial philosophy is mine too." Barrett also praised the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, whose vacant seat she will fill if confirmed by the Senate. Barrett is a conservative 48-year-old federal appeals court judge widely favored by social conservatives and the religious right.

Barrett is a 48-year-old federal appeals court judge favored by social conservatives and the religious right. "If President Trump has his way, complications from COVID-19, like lung scarring and heart damage, could become the next deniable pre-existing condition," Biden said. The Judicial Crisis Network, a conservative organization, announced it had launched a seven-figure television and digital ad buy in favor of Barrett's confirmation. He has kept that promise and I look forward to supporting Judge Barrett's confirmation," JCN president Carrie Severino said in a statement. During Barrett's confirmation hearing in September of 2016, Feinstein said she had concerns related to past statements about religion.

"She said at one point that when they were judges together, initially on the appeals court, they sat next to each other and my dad would whisper jokes to her during arguments," Scalia's son recounted.

Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is seen as she presents the Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg Inaugural Woman of Leadership Award to Agnes Gund at The Library of Congress on February 14, 2020 in Washington, DC. Just days before her death Friday evening, Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said that her "most fervent wish is that I will not be replaced until a new president is installed," according to an NPR report. Her death comes less than seven weeks before the 2020 election between President Donald Trump and Democratic nominee Joe Biden. "The American people should have a voice in the selection of their next Supreme Court Justice. Therefore, this vacancy should not be filled until we have a new president," McConnell said in 2016.

Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the Supreme Court justice who served longer than any woman, championing a liberal stance on issues dividing the nation, has died, the Supreme Court said on Friday. In 2008, Justice Ginsburg appeared on the broadcast as part of a profile Lesley Stahl reported on fellow Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia. She talked about the ways the Supreme Court justices worked together, in spite of their different ideologies. She also spoke fondly of her friendship with the late Scalia, whom she would sometimes call with writing advice. Ginsburg was nominated to the Supreme Court by President Bill Clinton in 1993.

Labor Secretary Eugene Scalia told CNBC on Friday that the federal government is helping states deal with the crush of Americans filing for unemployment insurance and the guidelines for paying out an additional federal coronavirus stipend. "About two-thirds of the states are now making those payments," Scalia said. Scalia, son of late conservative Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, said the federal government is providing resources to the states, some of which have decades-old computer systems. In just a month, 22 million workers have filed first-time jobless claims, including more than 5.2 million last week alone. The U.S. economy is close to wiping out all the jobs created in the 10 years since the Great Recession.

President Obama has nominated Judge Merrick Garland as the nominee to replace the late Justice Antonin Scalia. What do we know about Judge Garland? CBS News chief legal correspondent Jan Crawford, CBSN political contributor Leslie Sanchez, Democratic Strategist Lynda Tran, and senior fellow at the Cato Institute Ilya Shapiro join CBSN with more details on the president's pick.

President Obama has nominated Judge Merrick Garland to fill the vacancy left by Justice Antonin Scalia's death. Garland, 63, is the chief judge for the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. Obama introduced Garland in a White House Rose Garden ceremony.

President Obama will nominate Merrick Garland to U.S. Supreme Court to fill the vacancy left by Antonin Scalia's death. CBS News' Jan Crawford and the CATO Institute's Ilya Shapiro discuss Obama's nomination on CBSN.

The Supreme Court returns to work Monday for the first time since the death of Justice Antonin Scalia. Thousands of mourners gathered in Washington Saturday for his funeral. The justices will hear oral arguments without Scalia for the first time, as none of the eight remaining justices have served without him. Jan Crawford reports.

Thousands of mourners filed past Antonin Scalia's casket in the rotunda of the U.S. Supreme Court on Friday. Jan Crawford reports on the emotional day.

Watch: Justice Antonin Scalia's casket arrives at the Supreme Court, while son Paul reads a prayer as his body lies in repose. CBS contributor Bob Schieffer joins CBSN's Anne-Marie Green and Meg Oliver with more on the ceremony honoring Scalia.

Official ceremonies to honor Justice Antonin Scalia begin Friday morning in Washington. Scalia's casket will be taken to the Supreme Court to lie in repose before his funeral mass Saturday. The 79-year-old justice was found dead last Saturday at a West Texas ranch. Jan Crawford reports.

A CBS News poll shows Americans are split over the president’s plan to nominate a successor to Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia. Forty-seven percent in our poll say the president should choose a nominee this year and 46 percent say the next president should make the decision. A spokesman says President Obama will not go to a funeral mass for the late justice. Vice President Joe Biden will attend. Margaret Brennan reports.

Days after the sudden death of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, President Obama is taking his time to nominate a replacement. At the same time, some high-profile figures have suggested Scalia's death may be a murder. Scalia was found with a pillow over his face, and there will be no autopsy. Republican front-runner Donald Trump has stated multiple times that Scalia's death was foul play. With more on Scalia's replacement and death, CBS News' Jan Crawford joins CBSN from the Supreme Court.

Donald Trump is talking about conspiracy theories that claim Justice Antonin Scalia may have died of foul play. Texas authorities did not do an autopsy after Scalia's body was found. Confusion and lingering questions led to some wild speculation about the venerated justice’s, but the owner of the ranch where Scalia died tried to clarify his comments about how he saw “a pillow over his head.” Jan Crawford reports.

Senate Republicans vow to reject whomever President Obama recommends to succeed Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia who died Saturday. But the president is telling senators to "do their job" and keep an open mind on his next nominee. Scalia's funeral is scheduled for Saturday in Washington. Jan Crawford reports on the battle over filling the justice’s seat.

Republican Senator Orrin Hatch, a ranking member on the Senate Judiciary Committee, tells CBSN's Contessa Brewer why the next president should be the one to nominate a candidate to fill Antonin Scalia's Supreme Court seat.

The fallout continues after a contentious Republican debate in South Carolina, Antonin Scalia's legal legacy is remembered and more are among today's CBSNews.com trending stories.

Despite distinctly different politics, Antonin Scalia and Ruth Bader Ginsburg maintained a very close friendship. Jan Crawford reports on their lasting relationship.

The president may name his selection for Justice Antonin Scalia's replacement on the Supreme Court within the next 30 days -- maybe as early as next week. Margaret Brennan takes a look at some potential nominees.

The death of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia drops the court down to eight members as several controversial cases come up on the docket. Jan Crawford reports on how the conservative icon's passing could possibly stall those cases.

The death of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia drops the court down to eight members as several controversial cases come up on the docket; Despite distinctly different politics, Antonin Scalia and Ruth Bader Ginsburg maintained a very close friendship.

President Obama will nominate Antonin Scalia's replacement on the Supreme Court, tonight's Grammys are music's biggest night, and former New York Governor Eliot Spitzer is allegedly being investigated for assault. Those stories and more trending on CBSNews.com

After the sudden death of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia on Saturday, there's been a growing fight over his replacement. President Barack Obama needs the Senate's approval to elect a nominee on the Supreme Court. His choice could shift the conservative balance in the court; however, many Republicans vow to block Obama's pick, no matter who that may be. With more, CBS News' Jan Crawford joins CBSN.

Justice Antonin Scalia was one of the most important conservatives in Supreme Court history. His view of the law sometimes put him outside the mainstream. In 2012, Charlie Rose spoke to Scalia on his PBS program about the justice's judicial approach and legacy.

Attorney David Boies argued several cases before Justice Antonin Scalia and the U.S. Supreme Court. Boies successfully fought against Proposition 8, California's attempt to ban same-sex marriage. He also represented Vice President Al Gore during the 2000 election recount. Boies joins "CBS This Morning" to discuss how Scalia differed from the other justices and how his death will impact the pending cases before the Supreme Court.

Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia was known for his sharp mind and often sharper critiques. A recent example was last year’s dissent in a case upholding Obamacare. Scalia wrote that an interpretation of federal and state exchanges was “jiggery-pokery,” and he called one element of the majority’s opinion “pure applesauce.” In 2008, Scalia spoke to "CBS This Morning" co-host Charlie Rose on his PBS program about how his colleagues viewed his style.

Jan Crawford, who has covered the Supreme Court for more than 20 years, joins "CBS This Morning" from Washington to discuss the impact of Justice Antonin Scalia's death on pending policy issues before the Supreme Court as well as the hurdle President Obama faces with the GOP Senate leaders vowing to block a justice appointment.