251 articles
Morrison Waite
Morrison Remick Waite (1816-1888), seventh Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court (1874-1888), a Toledo, Ohio lawyer nominated by Grant after Chase's death; wrote Minor v. Happersett, Cruikshank, and Reynolds.
MOSAIC threat assessment systems
MOSAIC threat assessment systems are computer-assisted violence risk assessment methods by Gavin de Becker & Associates (Method for Objectively Selecting Areas of Inquiry-Consistently), covering domestic violence, workplace, school, public figure, and judicial threats; DV-MOSAIC showed significant but unimpressive predictive associations in the 2005 NIJ validation study.
National Federation of Independent Business v. Sebelius
NFIB v. Sebelius, 567 U.S. 519 (2012): Supreme Court case upholding the Affordable Care Act individual mandate under the Taxing Clause, rejecting Commerce Clause and Necessary and Proper Clause justifications, and making the Medicaid expansion optional.
National Socialist Party of America v. Village of Skokie
National Socialist Party of America v. Village of Skokie, 432 U.S. 43 (1977), the Skokie case, held Illinois must give immediate appellate review before denying stays of injunctions restraining First Amendment speech, enabling neo-Nazis' march rights.
Neil Gorsuch
Neil Gorsuch, Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court since April 10, 2017, Trump's first appointee, succeeding Scalia; originalist and textualist, author of McGirt v. Oklahoma, confirmed 54-45 on April 7, 2017.
New York Times Co. v. United States
New York Times Co. v. United States, 403 U.S. 713 (1971), the Pentagon Papers case: Supreme Court held the government failed to justify prior restraint of the Times and Washington Post publishing the leaked Vietnam study.
Nomination and confirmation to the Supreme Court of the United States
Nomination and confirmation to the US Supreme Court: the Article II process by which the President nominates and the Senate confirms justices, 165 nominations since 1789, Judiciary Committee hearings since 1916, and the 2017 simple-majority cloture rule.
Office of General Counsel of the Supreme Court of the United States
The Office of General Counsel of the Supreme Court is the Court's in-house legal office, created in 1972, handling certiorari petitions and the Court's own legal needs.
Office of Legal Counsel of the Supreme Court of the United States
The Office of Legal Counsel of the Supreme Court of the United States is a two-attorney office created in 1972 to handle procedural questions and act as the Court's general counsel.
Office of the Counsel to the Chief Justice
The Office of the Counsel to the Chief Justice is the Supreme Court aide serving as the Chief Justice's chief of staff, created by statute in 1972.
Oliver Ellsworth
Oliver Ellsworth (1745–1807), Connecticut lawyer, senator, and third Chief Justice of the United States (1796–1800), drafted the Judiciary Act of 1789, shaped the Connecticut Compromise, and shifted the early Court toward unified per curiam opinions before resigning to serve as minister to France.
Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr.
Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. (1841–1935), the Great Dissenter, US Supreme Court associate justice 1902–1932, Civil War veteran, author of The Common Law, founder of legal realism, and advocate of judicial restraint and free-speech doctrine.
Olmstead v. United States
Olmstead v. United States, 277 U.S. 438 (1928), Taft Court decision holding warrantless wiretapping without physical trespass was not a Fourth Amendment search; 5-4 ruling with influential Brandeis dissent, overruled by Katz v. United States in 1967.
Opinions of sitting US Supreme Court justices
The opinions of sitting US Supreme Court justices are tallied each term as majority opinions, concurrences, and dissents; in 2025-26 Thomas wrote the most, 28, and Roberts the fewest.
Oral argument before the United States Supreme Court
Oral argument before the United States Supreme Court is the courtroom session where lawyers for each side answer the justices' questions before the Court decides a case.
Oyez
Oyez (OH-yay), from Anglo-Norman for "hear ye", is the thrice-repeated cry opening US Supreme Court sessions; it also names the Oyez Project, the multimedia Supreme Court audio archive.
Pamela Talkin
Pamela Talkin, tenth Marshal of the United States Supreme Court (2001-2020) and its first female Marshal; former EEOC chief of staff and FLRA nominee; retired July 31, 2020.
Per curiam decision
Per curiam decision (Latin "by the court"): an unsigned court opinion issued in the court's name without naming a judge-author; typical of short summary dispositions but used even in landmark cases like Bush v. Gore.
Planned Parenthood v. Casey
Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania v. Casey, 505 U.S. 833 (1992), the Supreme Court case reaffirming Roe v. Wade's core while adopting the undue burden standard, later overruled by Dobbs (2022).
Plessy v. Ferguson
Plessy v. Ferguson (163 U.S. 537, 1896) is the US Supreme Court case that upheld Louisiana's Separate Car Act and created the "separate but equal" doctrine; decided 7-1, Brown majority, Harlan dissent, overruled by Brown v. Board of Education (1954).
Pollock v. Farmers' Loan & Trust Co.
Pollock v. Farmers' Loan & Trust Co. (157 U.S. 429; 158 U.S. 601, 1895) was a 5-4 Supreme Court decision striking down the Wilson-Gorman Tariff Act's 2% income tax on income over $4,000 as an unapportioned direct tax on property income; the Sixteenth Amendment (1913) largely overrode it.
Potter Stewart
Potter Stewart (1915–1985), U.S. Supreme Court associate justice 1958–1981, Eisenhower recess appointee from Ohio, Sixth Circuit judge, centrist swing vote, author of "I know it when I see it" in Jacobellis v. Ohio.
Prigg v. Pennsylvania
Prigg v. Pennsylvania, 41 U.S. 539 (1842), Supreme Court case in which Justice Story's 8-1 majority held Congress had exclusive power over fugitive slave rendition, voided Pennsylvania's 1826 personal liberty law, and left states free to bar officials from enforcement.
Procedures of the Supreme Court of the United States
Procedures of the U.S. Supreme Court: certiorari granted by four Justices, 50-page merits briefs, 30-minute arguments, private Conference voting, and the October Term sitting-recess calendar.
Public access to the Supreme Court of the United States
Public access to the Supreme Court of the United States covers free visits to the building, seats at oral arguments, opinion announcements, and Courtroom Lectures.
Public Citizen Litigation Group
Public Citizen Litigation Group is the litigating arm of the consumer advocacy organization Public Citizen, founded in 1972, which has argued 68 cases before the US Supreme Court.
Regents of the University of California v. Bakke
Regents of the University of California v. Bakke, 438 U.S. 265 (1978): Supreme Court case striking down UC Davis medical school's 16-seat minority set-aside while allowing race as a plus factor; Powell's solo opinion governed until SFFA (2023).
Rehnquist Court
The Rehnquist Court (1986-2005) is the U.S. Supreme Court under Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist, marked by revived federalism limits on Congress (Lopez, Morrison), a shrinking docket, Bush v. Gore, and partial preservation of Warren-era precedents.
Religious Freedom Restoration Act
The Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA), P.L. 103-141 (1993), a U.S. federal statute restoring the compelling-interest test for burdens on religious exercise after Employment Division v. Smith; limited to the federal government by City of Boerne v. Flores (1997).
Reporter of Decisions of the Supreme Court of the United States
Reporter of Decisions of the U.S. Supreme Court: the Court officer who edits opinions and compiles the official United States Reports, prepares each case syllabus, and oversees the slip opinion, preliminary print, and bound volume publication stages.