The Supreme Court,
explained in plain English.
Independent coverage of every major case, decision, and legal issue — written for everyday Americans who want to understand the law without being told what to think.
Hunter v. United States
The Supreme Court held that appeal waivers in plea agreements are unenforceable if a sentence would result in a miscarriage of justice.
T. M. v. University of Md. Medical System Corporation
The Supreme Court ruled that federal district courts cannot review state-court judgments, even if those judgments are still being appealed in state court.
What the Court just decided
Hunter v. United States
The Supreme Court held that appeal waivers in plea agreements are unenforceable if a sentence would result in a miscarriage of justice.
Read the full breakdownThe Supreme Court ruled that federal district courts cannot review state-court judgments, even if those judgments are still being appealed in state court.
The Supreme Court ruled that prosecuting a person for possessing a firearm while being an unlawful drug user violates the Second Amendment when the law lacks a historical tradition of similar regulation.
The Supreme Court declined to hear a case about a school's refusal to allow a student club to display pro-life posters.
Pending before the Court
What Americans are tracking
Hunter v. United States
When someone pleads guilty to a crime, they often sign a paper saying they won't appeal their sentence. However, the Supreme Court ruled that if a judge makes a giant, obvious mistake—like giving a punishment that is totally illegal—the person can still appeal. This exists because the court system must always be fair, and some mistakes are too big to ignore. For most normal cases, though, the promise not to appeal still counts.
More plain-language explainersHow recent rulings touch everyday life
Americans who enter plea deals can still waive their right to appeal, but they now have a legal path to challenge rare and extreme errors, such as sentences that exceed legal limits or involve illegal discrimination.
Read more →If you lose a case in state court, you cannot go to a lower federal judge to try to get that state decision overturned; you must generally follow your state's appeal process all the way to the top.
Read more →For many Americans, this means that exercising Second Amendment rights cannot be taken away simply because of a person’s private lifestyle choices, such as using marijuana. The ruling suggests that the government cannot ban guns for entire groups of people just because they use a substance that is illegal under federal law. To take away a person's gun rights, the government now needs to show a more specific history of that person being dangerous or unable to care for themselves. This decision reinforces the idea that the right to self-defense in the home is a very high priority under the Constitution.
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