The Supreme Court of the United States has shot down a request by Sen. Roland Burris to put a stop to the special election that will happen November 2 in conjunction with the general election happening that same day. [Confused? Refresh your memory here.] Burris wanted inclusion in the special election since he's the current Senator; he is not, however, running in the general election. This all means that Roland will cease to be our Senator by Thanksgiving meaning we can bid adieu to The Lord's Senator™. more ›

Just as was predicted earlier this week, the City Council not only passed Mayor Daley's new gun law, but did so by a unanimous vote of 45-0 just a day after receiving the legislation. The vote finishes off a week that started with the Supreme Court tossing of the city's gun ban. The new restrictions won't make pro-guns proponents very happy. Not that the enforcement of the previous gun ban did a whole hell of a lot of good but the new regulations are so restrictive it's as if MayDay hopes to make the desire to own gun still such a hassle that no one will bother. For starters, it's still illegal to sell guns in the city and puts some hefty financial requirements on gun ownership. According to the Tribune, other restrictions include: more ›

The U.S Supreme Court is having a productive Monday -- besides taking on Chicago's gun ban, the court also ruled that a lawsuit against the Vatican by a sexual abuse victim can move forward. The suit, filed by St. Paul, Minnesota, attorney Jeff Anderson on behalf of an anonymous plaintiff, claims that the Holy See is accountable for sexual abuse by one of its former priests, Andrew Ronan, who admitted to abusing teens at St. Philip's High School in Chicago as well as another school in Ireland before being transferred to St. Albert's Parish in Portland, Oregon, where he abused the John Doe named in the lawsuit. Anderson contends that Ronan was an employee of the Vatican, and that it is liable for the abuse. Ronan died in 1992. more ›

The Supreme Court has voted 5-4 to overturn the City of Chicago's handgun ban. more ›

The City of Chicago is preparing for today's ruling from the Supreme Court of the United States on the handgun ban as the court issues its opinion on McDonald v. City of Chicago. (The city of Oak Park also has its handgun ban at issue with the case.) The City has been preparing for this day for months and, according to one report from the Tribune, if the ban is overturned, the City Council could take action on new local legislation by as soon as Wednesday. Indications are that the Court will come down with a 5-4 decision of overturning the ban, but that's still speculation. Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. and Justices Scalia, Alito, Kennedy, and Thomas were reported earlier this year as favoring the ban, enough for a 5-4 majority. All five justices also voted to overturn a similar ban for Washington D.C. in 2008. more ›

The Supreme Court weakened the "Honest Services" fraud law today, saying the law was too vague. Local figures who had been charged, in part, under the law include former Sun-Times owner Conrad Black and former governor Rod Blagojevich. Both of those cases, however, included other charges as well (the feds even prepped for this by re-indicting Blago). Black's conviction includes several other charges so the SCOTUS wouldn't overturn his conviction, leaving that, instead, to the appeals court process. The main argument in the case was brought by former Enron CEO Jeff Skilling. Meanwhile, Judge Zagel turned down a request by Blago's defense to continue the trial until next week, arguing John Harris' testimony falls under the honest services umbrella. The SCOTUS ruling is expected to have little effect on the trial thanks to the earlier re-indictment. more ›

While Mayor Daley refused to concede the fight before the SCOTUS to overturn Chicago's handgun ban, the Mayor did say he'll be ready to fight should the law be reversed. And he used some colorful imagery to illustrate his point. At today's news conference, Daley hinted new laws will be pushed through: "You have to have confidence in the Supreme Court, Maybe they'll see the light of day. Maybe one of them will have an incident and they'll change their mind over night, going to and from work ... Whatever the details of the court's ruling will be, we will always find new ways to keep guns off our streets." more ›

With every other attempt to delay his trial shot down, attorneys for former governor Rod Blagojevich are taking their case straight to the top: the Supreme Court of the United States. Team Blago wants the case to wait until the SCOTUS rules on a few cases involving the honest services law, something that should happen sometime in June. more ›

A federal appeals court has turned down a request by Team Blago to delay the start of the ex-gov's (and his brother Rob's) trial. With this latest round of denial for the defense, it appears only an act of SCOTUS will keep the trial from starting June 3. And Blago's defense team is not afraid to aim that high. After yesterday's decision, Rob Blagojevich attorney Michael E. Ettinger said, "We are going to the Supreme Court," while Rod's attorney Sheldon Sorosky echoed the sentiment, saying the team would "contemplate a possible appeal to the Supreme Court." more ›

Calling her "one of the nation's foremost legal minds," President Obama has nominated Solicitor General and former University of Chicago law school professor Elena Kagan for the Supreme Court. Kagan will replace the retiring Justice John Paul Stevens, who will step down this summer. Kagan also worked under the Clinton administration and served as dean of Harvard Law School. If she is confirmed, it will mark the first time that the SCOTUS would have three sitting female justices. Of course, with any nomination, there will be partisan scrutiny and while Kagan is said to be a good pick because of her ability to appeal across the political spectrum, there are still some issues that opponents will go after. The "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," policy and Kagan's brief ban of military recruiters from Harvard Law School's campus while she was dean will be a topic of conversation, even though Kagan did so within the law and the policy was no different than that of several other schools. Kagan will also face questions about her experience, specifically her lack of judicial experience. Per the New York Times: more ›

The Supreme Court decides not to take up the Asian Carp case but that doesn't mean the fight is over. more ›

First they came for our River. Now they’re coming for our Lakes! more ›

• The SCOTUS will consider Michigan's request to reopen the 1922 lawsuit in conference tomorrow as the Asian Carp fight continues.
• That Blago subponea request for President Obama? Turns out there's some redacted info that you can still view. Rich Miller cracked the code.
• Julio Huertas, a Navy SEAL from Blue Island, was acquitted today by a military jury in the beating of an Iraqi prisoner.

With the recent announcement that Supreme Court Justice (and Chicago native) John Paul Stevens will soon retire from the nation's high court, speculation has been growing over who President Obama will tab as Stevens' replacement, including a few with Chicago connections. But now a Slate feature that breaks down their Top 21 candidates includes a name we hadn't really considered before: State Attorney General Lisa Madigan. more ›

After weeks of rumors and conjecture, Supreme Court Justice (and Chicago native) John Paul Stevens announced he will retire this summer, in late June or early July. Stevens is the oldest member of the SCOTUS - he turns 90 in less than two weeks - and leads the liberal group of SCOTUS justices, so his departure and subsequent replacement will not likely change the current conservative-liberal balance of the SCOTUS. Stevens' timing will mean the Obama administration will be able to name a replacement and hold confirmation hearings before the November mid-term elections. It'll be the second SCOTUS appointment for President Obama after appointing Sonia Sotomayor last year to replace David Souter. more ›

After all the worryiing about the Asian Carp's imminent spread into the Great Lakes, a recent search for the fish has turned up...nothing. The six-week search turned up over 1,000 common carp and a few other variations, but none of the dreaded silver or bighead carp that would threaten to wreak havoc on the ecosystem of the Great Lakes. According to the AP (via WFLD): more ›

After twice denying the state of Michigan's request to close a pair of shipping locks in Chicago-area waterways so as to prevent the alleged spread of Asian Carp into Lake Michigan, the Supreme Court of the United States has set one more date in the battle of Asian Carp: April 16. On that date, the SCOTUS will consider whether or not to grant Michigan's request to reopen a 1922 lawsuit over the creation of the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal, linking the Mississippi River with the Great Lakes and thereby opening a path for the Asian Carp to make their way to the Lakes. Michigan has been joined by the other Great Lakes states - Minnesota, Wisconsin, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania and New York - as well as the Canadian province of Ontario in this fight. more ›

With all signs pointing to an eventual 5-4 ruling in favor of overturning the City's handgun ban, Mayor Daley lashed out at the Supreme Court with his typical sarcastic furor. According to the Sun-Times, Daley ranted: more ›

The official ruling won't come down for months, but based on the comments of justices during today's hearing, it seems the Supreme Court of the United States may have the necessary majority to overturn the City's 28-year-old handgun ban. According to David Savage's report for the LA Times, Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. and Justices Scalia, Alito, and Kennedy made comments favoring the Second Amendment and the 2008 case overturning Washington, D.C.'s handgun ban (in which all four voted to overturn); Savage also notes Justice Clarence Thomas, who has been a staunch Second Amendment supporter and voted with the majority in the D.C. case, would likely favor overturning this ban as well. more ›

As we mentioned last week, the City of Chicago's handgun ban is set to be argued to the Supreme Court of the United States - McDonald v. City of Chicago. Arguments are scheduled to be heard tomorrow and Mayor Daley continues campaigning in support of the 28-year-old ban. Said the Mayor, "We've turned our backs on common sense gun laws in America and we continuously, unfortunately, continue shooting each other on a daily basis. This is one issue where Americans must come together in regards to common sense gun laws. You would think there would be a wake-up call in America. But we're silent. We're not doing anything." The city of Oak Park, who has a similar ban, is included in the case with Chicago. A similar handgun ban for Washington, D.C. was overturned two years ago but D.C. falls under federal jurisdiction. more ›

As we told you about last June, American Needle, a Buffalo Grove clothing company that spent decades making hats for the NFL, finds itself in the middle of a U.S. Supreme Court antitrust case that may have far-reaching implications for how sports business is conducted. Oral arguments begin today in American Needle v. NFL, the culmination of a legal battle that began with American Needle's unsuccessful 2004 suit of the NFL and Reebok following their 2001 licensing agreement for all official NFL apparel, a contract that wiped out the previous agreements between the NFL and smaller companies like American Needle. The subsequent appeal with the Seventh Circuit Court was also unsuccessful, so now American Needle demans satisfaction with SCOTUS. So then why did the NFL also request SCOTUS hear the case? more ›

On Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court decided to hear the case of Ignacio Carlos Flores-Figueroa, an illegal immigrant and worker at an East Moline steel plant who earlier this year was convicted of aggravated identity theft and sentenced to 75 months in the federal pokie. (That's a lot of tax dollars going to incarcerate another country's citizen. Just saying.) The issue in this case involves the federal charge of aggravated identity theft and intent: i.e., must the government show that a defendant knew that the identification he or she used, owned or transferred belonged to somebody else in order to score a conviction? more ›

For real this time. While it's not exactly direct, he's not passing go and he's not collecting $200: Justice John Paul Stevens denied Ryan's request to remain out on bail while awaiting his appeal. Ryan, 73, is scheduled to go to prison on Wednesday. more ›