In what turned out to be one of the most important days in American history, Supreme Court Associate Justice Anthony Kennedy announced his resignation from the Bench after more than thirty years of service. The 1987 appointee of President Ronald Reagan hand delivered President Donald Trump a resignation letter that stated: 

Today, the Supreme Court decided National Institute of Family and Life Associates (NIFLA) v. Becerra.  Justice Thomas wrote for the five-member majority concerning the two pro-abortion notices required of pro-life pregnancy center by the California law at issue (the FACT Act) (citations omitted):

Today, the Supreme Court issued a decision in Abbott v. Perez, a racial gerrymandering challenge out of Texas.  The Court held that the lower court had used an improper intent analysis to invalidate congressional and state house district maps, that the lower court had improperly applied the “effects” test of Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act to invalidate three districts, and that the fourth challenged district was an impermissible racial gerrymander because the state did not prove narrow tailoring in its use of race.

Maybe never in American history has the integrity of the electoral process and upholding the rule of law been more important than in 2018. Just in the past few months there has been significant evidence of voter fraud and allegations of corruption plaguing high level polling officials.

This morning, the Supreme Court issued a decision in Lucia v. Securities and Exchange Commission, holding that the SEC's administrative law judges are "officers of the United States" subject to the Appointments Clause of the Constitution.  (We covered this topic and case in a breakout panel at our National Policy Conference in April.)  Justice Kagan wrote for the Court (citations omitted):

Last Thursday, the Washington Post looked into the general misconception that President Trump is "rush[ing] to fill the courts" and the Senate is confirming judicial nominees at a record pace. The short answer is they are not--except for appellate judgeships. The article had three key takeaways:

As the agency that regulates and enforces campaign finance law, the Federal Election Commission (FEC) is a remarkably powerful entity. For this reason, instances of bias against one political party by the FEC should not be taken lightly. Thankfully, one recently appointed federal judge is doing his part in exposing this corruption. The Washington Examiner reports:

In a victory - at least for now - for courts staying out of partisan gerrymandering disputes, the Supreme Court today decided two of the three redistricting cases pending before it.

The purpose of a census is for a nation to count and survey its population, as prescribed in the U.S. Constitution. It would seem obvious then that asking whether an individual is a citizen of said country would be an appropriate and necessary question. However, most Democrats and the left-leaning American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) do not value an accurate census. Prof. John Baker wrote in The Hill:

This morning, the Supreme Court struck down Minnesota's ban on political apparel at the polls in Minnesota Voters Alliance v. Mansky.  We have covered this important case extensively.