The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to decide a case testing the legality of excluding jurors on the basis of religion, reports Reuters. The court turned away a Missouri agency's bid to reverse a lesbian worker's win in a workplace bias lawsuit after three prospective jurors were excluded for citing their Christian beliefs. State officials had appealed after a lower court denied their request for a new trial. In the original trial, a jury sided with plaintiff Jean Finney in her suit against the Missouri Department of Corrections. The state argued that the removal of three jurists who expressed their religious views violated the U.S. Constitution's 14th Amendment promise of equal protection under the law.

The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that three Republican-led states will not be allowed to join an appeal that will decide the availability of the abortion pill mifepristone, reports Reuters. Last month, U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk allowed Missouri, Kansas and Idaho to join the lawsuit. The states will remain as parties in the underlying case. Today's ruling means they will not be part of an appeal of Kacsmaryk's preliminary order and a later appeals court order that put significant restrictions on mifepristone, including a ban on prescribing it by telemedicine and dispensing it by mail.

The U.S. Supreme Court has left in place the admissions policy at Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology in Virginia, which some parents claim discriminates against highly qualified Asian Americans. The Associated Press reports that the court’s order, over the dissent of Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas, ended a legal challenge to a policy adopted in 2020 to increase diversity at the elite public school. A panel of the federal appeals court in Richmond had earlier upheld the constitutionality of the admissions policy, which gives weight in favor of applicants who are economically disadvantaged or still learning English, without taking race into account. The effect of the new policy saw an increase in the percentage of Black students from 1% to 7% and Hispanic students from 3% to 11%, while Asian American students decreased from 73% to 54%.

The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear Oklahoma death row inmate Richard Glossip's bid to challenge his conviction for a murder-for-hire based on his claim that prosecutors wrongly withheld evidence favorable to his defense, reports Reuters. The justices took up Glossip's appeal of a lower court's refusal to grant him a hearing after that court determined the newly obtained evidence would not have changed the outcome. Glossip was convicted of commissioning the murder of a motel owner in Oklahoma City in 1997. Recent investigations led Glossip's lawyers to evidence they say casts doubt on the reliability of the prosecution's key witness.

The U.S. Supreme Court today heard arguments on the future of the “Chevron deference,” a legal doctrine that instructs courts to defer to agencies’ interpretation of federal law. The government’s lawyer argued for the doctrine while lawyers for a group of fishermen — who are challenging a mandate that they fund federal monitors on their vessels — called on the court to overrule the precedent or at least narrow its scope, The Hill reports. Critics of the doctrine argue it requires judges to abdicate responsibility to interpret the law. Supporters argue that regulators, who have more knowledge and experience in their particular fields, are best positioned to make such decisions. The justices also weighed whether to replace Chevron with another, more narrow test known as Skidmore, under which a judge would decide to defer to an agency only if the agency’s argument is persuasive. Read about the Chevron doctrine's history from SCOTUSblog.

The U.S. Supreme Court announced Friday it will take up the case of the Memphis 7, a group of Starbucks baristas who claim they were fired in retaliation for trying to organize a union, the Commercial Appeal reports. In 2022, a federal judge ordered Starbucks to reinstate the employees and the Cincinnati-based U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed that decision last year. At issue is the standard federal courts use to require companies to keep employees on the payroll while their cases are being decided. Starbucks says the standard used varies depending on jurisdiction. It is asking the Supreme Court to "level the playing field" for employers by "ensuring that a single standard is applied."

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear an appeal targeting an agreement among major U.S. meat suppliers to apportion potential liability for price-fixing claims brought by chicken purchasers Target, Campbell Soup Company and others. Also on Monday, the court declined to hear R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company's challenge to a voter-approved measure in California that banned flavored tobacco, upholding a lower court's ruling holding that California's law did not conflict with a federal statute regulating tobacco products. On Tuesday, the justices heard arguments in a case over an inconsistently applied increase in bankruptcy fees, with at least three justices appearing hesitant to force U.S. taxpayers to foot a $326 million refund to debtors who paid higher rates. Reuters has the full story on all three decisions.

The U.S. Supreme Court today declined to hear an appeal of venue change in a lawsuit accusing Exxon, Koch Industries and the American Petroleum Institute of worsening climate change. The refusal to hear the appeal sends the suit back to the state court in Minnesota. The court has similarly rejected appeals in cases in California, Colorado, Rhode Island, Hawaii, Maryland and elsewhere. The justices also rejected an appeal by X Corp, formerly known as Twitter, to consider whether the social media company can publicly disclose how often federal law enforcement seeks information about users for national security investigations. Additionally, the court rejected an appeal from Intel and Edwards Lifesciences to revive part of their lawsuit challenging a U.S. Patent and Trademark Office policy that reduced the number of patents the federal agency reviews. Reuters has more in depth coverage of the decisions.

The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to take up whether former President Donald Trump can be disqualified from appearing on Colorado’s ballot due to his actions surrounding the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack, reports The Hill. The justices’ order sets the case up to be heard at a speedy pace, with oral arguments scheduled for Feb. 8. Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti recently joined an amicus brief urging the court to hear the appeal.

Chief Justice John Roberts wrote in his year-end report on the federal judiciary that "any use of AI requires caution and humility," reports USCourts.gov. "[L]egal determinations often involve gray areas that still require application of human judgment," Roberts said. "AI is based largely on existing information, which can inform but not make such decisions ... I predict that human judges will be around for a while." Read the report.