U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said yesterday that the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) likely would come before the U.S. Supreme Court within the next year. Her comments came during a question and answer session with students at the University of Colorado in Boulder. The 1996 DOMA law has been declared unconstitutional by a federal judge in New York and is awaiting arguments before the Second U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. WRCB TV reports on her remarks

Backers of California's ban on same-sex marriages asked the U.S. Supreme Court yesterday to overrule a federal appeals court that struck down the measure as unconstitutional. Earlier this year, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals found that the 2008 amendment to the state constitution violated the civil rights of gay and lesbian Californians. The appeal, which was expected, brings a bitter, four-year court fight over Proposition 8 one step closer to being resolved. If the high court declines to take the case, it would clear the way for same-sex marriages to resume in California. Read about the case from WRCB-TV in Chattanooga.

Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia is downplaying reports of discord among the justices following last month's decision to uphold President Barack Obama's health care overhaul. Scalia said in an interview with The Associated Press on Thursday that he and his colleagues disagree over cases all the time "without taking it personally." While he would not address Chief Justice Roberts' reported switch, Scalia acknowledged that he himself had once been assigned to write a majority opinion for the court in a case years ago and then changed his mind. A majority "eventually went along with that revised view," he said.

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia drew unusually critical attention during this past Supreme Court term for comments he made in court and in his writing that seemed to some more political than judicial. For example, his dissent in the Arizona immigration case contained a harsh assessment of the Obama administration's immigration policy, which prompted a public rebuke from a fellow Republican-appointed judge and a call to resign from liberal columnist E.J. Dionne. The News Sentinel has this AP story

Attention is still focused on last week's decision and aftermath of the Affordable Care Act, but the Supreme Court delivered 64 other opinions this term — fewer than they have decided in any of the past 20 years. Bill Moyers Journal links to varied analyses of five other key decisions that have not gotten as much press as health care. National Public Radio's Nina Totenberg also looks into the end of the term, including the startling leak about the health care decision, other notable cases, and if this signals a shift in the court's idealogy. "You can't take one term in isolation," Tom Goldstein, publisher of SCOTUSblog, told NPR. "The arc of the law is solidly on the right. ... Anyone who thinks that John Roberts has now come out of the closet as his true liberal self is severely misguided. We have a track record here. He's a solidly conservative justice."

Chief Justice John Roberts initially sided with the Supreme Court's four conservative justices to strike down the heart of the Affordable Care Act, but later changed his position and formed an alliance with liberals to uphold the bulk of the law, according to two sources with specific knowledge of the deliberations. CBS's Face the Nation looks into the process and possibilities of why Roberts changed course.

With last week's health care ruling, the National Law Journal points out that both wings took steps toward each other, which "kept the court from becoming a major political issue from now until the November election." "It was a moment in which the court was potentially in jeopardy, and that was completely sidestepped," said Barry Friedman of New York University School of Law. Another professor called the health care decision a "defining point avoided" because of the ramifications for the court if the health care decision had gone against President Obama, while another said the opinion was up there with Marbury v. Madison. But whether it's a ground-shifting is doubtful. "Roberts and several of the liberals have forged a working coalition here," Duke Law professor Neil Siegel said. "It's not likely you can say that's going to happen when they get to affirmative action or the Defense of Marriage Act. Roberts is a real conservative."

In the aftermath of U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts' surprising take on the Affordable Care Act as well as his role in Arizona v. U.S., the National Law Journal looks at "how he managed to stay true to his conservative roots while upholding the health care law." And on this day after the historic -- and anger-inducing in some camps -- health care decision, Roberts told the Judicial Conference of the District of Columbia Circuit that he was headed for his summer break to Malta, "an impregnable island fortress. It seemed like a good idea." News 2 has that AP story

The Supreme Court decided today not to consider reinstating the government's $550,000 fine on CBS for Janet Jackson's infamous breast-baring "wardrobe malfunction" at the 2004 Super Bowl. The high court refused to hear an appeal from the Federal Communications Commission over the penalty. The 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals twice had thrown out the fine. WSMV has the AP story

The high court today let stand, in a 5-4 decision, the centerpiece of President Obama's health care legislation, with Chief Justice John Roberts surprising many by casting the deciding vote and writing the majority opinion. His rationale is that Congress under the Commerce Clause does not have the authority to require people to buy insurance — but it does have the authority to tax people who do not have coverage. The so-called individual mandate embedded in the health care legislation, Roberts wrote, "must be construed as imposing a tax on those who do not have health insurance, if such a construction is reasonable." Read more from NPR and the National Law Journal. Relive the action as it unfolded, from the Blog of Legal Times or read what Tennessee business, health care and political leaders had to say in the Nashville Post.

The Tennessee Bar Association will explore what the next steps will be for the legislation in a July 12 webcast featuring John Voigt of Sherrard & Roe. Learn more or register now.