Supreme Court

The U.S. Supreme Court has invited the acting Solicitor General Jeff Wall to file a brief expressing the views of the federal government on a case involving Wyoming and its efforts to export coal internationally.

The Eastern Shoshone Tribe has formed a committee to study and draft regulations for off-reservation hunting by tribal members. Tribal leaders announced the plan to state legislators this week during a meeting of the Select Committee on Tribal Relations.

The Senate is taking a procedural vote on whether or not to move Judge Brett Kavanaugh's Supreme Court nomination forward on Friday, October 5, at 8:00 a.m. MTN.  Senator Susan Collins (R-ME), is speaking on the floor of the US Senate today (approximately 3:00 PM Eastern Time). She's talking about her position on the nomination of Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court. Collins is one of the small group of Senators who could swing the confirmation vote either way. Watch her statement live. Watch the proceedings live below.

The Senate Judiciary Committee is scheduled to vote on Judge Brett Kavanaugh's Supreme Court nomination at 1:30 p.m. ET. A full Senate vote on the nomination is expected as early next week.

Watch the proceeding live below.

Wyoming will soon enjoy a significant new source of tax revenue — that’s thanks to a Supreme Court decision Thursday. Since 1992, online retailers have not been forced to collect or pay state sales taxes.

The latest attempt to block a federal rule addressing mercury pollution from power plants has failed.

The Mercury and Air Toxics Standards target mercury pollution from coal-fired power plants, which are the largest source of the toxin. Mercury can cause health problems, especially in children.

Last year, the Supreme Court sent the rule back to the lower courts after finding that the Environmental Protection Agency hadn’t adequately considered cost when formulating the rule. The agency has since done that.

North Dakota Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem isn’t likely to forget the phone call he got Tuesday night, from a colleague in Washington D.C.

“5pm. It was 5pm exactly,” he recalled in an interview with Inside Energy.

A U.S. Supreme Court decision this summer could affect health coverage for nearly 21,000 Wyoming residents. The court will decide if subsidies can be provided to low-income individuals in states that don’t have their own health insurance exchange under the Affordable Care Act.

Wyoming is one of more than 30 states without its own insurance marketplace.

Of the 21,000 citizens enrolled in a health care plan under the federal government run marketplace, 91% receive the premium tax credit, which on average pays for more than 70% of their monthly premiums.

Monday’s Supreme Court decision not to review state gay marriage bans that had been overturned in federal courts means that the highest legal authority in Wyoming recognizes gay marriage. But how soon same sex marriage licenses will be issued in the state remains unclear.

That’s because a state statute defines marriage as being between a man and a woman. Wyoming Equality is an advocacy group challenging that law in state court. Group lawyer Thomas Lyman says regardless of the outcome of his case gay marriage is now legal in Wyoming.

The Wyoming Senate reconsidered and passed a bill that would set up a special committee to review the recent Supreme Court decision about Superintendent Cindy Hill.

The court ruled that removing Hill's responsibility to run the Department of Education was unconstitutional. The committee would be tasked with coming up with legislation to respond to the ruling, possibly in a special legislative session.  

The Senate at first rejected the bill, but reconsidered after lunch and passed it.  Senator Chris Rothfuss says that some education took place during the lunch break.

Wyoming Supreme Court Chief Justice Marilyn Kite acknowledges that the court's decision in the superintendent of public instruction case has created concern and challenges.

Kite says there's nothing to be done now but for lawmakers, the governor and the court to embrace those challenges and fulfill their respective constitutional obligations.

Kite addressed the issue at the start of her State of Judiciary speech before a joint legislative session Monday.

An investigation by the Center for Public Integrity gave the Wyoming Supreme Court’s financial disclosure rules an ‘F.’

Wyoming gay marriage supporters are holding a rally in anticipation of the Supreme Court’s hearings on the constitutionality of the Defense of Marriage Act, or DOMA, and Proposition eight that repealed a gay marriage law in California. 

This Sunday at noon, people from across the state are invited to don red clothing and gather in Casper’s Pioneer Park to rally for marriage equality and the repeal of both the DOMA, and Proposition 8.

Wyoming's Congressional leaders are voicing their disdain for the Supreme Court’s decision to uphold most of the Affordable Care Act.

Senator John Barrasso says despite the court’s ruling, the law is unworkable, unpopular, and bad for patients, providers and taxpayers. And he urged voters to remove elected officials in order to repeal the law.