Dan Rivoli

The U.S. Supreme Court would be barred from hearing cases challenging state laws on privacy, prayer and marriage.

About 40,000 laws were enacted in the 50 states during 2011, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

Newt Gingrich has called for abolishing entire courts and forcing judges to testify before Congress to explain controversial decisions.

The Iowa Supreme Court's 2009 same-sex marriage ruling and an injunction on Oklahoma's voter-approved ban on Sharia were a couple of the more controversial decisions that sparked impeachment calls.

Will Citizens United doom New York City's tough campaign finance laws at the U.S. Supreme Court?

Taking a page from Judge Jed Rakoff: a month after a Securities and Exchange Commission settlement with Citigroup was rejected, federal judge in Milwaukee pressed the agency to explain its vague deal with a Wisconsin headphones manufacturer.

The Obama administration scores another preliminary injunction against a state that has enacted a law attempting to drive out undocumented immigrations.

After six months of notable decisions, the U.S. Supreme Court ended 2011 setting the stage for a blockbuster session in 2012.

Bank of America stressed that only Countrywide's practices are at issue in Wednesday's announcement of a settlement for discriminatory mortgage lending practices.

Institutional investors such as unions won the right to file private common-law suits against Wall Street firms for alleged securities-related fraud and negligence.

Prosecutors have been aggressively enforcing the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act over the last several years to combat overseas bribery, hitting a peak of 48 lawsuits in 2010. Now the U.S. Chamber of Commerce is leading the effort to narrow the scope of the law.

The U.S. Supreme Court Monday set the schedule for health care reform law arguments: March 26-28, 2012.

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich is attempting to gain traction among Iowa GOP primary voters with plan to rein in dictatorial federal courts.

Georgia, Alabama and South Carolina have sought to halt Department of Justice challenges to their Arizona-style immigration laws, pending a U.S. Supreme Court review.

We have the ability to rein in excessive judges, Mitt Romney said.

Sen. Maria Cantwell wrote to Attorney General Eric Holder Thursday expressing concern that a nationwide settlement regarding major banks' foreclosure practices should not grant immunity in future investigations into their conduct leading up to the mortgage crisis.

"We believe the district court committed legal error by announcing a new and unprecedented standard" for approving settlements, Robert Khuzami, head of the Securities and Exchange Commission's enforcement division, said in a statement Thursday.

Enforcement officials at the Securities and Exchange Commission will reportedly recommend that the agency appeal a federal judge's November decision rejecting a $285 million settlement with Citigroup.

The U.S. attorney's office said dinnerware belonging to Saddam Hussein and the former royal family of Iraq was illegally imported into the U.S. and bought on eBay by an arts organization for an exhibition at a Manhattan restaurant.

The Federal Communications Commission got authority to adopt rules regulating the volume of television commercials when Congress passed the Commercial Advertisement Loudness Mitigation Act, or CALM Act.

A spokesperson for Gov. Scott Walker said federal courts, including the U.S. Supreme Court, have upheld the constitutionality of photo ID laws.

Munich-based Siemens AG in 2008 pled guilty to violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act in bribing government officials in Argentina to secure a billion-dollar national identification card project contract.

The debate on televising U.S. Supreme Court proceedings continued in Washington, D.C., where senators last week debated the idea of legislatively forcing justices to accept cameras.

The new changes the Stop Online Piracy Act's sponsor Rep. Lamar Smith introduced Monday aim at attracting more support to the legislation.

I am confident the high court will uphold Arizona's constitutional authority and obligation to protect the safety and welfare of its citizens, Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer said Monday.

The Justice Department had argued that the U.S. Supreme Court should allow to stand lower courts' decisions to place a preliminary injunction on four key provisions of Arizona's anti-immigration law.

Texas Gov. Rick Perry fumbles over justice's name, number of U.S. Supreme Court members.

Boeing and the machinists union came to a deal that ended a lawsuit against the aerospace giant from the National Labor Relations Board.

A juror who tweeted during a trial denied a man placed on Arkansas' death row a fair trial, the state's Supreme Court ruled Thursday.