Carol Zimmermann

In a 6-3 ruling May 23, the Supreme Court said two Arizona death-row inmates could not present new evidence of ineffective counsel they said they received in state trials during their federal appeals.

The Supreme Court appears set to overturn its Roe v. Wade decision, which legalized abortion for nearly 50 years, according to a leaked initial draft of a court opinion obtained by Politico and published online the evening of May 2.

After nearly two hours of oral arguments April 26, the Supreme Court justices had mixed views on the Biden administration ending a Trump-era immigration policy called "Remain in Mexico."

Catholic leaders were thankful that death-row inmate Melissa Lucio was granted a last-minute stay of execution April 25.

On April 21, Texas executed a 78-year-old inmate, Carl Buntion, by lethal injection shortly after the governor of Tennessee temporarily blocked the execution of a 72-year-old prisoner, Oscar Smith, citing issues with preparations of the lethal drugs to be used.

In a 53-47 vote, the U.S. Senate April 7 confirmed Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court, making her the first Black woman to serve on the country's highest court.

Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson's nomination to the Supreme Court moved forward April 4 after a 53-47 Senate procedural vote to bring her nomination before the full Senate likely before April 8.

Madeleine Albright, former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, the first female secretary of state and longtime professor at Georgetown University's Walsh School of Foreign Service, died March 23 in Washington. 

The Supreme Court March 24 ruled in favor of a Texas prisoner who wanted his pastor to pray aloud over him and place his hands on him in the execution chamber.

Texas Catholic bishops joined a broad coalition of faith leaders, Latino organizations, anti-domestic violence groups and the Innocence Project in urging state leaders March 22 to commute the death sentence of Melissa Lucio and conduct a meaningful review of her case.

The confirmation hearings for Supreme Court nominee Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson began with introductory remarks followed by 13 hours of questioning the next day.

The Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty for Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev in a 6-3 vote, saying a federal appeals court in 2020 should not have thrown out the death sentence.

The Supreme Court, in an 8-1 ruling March 3, said Kentucky's Republican attorney general could continue to defend an abortion restriction measure struck down by lower courts.

In his first State of the Union address March 1, President Joe Biden emphasized the crucial need to come together as a nation while facing challenges of the continuing pandemic, rising inflation and the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Texas Catholic leaders and other opponents of the death penalty are urging Texas officials to grant clemency to a 53-year-old Latina woman set to be executed in late April.

Although next year's world Synod of Bishops on synodality may seem like it would be something far removed from U.S. Catholic college students, many are hoping that's not the case.

President Biden announced Feb. 25 at the White House that he has chosen a "proven consensus builder" by nominating Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, a federal appeals court judge, to serve on the Supreme Court.

With coronavirus cases declining in every state, many Catholic school officials are lifting mask requirements at diocesan schools following the lead of governors' announcements about lifting mask mandates for the general public, and in some cases, schools.

Catholic school enrollment increased for the first time in two decades this school year, according to a preliminary report released by the National Catholic Educational Association.

Catholic college leaders hardly need reminding that they work in challenging times, but during the Feb. 7 closing session of their annual meeting, they got just that.