The Supreme Court accepted challenges from religious nonprofit groups to the Affordable Care Act and its contraception mandate, CNN reports. It will be the fourth time the Supreme Court has heard a challenge to the legislation. In 2014, the high court ruled that for-profit companies could refuse on religious grounds to cover contraceptives in their employee insurance plans.

Vanderbilt University joined 12 universities in filing an amicus brief Nov. 2 with the U.S. Supreme Court supporting the continued consideration of race as one factor used in their admissions decisions. “At Vanderbilt we believe that an inclusive, intellectually stimulating environment with remarkably talented students from diverse backgrounds living and learning together enhances everyone’s experience and capacity for expanding their knowledge and understanding of one another,” Vanderbilt Chancellor Nicholas S. Zeppos said. The court will hear arguments in the case, Fisher v. University of Texas, on Dec. 9.

The U.S. Supreme Court is considering how much inmates should have to pay from their prison bank accounts for filing lawsuits, the Associated Press reports. A1996 federal statute requires prisoners to make monthly installment payments of at least 20 percent of their prison income until the court fee is eventually paid in full, but the statue is not clear on how the payment applies to multiple cases.

Gabriel Duvall, who was nominated to the Supreme Court by President James Madison in 1811, is hailed the “Most Insignificant Justice” in an article published on Ozy.com. In his 24 years on the court, Duvall penned 18 opinions in the 962 cases before him. “(Duvall) achieved an enviable standard of insignificance against which all other justices must be measured,” Chicago law professor David Currie said.

The U.S. Supreme Court today looked at racial discrimination in the selection of jurors as multiple prosecutors have filed a friend-of-the-court brief siding with Timothy Foster, who was sentenced to death for killing an elderly woman in Georgia. "Numerous studies demonstrate that prosecutors use peremptory strikes to remove black jurors at significantly higher rates than white jurors,” attorneys for Foster said. NPR reports that it is unlikely the court will establish new rules to prevent "systematic discrimination." 

The Tennessee Supreme Court denied Bridgestone entities’ request to dismiss a case because of lost evidence and a request for summary judgment. The decision affirmed a trial court ruling in the case in which a woman’s car was totaled in an accident after it appeared that a tire may have failed and the wrecking service later destroyed her car. The Court also reviewed the defendants’ additional reasons for requesting summary judgment, conducting the analysis under the Court’s recent opinion in Rye v. Women’s Care Center of Memphis. Justice Gary R. Wade wrote a concurring opinion, in which he disagreed with the new summary judgment standard, but reached the same conclusion under a different analysis. Read the opinion authored by Justice Jeffrey S. Bivins.  

An appeal filed today by the Pacific Legal Foundation will present yet another challenge to President Barack Obama’s health care overhaul, the Associated Press reports. The appeal, filed in the U.S. Supreme Court on behalf of a small-business owner, says that the law violates the provision of the Constitution that requires tax-raising bills to originate in the House of Representatives. The foundation said the health care overhaul is expected to generate roughly $500 billion in new taxes by 2019.

The U.S. Supreme Court issued orders from its Oct. 9 conference yesterday, but did not add any new cases to its docket for this term. The court also heard oral arguments yesterday in the cases of Montgomery v. Louisiana and Hurst v. Florida. In the first case, the court is considering whether states should be forced to retroactively apply a ban on mandatory sentences to juveniles convicted decades ago. The Tennessean reports that the justices appeared skeptical of their standing to decide the matter as well as the merits of the case. SCOTUSblog has more details.

The U.S. Supreme Court could announce tomorrow whether it will hear a challenge to an Illinois law banning assault weapons, CNBC reports. The Illinois State Rifle Association is challenging the constitutionality of a 2013 law passed in Highland Park that bans the sale, purchase or possession of semi-automatic weapons that can hold more than 10 rounds in a single ammunition clip or magazine in an effort to prevent mass shootings.

New bipartisan legislation introduced in Congress Thursday is attempting once again to allow broadcast and video coverage of the U.S. Supreme Court and other federal appeals courts, Legal Times reports. "How is it possible that we can keep up with the Kardashians, but we cannot keep up with the Supreme Court?" Rep. Jerrold Nadler, D-New York, said. The “Eyes on the Courts Act 2015” would allow the chief justice of the United States and chief judges of the appeals courts to close particular proceedings to cameras if broadcast would "violate the due process rights of a party to the proceeding or is otherwise not in the interests of justice."