Over its past two terms, the U.S. Supreme Court has put an end to five high-profile and politically sensitive cases emerging from one particular federal appeals court on the same basis, declaring that the litigation should not have been allowed in the first place.
In all five cases - involving abortion rights, online free speech, federal student loans, immigration and Native American child welfare - the justices overturned rulings by the staunchly conservative New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals or judges within that circuit.
