Since the U.S. Supreme Court earlier this month struck down the portion of the Voting Rights Act that required states with a history of racial discrimination to get federal approval of voting requirements, officials in several southern states have moved quickly to implement state laws requiring voters to present photo ID and making voter registration more difficult, The New York Times reports.

In recent years, the court that issued the order authorizing the phone data collection leaked last month has quietly become almost a parallel Supreme Court, serving as the ultimate authority on surveillance issues, according to The New York Times.

In the case against celebrity chef Paula Deen and her brother Earl W. “Bubba” Hiers for sexual harassment and race discrimination, Hiers' attorney has filed a motion alleging that the plaintiff, Lisa Jackson, lacks standing, according to the Savannah Morning News.

There’s a pattern in the decisions of the U.S. Supreme Court under the leadership of Chief Justice John Roberts, Jr., who is waging a slow, methodical assault on the country's liberal policies. So contends a recent article from The New York Times.