The Court began the week with a flurry granting two cert petitions on Monday in Los Angeles County v. Humphries, No. 09-350 and Harrington v. Richter, No. 09-587. In Humprhies, the Court was asked to rectify a circuit split on whether a plaintiff, in a request for declaratory relief, must demonstrate that the constitutional violation was [...]
In a flurry of action, the Supreme Court on Monday issued two opinions, granted certiorari in two cases, called for the views of the Solicitor General in two others, and denied a host of cert petitions, including that from former Panama dictator Manuel Noriega. The Court announced decisions in Hemi Group, LLC v. City of [...]
Today, the Supreme Court conducted a special session to hand down the opinion in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, No. 08-205. The Court—led by the conservative majority of Chief Justice Robert and Justices Scalia, Kennedy, Thomas, Alito—overturned two significant precedents holding that Congress may restrict corporate spending on political ads and commentary. Justice Kennedy, [...]
The Supreme Court issued two opinions today, and as usual, denied a slew of petitions for writ of certiorari. The Court’s opinions and order list can be viewed here. The opinions issued in Presley v. Georgia (09-5270) and Wellons v. Hall (09-5731), involved criminal law issues which were summarily decided by the Court without the [...]
On January 12, 2010, the Supreme Court announced revisions to its rules, which will take effect in all proceedings on February 16, 2010. The Court’s press release announcing the changes can be viewed here. The order and revisions can be reviewed here. The majority of the revisions are simply clarification of previously existing, but unstated, [...]
The Supreme Court has set the oral argument schedule for January, February and March of this year. Among the standout cases are: Briscoe v. Virginia, No. 07-11191 (argument date January 11th) In Briscoe, the Court will be confronted with the question of what procedure is required by the Confrontation Clause with regard to lab reports [...]
Legal blogs continue to buzz over the Court’s grant last week in City of Ontario v. Quon, (08-1332). While Scotus Wiki added a new page for the case, both Nolo’s Employment Law Blog and Slate’s Double XX Blog discussed the case at length. Last week, Orin Kerr at the Volokh Conspiracy noted that the Ninth [...]
Yesterday, the Supreme Court granted three cert petitions and called for the Solicitor General’s view on another. In City of Ontario v. Quon, No. 08-1332, the Court will determine whether government employers may monitor employees’ text messages transmitted with a government-issued pager. The questions presented are: 1. Whether a SWAT team member has a reasonable [...]
Yesterday, the Petitioner’s merits brief and joint appendix were filed in perhaps the most watched case of this young Supreme Court Term. In McDonald v. City of Chicago, No. 08-1521, the Court will determine whether the Second Amendment right to bear arms is applicable against the states. The case has drawn notable interest from both [...]
The Supreme Court granted three cases yesterday. One of those cases (Kiyemba, et al., v. Obama, et al. No. 08-1234) will decide whether courts possess the authority to release Guantanamo Bay detainees to live on United States soil. Additionally, the Court vided two cases together for argument. The cases Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha v. Regal-Beloit, No. [...]