Today, the Supreme Court granted four cases including a petition filed by former-Enron executive Jeffrey Skilling. Skilling v. United States, No. 08-1394. The Skilling petition presents the Court with both constitutional and statutory questions relating to the trial and conviction of Skilling in 2006. The Court also granted a petition filed by the Solicitor General [...]
In 2008, Paul “Pete” Palmer—a sophomore at Waxahachie High School in Texas—wore a shirt supporting presidential candidate John Edwards. The shirt displayed the innocuous message “John Edwards 08.” Although the message was neither disruptive, nor offensive, the Waxahachie Independent School District informed Pete that the shirt contained “unapproved words” violating school district policy. That policy [...]
Last week, William H. Campbell and Professor Orin S. Kerr filed a petition for writ of certiorari in McCane v. United States, No. 09-402, asking for the Supreme Court’s guidance on a three-way split among lower courts on the scope of the good-faith exception to the exclusionary rule. The petition can be viewed here. Beginning [...]
There is a large media and blog buzz over the Supreme Court’s decision to hear McDonald v. Chicago, No. 08-1521 (note: the petition was printed by Cockle). HowAppealing, SCOTUS Blog, and Sentencing Law and Policy and Policy all posted links to various media articles prognosticating the Court’s outcome in this Second Amendment case. The media [...]
The Supreme Court issued an order list today granting review on ten cert. petitions. The so-called “long conference” was heavy with cases involving criminal law. Six petitions covering a range of issues from the Miranda rule to terrorism were granted. The order list can be viewed here The long conference also advanced a case testing [...]
A petition for writ of certiorari filed in Robinson v. United States, No. 08-1374, asks the Supreme Court to clear up a circuit split over the meaning of a federal narcotics statutory provision. The petition and reply brief can be viewed here and here. The Solicitor General’s brief in opposition can be viewed here. The [...]
There is often a haze of confusion regarding the timing and procedure for filing a reply brief on the petition stage. The Supreme Court’s Rules on this subject are somewhat vague on the timing and provide little guidance on the procedure for printing and filing reply briefs. This post aims to clear up any confusion [...]
In a case implicating judicial review of arbitration awards under the Federal Arbitration Act (“FAA”), a Michigan company has petitioned the Supreme Court to settle the question of whether the doctrine of manifest disregard of law remains viable after the Court’s ruling in Hall Street Associates, L.L.C. v. Mattel, Inc., 552 U.S. __, 128 S. [...]
The Court’s argument calendar is set for the first two months of the 2009 Term. In October, the Court’s schedule is heavy with criminal issues which make up six of the thirteen cases. And another case (Alvarez v. Smith, No. 08-351) presents a civil forfeiture issue that mainly arises during criminal proceedings. In November, the [...]
There is a strong prospect of Supreme Court review in Heneford v. Castaneda, et al. (No. 08-1547) according to an article posted today in SCOTUS blog. Given that there is a direct conflict among federal courts of appeals on the question of immunity for U.S. Public Health Service personnel, and because the Solicitor General also [...]