President Trump’s promise to announce his nomination for the late Justice Scalia’s seat within two weeks of taking office has breathed new life into the almost yearlong battle between Senate Democrats and Republicans. President Obama’s nomination of Merrick Garland officially expired on January 3rd after the Republicans successfully stymied the process by refusing to hold [...]
Where Did You Grow Up? Mason City, Iowa Job Title: Document Analyst What I Actually Do At Cockle: I review briefs and appendices to make sure the required sections and documents are included. I then go over the brief or appendix with the customer, and discuss any questions or concerns regarding their petition. I also specialize [...]
President Elect Donald Trump set off a new flurry of controversy on November 29th after tweeting his support for imposing harsh penalties on flag burners such as jail time or the loss of citizenship despite decades of settled case law establishing flag burning’s protection under the First Amendment. While there is little danger that this [...]
Next week, the Supreme Court will hear oral argument regarding racial gerrymandering in two southern states: Virginia (Bethune-Hill v. Virginia State Board of Elections, No. 15-680) and North Carolina (McCrory v. Harris, No. 15-1262). The topic was brought before the Supreme Court earlier this year in Wittman v. Personhuballah, No. 14-1504, however, the Justices dismissed [...]
How are Cockle Legal Briefs and the United States Supreme Court linked? (Other than the fact that Cockle has been printing briefs for filing with the Supreme Court since 1923.) Through the College World Series, of course. Here is the linkage between the Court and Cockle by way of the baseball championship (which began this [...]
The Cockle Blog’s focus in recent weeks on a particular line on U.S. Supreme Court petition covers was not intended as an ongoing, multipart series, but there appear to be more nuances involved than initially apparent. A question raised when composing every petition (and subsequent brief) cover is which is the correct lower court to [...]
While most of the legal community has focused on the substance of the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision in Foster v. Chatman, 578 U.S. ___ (May 23, 2016) (No. 14-8349) (something to do with cluttering up attorney files with notes on jury selection), the Cockle Blog is all over the Court’s procedural focus in that [...]
In the era of the New Deal, Franklin Roosevelt saw several cherished reforms get thrown out by the Supreme Court. On this day in Supreme Court history, May 27, 1935, three separate decisions were handed down which struck against Roosevelt's power. One, Humphrey's Executor v. United States, declared that Roosevelt could not dismiss regulatory appointees [...]
Pending at the U.S. Supreme Court is a “never-before-raised procedural issue,” raised at the Court’s own prompting in “a truly rare move,” that relates to a requirement that everyone filing a petition for certiorari must address every time on the cover. Every petition cover must insert a lower court’s name in the blank in the [...]
The previous parts of this look at the docket for a major regulatory case that ended with a decision upholding the government tracked the timelines and procedural stages. This final part looks a bit more closely at the several organizations and people who offered their thoughts to the Court without official invitation or direct interest [...]