Showing 1–50 of 111 items published in March 2009, most recent first.
At 10 a.m., the Court may release the opinion in one or more pending cases. Following the release of any opinions, the Court will hear argument in Gross v. FBL Financial Services (08-441), on the level of proof required in a “mixed motive” job bias case.
The Supreme Court chose on Tuesday, after examining the issue for the third time, not to disturb a punitive damages verdict now totaling more than $150 million, won by the widow of a heavy smoker who died of lung cancer.
The transcript of oral argument in Gross v. FBL Financial Services, Inc. (08-441) is available here.
Stanford student Beverly Moore previews Polar Tankers v. City of Valdez, which is to be heard tomorrow morning at 10am. Additional information and filings are available from SCOTUSwiki, here. Please note that the Stanford clinic wrote the cert. stage brief in opposition.
Acting on the basis of secret documents and a closed-door hearing, a federal judge on Wednesday ruled that a Yemeni detainee at Guantanamo Bay — identified in news accounts as the government’s “star witness” against other detainees — is legally entitled to be released from captivity.
At 10 a.m., following the announcement of any orders, the Court will hear one hour of argument in the consolidated cases Travelers Indemnity v. Bailey (08-295) and Common Law Settlement Counsel v. Bailey (08-307), on a bankruptcy court’s power to bar related lawsuits.
The Court granted certiorari in no cases today. The orders list is available here.
The Supreme Court granted no new cases on Monday as it issued its latest orders. The Court said it would hear oral argument, presumably at its next Term, on a report by a Special Master on the pending dispute between the two Carolina states (South Carolina v. North Carolina, 138 Original) over water flows in the Catawba River.
The Supreme Court on Monday stepped into the middle of a basic constitutional controversy involving the Court’s occasional role as a trial court: When one state sues another directly in the Court rather than starting the case in a lower trial court — a maneuver the Constitution allows in a special category of so-called “Original” cases — who else can join in?
The transcript of oral argument in Travelers Indemnity v. Bailey (08-295) is available here.
For a second time, Supreme Court Justice Anthony M. Kennedy has refused to interfere with a San Francisco local ordinance that sets minimum health benefits for workers.
On Tuesday morning, the Court will hear argument in Gross v. FBL Financial Services, Inc., No. 08-441, a case regarding the burden of proof in “mixed motive” cases under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA).
On Monday, the Court will release the remaining orders from the Justices’ private conference last Friday. Following the release of any orders, the Court will hear argument in the consolidated cases of: Travelers Indemnity v. Bailey (08-295) and Common Law Settlement Counsel v. Bailey (08-307), on a bankruptcy court’s power to bar related lawsuits.
This edition of “Petitions to Watch” features cases up for consideration at the Justices’ private conference on April 3. As always, the list contains the petitions on the Court’s paid docket that Tom has deemed to have a reasonable chance of being granted.
At readers’ requests in the blog survey, here is a document of all the questions presented in the cases argued or to be argued this Term. The file also contains links to the issued opinions (clicking on the docket number will take you to a separate PDF).
UPDATE: The case has been docketed as 08-1202.
Stanford student Samantha Bateman discusses oral argument in Yeager v. US. At Monday’s oral argument in Yeager v. United States, the Supreme Court wrestled with how to make sense of what went on behind closed doors in a jury deliberation that produced several acquittals but also deadlocked on other factually related counts.
The Justices are scheduled to hold a private conference this morning, any grants from which could be announced this afternoon. We will provide coverage of any developments. To view our list of petitions to watch at Friday’s conference, click here.
City officials in San Francisco on Friday urged the Supreme Court not to interrupt a local law that requires employers to provide minimum health care benefits to their workers.
The Supreme Court on Friday told lawyers in a pending case, heard on Jan. 13, to file new briefs on whether the Court should overrule its 1986 decision in Michigan v. Jackson.
No oral arguments are scheduled and no non-capital orders are expected to be issued from the Court.
Howe & Russell and the Stanford Supreme Court Litigation Clinic have filed this amicus brief in Northwest Austin Municipal Utility District Number One v. Eric Holder, Jr, Attorney General, et al.
At 10 a.m., the Court may release the opinion in one or more pending cases. Following the announcement of any rulings, the Court will hear argument in U.S. v. Denedo (08-267), on whether the Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces has jurisdiction over an ex-service member’s appeal.
The Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that, if federal prosecutors violated a plea bargain with an accused who pleads guilty, that must be brought out at the trial and thus cannot be challenged for the first time on appeal.
Howe & Russell and the Stanford Supreme Court Litigation Clinic are filing this amicus brief today in Ricci v. DeStefano, No. 07-1428 and 08-328. The case involves a statutory and constitutional challenge to New Haven’s refusal to certify the results of a fire department promotional exam on the ground that the test results had a disparate impact on African Americans.
The transcript of oral argument in U.S. v. Denedo (08-267) is available here.
At 10 a.m., the Court may release the opinion in one or more pending cases.
Analysis The Obama Administration’s newly crafted claim of government power to detain terrorism suspects underwent its first courtroom test on Monday, and appeared likely to get at least qualified endorsement by at least one judge.
Ward Farnsworth (Boston University School of Law) has posted “Dissents Against Type” on SSRN, see here. The piece is forthcoming in the Minnesota Law Review and is part of a symposium that I participated in during the fall on the topic of law and politics in the 21st century.
Analysis Because a government lawyer pushed his argument as far as logic would carry it, an alarmed Supreme Court on Tuesday seemed poised to create a new exception to federal power to regulate what advocacy groups can say during national political campaigns.
Yesterday we filed this cert. amicus brief on behalf of the National Association of Assistant United States Attorneys and the National District Attorneys Association in No. 08-1065, Pottawattamie County, Iowa v. Harrington.
The transcript of oral argument in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission (08-205) is available here.
On Monday, the Court will release the remaining orders from the Justices’ private conference last Friday. Following the release of orders, the Court will hear argument in: Yeager v. U.S. (08-67), on the bar to re-trial after partial acquittal On Tuesday, the Court may issue one or more opinions in pending cases.
At 10 a.m., following the announcement of any orders or opinions, the Court will hear argument in Yeager v. U.S. (08-67), on whether under the Double Jeopardy Clause, the government may retry defendants acquitted of some charges on factually related counts on which the jury failed to reach a verdict.
The Court granted certiorari in no cases today. Justice Kennedy filed a statement, joined by Justice Breyer, respecting the denial of certiorari in N.C.P. Marketing Group v. BG Star Productions (08-463). It is available here. The full orders list is available here.
The Supreme Court granted no new cases on Monday.
The transcript of the argument in Yeager v. U.S. (08-67) is now available here.
The Supreme Court will hear oral argument at 10 a.m. Tuesday on Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission (08-205). Theodore B . Olson of Washington will argue for Citizens United.
Tomorrow, Monday March 23 at 1 p.m. EST, Tom will participate in an online CLE sponsored by West LegalWorks on the Court’s decision in LinkLine. A summary (with a registration link) is available here. Please take our reader survey here. It will remain live through Friday.
Seeking to put new judicial pressure on the Obama Administration to end the detention of Chinese Muslim (Uighur) detainees at Guantanamo Bay, lawyers on Friday asked a federal appeals court to hold Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates in contempt for doing nothing to free those prisoners — in one case, for nine months.
Conceding that the Obama Administration has made “a partial retreat” from Bush Administration claims of power to detain indefinitely individuals rounded up in the “war on terrorism,” lawyers for a group of detainees argued on Friday that the new government is still asserting too much authority.
Court filings on Friday brought a new challenge to the Obama Administration on its claim of power to detain individuals indefinitely as terrorism suspects, and a new plea to hold the Pentagon Secretary in contempt for taking no action to free a group of detainees at Guantanamo Bay.
The Justices are scheduled to hold a private conference this morning, any grants from which could be announced this afternoon. We will provide coverage of any developments. To view our list of petitions to watch at Friday’s conference, click here.
Following up on two Supreme Court rulings, lawyers for more than three dozen Guantanamo Bay detainees on Thursday urged a federal judge to rule that they are entitled to humane treatment under the Geneva Conventions, but have not been getting it.
Yesterday, the Senate Judiciary committee voted 11-7 on the nomination of Dawn E. Johnsen to serve as Assistant Attorney General leading the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel. Johnsen would be the first woman to lead the OLC.
A late attempt to reinforce a claim that the chief justice of the West Virginia Supreme Court is not biased failed on Friday when the Supreme Court denied permission to file a new brief on the issue.
The Court issued two orders in pending cases today, available here.
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Today the Stanford Law School Supreme Court Litigation Clinic is filing this cert. petition in Dunphy v. United States, which presents the question whether the Federal Sentencing Guidelines are binding when a district court imposes a new sentence pursuant to a revised guideline range under 18 U.S.C. § 3582.
Former Harvard law dean Elena Kagan was officially sworn into office as U.S. Solicitor General on Friday. Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr., administered the oath in his chambers at the Supreme Court. A Justice Department news release is here.