Showing 1–50 of 55 items published in July 2009, most recent first.
If you are a recent college graduate looking for substantial involvement with Supreme Court, appellate, and litigation practices, Akin Gump is currently accepting applications for the position of Appellate Practice Coordinator/ Assistant to Tom Goldstein in the Washington, DC office.
On Thursday, the Court issued an order in Kucana v. Holder (08-911) inviting Amanda Leiter, a professor at Catholic University’s Columbus School of Law and former clerk to Justice John Paul Stevens, to argue in support of the judgment below.
Amicus briefs on the reargument of Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission (08-205) were due to be filed today. Electronic copies of these briefs can be found on the FEC’s web site here and on the Citizens United SCOTUSWiki page, organized by supported party.
Below, Jonathan Vukicevich previews Smith v. Spisak, one of the three cases to be heard by the Supreme Court on Tuesday, October 13. Jon is a rising third year at Washington College of Law and a summer associate at Akin Gump.
UPDATE 3:05 p.m. Judge Huvelle has now issued an order carrying out her ruling from the bench Thursday morning. It can be found here. —————— A federal judge, ruling for the first time that the U.S. government must release a detainee who once faced terrorism charges, on Thursday told officials to free a young Guantanamo prisoner by Aug. 21 or 22 so that he can return to his home country, Afghanistan.
In a rare move, the Fifth Circuit Court on Thursday sent to the Supreme Court, with a plea for an answer, a legal question on the time allowed for federal prosecution of an old kidnapping case.
The chance that the Supreme Court might feel a need to resolve the most important question left open by last year’s ruling on gun rights under the Second Amendment may now have diminished.
Analysis As Justice Antonin Scalia was preparing the Supreme Court’s opinion last year declaring a personal constitutional right to have a gun for self-defense, he may have needed to put in a cautionary word to hold his five-Justice majority — an indication to make the decision seem somewhat less sweeping.
Averting for now a possible constitutional showdown, the Obama Administration urged a federal judge on Wednesday to order the release — within a few weeks — of a young Afghan detainee at Guantanamo Bay, with a transfer to the Afghan government.
By a vote of 13-6, the Judiciary Committee voted to send the nomination of Judge Sonia Sotomayor to the full Senate. In the two-hour commitee session, Senators reiterated their points from the four days of hearings and also looked to future of Supreme Court nominations.
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Urging a federal judge to order the immediate release of a young prisoner from Guantanamo Bay, his lawyers warned on Tuesday of a constitutional confrontation if the Obama Administration resists such an order.
A week after a judge’s scathing denunciation of the government’s handling of the case of a youthful detainee at Guantanamo Bay, the Justice Department has given up efforts to justify further detention without facing charges.
Sen. Jeff Sessions, Ala., the ranking Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, said in an editorial in USA Today that he would vote against the confirmation of Judge Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court on Monday released the first of its orders during the summer recess. Among other actions noted, the list shows that the Court has modified the briefing schedule in two groups of consolidated cases: Mac’s Shell Service v. Shell Oil (08-240) with Shell Oil v. Mac’s Shell Service (08-372), and Milavetz Gallop v. U.S. (08-1119) with U.S. v. Milavetz Gallop (08-1225).
Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, announced in a press release that he will vote against Judge Sonia Sotomayor’s nomination to the Supreme Court. Sen. Tom Coburn, Okla., is the only Republican member of the Senate Judiciary Committee to not yet announce his intended vote at tomorrow’s meeting.
Sotomayor Nomination The Judiciary Committee has scheduled a Tuesday business meeting in which they are likely to vote on Judge Sonia Sotomayor’s nomination to the Supreme Court. After the committee’s vote, the full Senate will likely hold a vote before the August recess, by Aug. 7.
Tom S. Clark (Emory University Department of Political Science) and Benjamin Lauderdale (Ph.D. candidate, Princeton University Department of Politics) have posted “Locating Supreme Court Opinions in Doctrine Space” on SSRN, see here.
Solicitor General Elena Kagan filed a motion today with the Court in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission (08-205), asking the Justices to grant 10 minutes of the United States’ argument time to Seth Waxman, a lawyer for Senators John McCain and Russell Feingold and former Representatives Christopher Shays and Martin Meehan.
Here is the Citizens United supplemental brief and here is the United States supplemental brief in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission (08-205). (Thanks to Rick Hasen of Election Law Blog for the petitioner’s brief.)
Two more Republican Senate Judiciary committee members announced today their intentions to vote “nay” on Judge Sonia Sotomayor’s nomination to the Supreme Court. Sen. John Cornyn’s floor statement is here and Sen. Orrin Hatch’s floor statement is here.
Below, Jake Phillips previews Mohawk Industries v. Carpenter, one of the three cases to be heard by the Supreme Court on its opening argument day of OT09, Monday, October 5. Jake is a rising third year at Berkeley Law School and a summer associate at Akin Gump.
Below, Diana Gillis previews Maryland v. Shatzer, one of the cases to be heard by the Supreme Court on Monday, October 5. Diana is a rising third year at Georgetown University Law School and a summer associate at Akin Gump.
Earlier today, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., announced on the Senate floor that he intends to vote in favor of Judge Sonia Sotomayor’s nomination for the Supreme Court, while Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., announced that he will vote against her nomination.
A federal government task force on detention policy, given six months more to work out details of war crimes prosecutions of prisoners at Guantanamo Bay, has made some decisions, and disclosed Monday it has adopted a preliminary policy goal that prefers trial in regular civilian courts.
Yesterday we filed this Brief on the Merits for Respondent in case No. 08-769, United States v. Robert J. Stevens. The question presented is whether 18 U.S.C. 48 (prohibiting depictions of animal cruelty) is facially invalid under the Free Speech Clause of the First Amendment.
Analysis For generations, lawyers, judges and constitutional scholars across the spectrum have debated whether the time would come for the Supreme Court to cast aside one of history’s most controversial rulings — the 5-4 decision in 1873 in the Slaughterhouse Cases.
Senators Sessions, Grassley, Kyl, Coburn, and Cornyn submitted questions to Judge Sonia Sotomayor at the end of last week’s confirmation hearings and today she returned 50 pages of written responses, available here.
Sotomayor Nomination The Judiciary Committee has scheduled a Tuesday meeting to begin considering the nomination, with a formal vote likely to occur the following week, after Senators have had the opportunity to review Judge Sotomayor’s answers to the written follow-up questions they submitted.
Saying that the federal Treasury is at risk of giving up nearly $19 billion — and maybe more — in revenues, the Obama Administration has asked the Supreme Court to clarify the government’s power to collect royalties from oil and gas companies drilling in the Gulf of Mexico.
In the first ruling of its kind, a federal judge on Friday barred the federal government from using any statements made by a Guantanamo Bay detainee since he was captured in Afghanistan more than six years ago, finding that all of them were “a product of torture.” U.S. District Judge Ellen Segal
Beginning at 9:00 a.m. EDT, we will provide as-it-happens coverage of the Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearings for Judge Sonia Sotomayor.
The Heritage Foundation will host its annual “Scholars & Scribes Review the Rulings” event this Friday from 11am to 1pm.
The Supreme Court on Thursday released the oral argument calendar for the first sitting of the Term that opens on Monday, Oct. 5. The Court will actually hear an argument before the Term opens — the Sept. 9 rehearing on constitutional questions in the campaign finance case of Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission (08-205).
Beginning at 9:00 a.m. EDT, we will provide as-it-happens coverage of the Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearings for Judge Sonia Sotomayor.
Beginning at 9:30 a.m. EDT, we will provide as-it-happens coverage of the Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearings for Judge Sonia Sotomayor.
From the SJC Majority: “Tomorrow, the Committee will convene at 9:30 a.m. to conclude the first round of questions, with Senators Cornyn, Cardin, Coburn, Whitehouse, Klobuchar, Kaufman, Specter and Franken questioning Judge Sotomayor.
Beginning at 10 a.m. EDT, we will provide as-it-happens coverage of the Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearings for Judge Sonia Sotomayor.
As the New York Times highlighted this weekend, the image of the judge as umpire has become a dominant analogy in discussions of judicial restraint. Chief Justice John G. Roberts said in the opening remarks of his own confirmation hearings in 2005: “Judges are like umpires.
Here’s NPR’s one-hour special on Judge Sotomayor’s first day of confirmation hearings. Our blog’s live coverage will begin at 9:30 a.m. EDT tomorrow.
As-it-happens coverage of the Supreme Court nomination hearings for Judge Sonia Sotomayor before the Senate Judiciary Committee will occur on various broadcast or online outlets, beginning at 10 a.m. on Monday. In addition, the Committee will provide its own live webcast, available at this link.
A study by New York University Law School’s Brennan Center for Justice has analyzed 1,194 constitutional cases decided during Judge Sotomayor’s tenure on the Second Circuit and found her to be solidly in the mainstream of the bench.
Sen. Patrick Leahy has announced the list of witnesses to testify at Judge Sonia Sotomayor’s confirmation hearing on July 13 at 10 a.m. The Senator’s press release is available here.
In a letter received today by the Senate Judiciary Committee, more than 1000 academics expressed their support for Judge Sonia Sotomayor’s confirmation to the Supreme Court.
With a Justice Department case already at the Supreme Court on the government’s power to make it a crime to support a terrorist organization, lawyers for organizations and individuals on the other side of the controversy filed their own plea Tuesday, asking the Court to take a broader look at a key federal law if it opts to rule at all.
In anticipation of Judge Sonia Sotomayor’s confirmation hearings, which begin Monday, July 13 at 10 a.m., we’ve organized by subject matter the dozens of published reports and substantive blog posts about her judicial record.
UPDATE: The Justice Department brief is now linked. ——– Six times in recent years — as recently as two weeks ago — the Supreme Court has refused to hear claims that it is illegal for a drug maker holding a patent on a brand-name medicine to pay the maker of a generic version to keep that version off the market or delay its entry.
Seeking to go forward with a legal challenge to the Bush Administration’s secret “rendition” program, lawyers for individuals claiming to have been tortured during that program urged a federal appeals court Monday to turn aside an Obama Administration move to shut down the case altogether.
The Court has recessed for the summer. It will return on Sept. 9 for a hearing on Citizens United v. FEC (08-205), in advance of the new Term. The 2009 Term opens on Monday, Oct. 5. The Court’s color-coded calendar with dates of its sittings and its Conferences can be downloaded here.
Ted Eisenberg (Cornell University Law School), Michael Heise (Cornell University Law School), and Martin Wells (Cornell University Department of Social Statistics) have posted “Variability in Punitive Damages: An Empirical Assessment of the U.S. Supreme Court’s Decision in Exxon Shipping Co. v. Baker” on SSRN, see here.