Today at the Supreme Court | 1.31.08
No oral arguments are scheduled and no non-capital orders are expected to be issued today from the Court.
January 2008 Archive
Showing 1–50 of 109 items published in January 2008, most recent first.
On the Docket and Briefing Schedules
Following yesterday’s release of the April argument calendar, it’s now possible to more fully examine one tangential effect of the docket crunch at Court – namely, the widely varying amounts of time attorneys receive following a grant of certiorari to brief their cases and prepare for oral argument.
Upcoming Event: A Tribute to Sandra Day O’Connor
On Friday, February 22, The Catholic University Law Review is sponsoring a symposium with the goal of “Reflecting on Justice O’Connor’s Jurisprudence Relating to Race and Education.” Along with a wide variety of participants (including SCOTUSblog contributor Patricia Millett), the introductory
Oregon Supreme Court Rules in Williams v. Philip Morris
The Oregon Supreme Court has issued its ruling in the case of Williams v. Philip Morris, on remand from last Term’s punitive damages decision. Oregon’s highest court has reinstated a $79.5 million dollar verdict against the company.
Callahan Execution Stayed
The Supreme Court has just issued an order staying the execution in the case of James Callahan, which we wrote about earlier here. No dissents were recorded. The full text of the order can be found after the jump ORDER IN PENDING CASE 07A630 CALLAHAN, JAMES V. ALLEN, COMM’R, AL DOC, ET AL.
Today at the Supreme Court | 1.30.08
No oral arguments are scheduled and no non-capital orders are expected to be issued today from the Court.
Academic Round-Up (with an update)
In a prior academic round-up, I noted an article by Catherine Sharkey (New York University School of Law), see here, addressing some of the questions at issue in the two FDA preemption issues before the Court this Term, Riegel v. Medtronic and Levine v. Wyeth.
April arguments, day by day
The Supreme Court today released the argument calendar for its April sitting, beginning Monday, April 14. (The calendar is available here.) The Justices scheduled Kennedy v. Louisiana (07-343), involving the constitutionality of Louisiana’s death penalty law for child rape, for argument on April 16.
New test on lethal injection
UPDATE 5:45 p.m. Attorneys for Alabama death row inmate James Callahan urged the Supreme Court Wednesday afternoon to delay his scheduled execution on Thursday evening, argung that a federal appeals court had relied on a novel theory of time limits in clearing the way for the execution to occur.
Today at the Supreme Court | 1.29.08
No oral arguments are scheduled and no non-capital orders are expected to be issued today from the Court.
The Week Ahead
No oral arguments are scheduled and no non-capital orders are expected to be issued from the Court this week. No merits briefs are due this week. Reply briefs, if any, to the supplemental briefs filed in Dada v. Mukasey (06-1181) are due by 2 p.m. Friday.
Today at the Supreme Court | 1.28.08
No oral arguments are scheduled and no non-capital orders are expected today from the Court.
Partial dismissal in energy case
According to the Supreme Court’s public information office, the writs of certiorari as to Calpine Energy Services, L.P., were dismissed today in case No. 06-1462 pursuant to Rule 46.
Petitions to Watch in OT07 | A Mid-Term Update
As we near the midway point of October Term 2007, we thought it worthwhile to review the accuracy of our regular feature, “Petitions to Watch” (PTW). As readers of this blog know, in advance of each conference we publish a list of all petitions on the Court’s ‘paid’ docket that Tom has deemed to have at least a reasonable chance of being granted.
Book review: Gun case’s broader context
The Supreme Court’s move into the center of one of the nation’s most hotly contested culture wars — over gun rights and the Second Amendment — is already historic in itself, and probably will become more so as it proceeds to a decision.
Today at the Supreme Court | 1.25.08
No oral arguments are scheduled and no non-capital orders are expected to be issued today from the Court.
Court probe opened on CIA tapes dispute
In a new echo of the Supreme Court’s 2004 ruling that Guantanamo Bay detainees have legal rights to challenge their captivity, a federal judge on Thursday ordered a limited inquiry into the government’s destruction of videotapes of Central Intelligence Agency interrogation of war-on-terrorism suspects.
Parties split over withdrawal approach in Dada
In supplemental briefs filed with the Court earlier this afternoon, lawyers for the government and a Nigerian citizen sharply disagreed over whether aliens should be permitted to withdraw previously granted requests for voluntary departure before their time to leave the country has expired.
Today at the Supreme Court | 1.24.08
No oral arguments are scheduled and no non-capital orders are expected to be issued from the Court today.
Today at the Supreme Court | 1.23.08
No oral arguments are scheduled and no non-capital orders are expected to be issued from the Court today.
Petitioner’s Brief in Burgess v. United States
We filed this brief on behalf of the petitioner in Burgess v. United States, No. 06-11429, on Tuesday.
Today at the Supreme Court | 1.22.08
At 10 a.m., the Justices will release the remaining orders from their private conference on Friday. The Court may also release one or more opinions on the merits.
Court bars new look at Enron case
The Supreme Court on Tuesday turned down an attempt to keep alive a gigantic investors’ lawsuit against major investment bankers, apparently because of the Justices’ ruling last Tuesday limiting such lawsuits. The brief order denying review of California Regents v. Merrill Lynch, et al.
Today’s Orders
A copy of today’s orders list is now available here.
March arguments, day by day
The Supreme Court, releasing Tuesday its calendar of oral argument for the session beginning March 17, set Tuesday, March 18, as the day for oral argument in the Second Amendment case — a test of what the Constitution means when it guarantesd a “right to keep and bear arms.” The argument is the only one scheduled for that day; the case is District of Columbia v. Heller (07-290).
Swift ruling sought on campaign ads
A conservative advocacy group, Citizens United, asked the Supreme Court on Tuesday to take up quickly and decide during the current Term a constitutional challenge to limits on its planned broadcast of ads promoting a movie about Democratic Presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton.
New Cert. Petition: Centerior Energy v. Mikulski
The following post is by Monica Sekhon, an associate in Akin Gump’s DC office who worked on the petition discussed. We filed this cert. petition Friday in the case of Centerior Energy v. Mikulski, a case that raises the question of when a federal court may exercise jurisdiction over a state law claim that turns on a disputed issue of federal law.
Today at the Supreme Court | 1.21.08
The Court is closed today in observance of the birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
The Week Ahead
No oral arguments are scheduled this week. The Court will be closed Monday in observance of the birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. On Tuesday, the Justices will release the remaining orders from their private conference on Friday. The Court may also release one or more opinions on the merits.
Argument recap: Republic of the Philippines v. Pimentel
Charles Rothfeld, arguing on behalf of the Republic, began by arguing that this case concerns a dispute over the ownership of the Arelma assets, but that the ownership of this property should be decided in the first instance by the courts of the Republic.
Today at the Supreme Court | 1.18.08
The Justices are scheduled to hold a private conference at 10 a.m., orders from which could be released as soon as this afternoon. Click here to see our list of petitions to watch at today’s conference.
Conflicting moves to shape Enron order
UPDATE Friday 3:40 p.m. The Court issued no order in this case on Friday. The next chance for an order probably is next Tuesday morning. Both sides in the $40 billion investors’ lawsuit against major investment bankers, growing out of the Enron scandal, moved this week to try to influence how the Supreme Court deals with a pending appeal in that case (California Regents v. Merrill Lynch, et al., 06-1341).
Court to hear case on “light” cigarette ads
UPDATED to 2:41 p.m. In a brief order in mid-afternoon, the Supreme Court refused to order Texas officials to put Ohio Rep. Dennis Kucinich on the Democratic presidential ballot for the March 4 primary election without first signing a pledge of loyalty to the party’s eventual presidential nominee.
Today’s Grants (including Cert. Filings)
The Court granted six cases in an Order List that be downloaded here. The cert. filings in all six cases are now available after the jump.
The OT07 Docket
With today’s grants from the final January Conference (see post here), the docket for the current term is now nearly set. As Lyle mentions here, it is expected that, although all six of today’s grants have been set on expedited briefing schedules, only two will actually be argued this April and decided this term.
Today at the Supreme Court | 1.17.08
No oral arguments are scheduled and no non-capital orders are expected to be released from the Court today.
More on yesterday’s opinion in Lopez-Torres
The following analysis is by Scott Street, a student at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles and a former Akin Gump summer associate. Scott maintains this case’s SCOTUSwiki page, which can be found here.
Kucinich seeks to get on Texas ballot
Democratic presidential candidate Dennis J. Kucinich, a member of the House from Ohio, on Thursday asked the Supreme Court to clear the way for him to get on the March 4 presidential primary ballot in Texas without having to sign a “loyalty oath.” In an application (07A593) filed with Justice
Today at the Supreme Court | 1.16.08
At 10 a.m., the Court is scheduled to hear argument in Quanta v. LG Electronics (06-937), asking whether LG’s patents rights were exhausted by a license agreement with Intel, who subsequently sold the licensed product to Quanta.
Academic Round-Up
The theme of this week’s round-up is judicial appointments, in large part because I was sent an interesting article today that appears in the newest issue of Judicature (thanks to Michael Solimine for the pointer).
No need for primary to pick judges
The Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that the Constitution does not require a state to use a primary election to select state judges. The decision found that New York did not violate the First Amendment by choosing its lowest-level judgeship nominees by a party convention.
Today’s Transcripts
The transcript of today’s argument in Quanta v. LG Electronics (06-937) is now available here. The transcript of today’s argument in MeadWestvaco v. Ill. Dept. of Revenue (06-1413) is now available here.
Court appeal set on promos of campaign film
Citizens United, a Washington-based conservative advocacy group, is moving to appeal to the Supreme Court — and seeking expedited review — in a case testing its right to run promotional ads for a 90-minute film critical of New York Senator and presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton.
Conference Call: Warrantless Spying Case Before High Court
The following column appears in today’s edition of Legal Times (available to subscribers here). The blog learned earlier today that the petition, originally distributed for Friday’s conference, will in fact not be considered until a later conference.
Today at the Supreme Court | 1.15.08
At 10 a.m., the Court is scheduled to hear argument in United States v. Rodriquez (06-1646), asking whether, for purposes of the Armed Career Criminal Act, courts must look only at the maximum sentence under state law for a particular drug offense or may also take sentencing enhancements based on prior convictions into account.
Court limits securities fraud lawsuits
UPDATED to 11:20 a.m. The Supreme Court, in one of the most important securities law rulings in years, decided Tuesday that fraud claims are not allowed against third parties that did not directly mislead investors but were business partners with those who did.
Today’s Transcripts
The transcript of today’s argument in United States v. Rodriquez (06-1646) is now available here. The transcript of today’s argument in Begay v. United States (06-11543) is now available here.
Special Master named in river dispute
The Supreme Court on Tuesday named San Francisco business lawyer Kristin Linsley Myles, a onetime clerk for Justice Antonin Scalia, to be a Special Master to gather evidence and report to the Court on a dispute between two states over sharing the waters of the Catawba River.
Argument preview: Republic of the Philippines v. Pimentel
Argument Preview The Court granted certiorari in this case on December 3, 2007 to consider “[w]hether a foreign government that is a ‘necessary’ party to a lawsuit under Rule 19(a) and has successfully asserted sovereign immunity is, under Rule 19(b), an ‘indispensable’ party to an action brought
Today’s Orders
Today’s orders list is now available here.