Today at the Supreme Court | 10.31.07
At 10 a.m, the Court is scheduled to hear oral argument in Danforth v. Minnesota (06-8273), examining state courts’ authority to expand the retroactivity of Supreme Court criminal procedure rulings.
October 2007 Archive
Showing 1–50 of 136 items published in October 2007, most recent first.
Today’s Transcripts
The transcript of today’s argument in Danforth v. Minnesota (06-8273) is now available here.
Commentary: What does the Supreme Court really do?
(NOTE: For a fuller discussion of the legal issues at stake and the factual background of the case, look here at SCOTUSwiki.)
Today at the Supreme Court | 10.30.07
At 10 a.m, the Court is scheduled to hear oral argument in United States v. Williams (06-694), asking whether a federal ban on pandering material believed to be child pornography is unconstitutional.
Commentary: An anti-porn law that will survive?
Driven by an obvious worry that child pornography is spreading rapidly on the Internet, and seeming to sense that some day, somehow they should uphold a law to deal with it, Supreme Court Justices did some public brainstorming Tuesday about how to write an opinion that would do just that.
An Attempt to Avoid Confusion in Death Penalty Stay Orders
This post by Lyle links to this Order of the Court denying Earl Berry’s petition for certiorari and application for a stay of a decision of the Mississippi Supreme Court.
Today’s Transcripts
The transcript of today’s argument in United States v. Williams (06-694) is now available here. The transcript of today’s argument in Logan v. United States (06-6911) is now available here.
Court delays Mississippi execution
Final update 8:01 p.m. Over the dissents of two Justices, the Supreme Court on Tuesday postponed the execution of Mississippi death row inmate Earl Wesley Berry.
Oral argument recap: Logan v. US
In oral argument, Richard Coad – representing petitioner James Logan – emphasized that Section 921(a)(20) should apply to both offenders who lost and later regained their civil rights and offenders whose never lost those civil rights since there is no marked difference between the two.
Argument preview: Danforth v. Minnesota
In Danforth v. Minnesota, the Supreme Court will examine the authority of states to give accused or convicted individuals added protection for legal rights that result from Supreme Court decisions, even if the Justices have limited who may benefit from those rulings.
Today at the Supreme Court | 10.29.07
This morning, the Court is expected to release orders from the Justices’ private conference last Friday. We will provide coverage as soon as the list is made available.
Court to rule on Exxon Valdez verdict
Last updated 1:50 p.m. The Supreme Court agreed on Monday to rule on the legality of the $2.5 billion punitive damages award against Exxon Mobil Corp. and its shipping subsidiary for the massive oil spill in Alaska’s Prince William Sound in 1989 — an incident that has sparked a 13-year courtroom battle over money damages.
Today’s Order List
Today’s orders list, including grants of certiorari in Allison Engine v. United States (07-214) and Exxon v. Baker (07-219), is now available here.
Riley v. Kennedy
The following is by Amy Howe, partner at Howe & Russell. Earlier this week, a team that included Kevin Russell, Pam Karlan, and the Stanford Supreme Court Litigation Clinic filed this Motion to Dismiss or Affirm in No. 07-77, Riley v. Kennedy.
Academic Round-Up
Christopher Schatz and Noah Horst recently published an article entitled “Will Justice Delay be Justice Denied? Crisis Jurisprudence, The Guantanamo Detainees, and the Imperiled Role of Habeas Corpus in Curbing Abusive Government Detention” in the Lewis & Clark Law Review, see here.
Today’s Transcripts
The transcript of today’s argument in Klein & Co. v. Board of Trade (06-1265) is now available here. The transcript of today’s argument in Ali v. Federal Bureau of Prisons (06-9130) is now available here.
One execution challenge denied, another waiting
The Supreme Court, continuing its practice of acting on one case at a time as death-row inmates seek to block execution by lethal injection, ruled on Monday that it did not have the authority to review a challenge in a Mississippi case that came up from state courts.
Argument preview: Klein & Co. Futures v. Bd. of Trade of NYC
Argument Preview The following is by Steven C. Wu, and associate in Akin Gump’s Supreme Court and appellate practice in Washington, DC.
Oral argument recap: Ali v. Federal Bureau of Prisons
Arguing for the petitioner, Jean-Claude Andre emphasized that, as in its decision in Circuit City v. Adams, the Court should apply the statutory construction canon of ejusdem generis, which provides that when general words follow a list of specific items, the general words apply to other items similar to those specifically mentioned.
The Week Ahead
On Monday, the Court is scheduled to hear argument in Klein & Co. v. Board of Trade (06-1265), asking whether commodities’ merchants may sue a board of trade for failing to enforce its rules, and in Ali v. Federal Bureau of Prisons (06-9130), asking whether the United States waived sovereign immunity with respect to suits for losses of inmates’ personal property.
New lethal injection plea rejected
The Fifth Circuit Court, saying it was bound by its own precedent and not by a Supreme Court order granting review of the constitutionality of the lethal injection method of execution, refused on Friday to block the execution of Earl Wesley Berry.
President’s power to detain in U.S. at issue
Analysis In Courtroom Two of the federal courthouse in Richmond, Va., on Wednesday morning at 9, ten judges of the Fourth Circuit Court take up a broad new test of the power of the President to detain terrorist suspects inside the borders of the U.S. It may involve a searching examination of what the Supreme Court actually ruled in the first of its war-on-terrorism cases, Hamdi v. Rumsfeld, in 2004.
Today at the Supreme Court | 10.26.07
The Justices are scheduled to hold a private conference today, orders from which could be released as soon as Monday. To view our list of “petitions to watch,” click here.
Hearing list for October-November sitting
The Supreme Court on Friday released the list of counsel to be arguing in the session that begins Monday. Ten cases will be heard during the two-week period. The hearing list can be found here.
Crime labs and the Confrontation Clause
A new test of the opportunity for accused individuals to challenge crime laboratory reports used against them at trial reached the Supreme Court on Friday, with arguments that lower courts are growing even more deeply divided over the underlying constitutioanl issue.
Today at the Supreme Court | 10.25.07
No arguments are scheduled and no non-capital orders are expected today at the Court.
“Alienation of affection” plea denied
Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia on Thursday denied a Mississippi business man’s plea to postpone a ruling that he must pay $112,000 in punitive damages as part of an award for “alienation of affection” toward another man’s wife.
New AT&T Cert Petition Filed
We filed this petition today on behalf of AT&T, along with co-petitioner Sprint, in a case involving the question of standing to sue. The defendant petitioners are long-distance telephone companies, which are required to pay various fees to the owners of pay phones (PSPs).
Controversy over lethal injection escalates
For the first time since the Supreme Court opened an inquiry into the constitutionality of the lethal injection method of executions, a federal appeals court has moved to review en banc the question of what lower courts should do about delaying death sentences in other states.
Today at the Supreme Court | 10.24.07
No arguments are scheduled and no non-capital orders are expected today at the Court.
Limited gun ruling urged
The District of Columbia government on Tuesday urged the Supreme Court to address only a single issue, if it agrees to hear the city’s appeal seeking to reinstate its flat ban on private possession of handguns.
Petition Raises Split on Ex Post Facto Clause
The following post was written by Duncan Stevens, an associate in the litigation department at the Akin Gump office in Washington, D.C. Last Thursday, we filed this cert petition in Sanchez-Aran v. United States (docket number pending), which addresses a split of authority among the circuits on the meaning of the Ex Post Facto Clause.
New plea to enter gun dispute
Five residents of the District of Columbia, seeking to join in the dispute in the Supreme Court over the city’s flat ban on private possession of handguns, argued on Tuesday that they should not have to depend upon another resident to make sure their legal rights are protected.
Justices to consider gun case Nov. 9
The Supreme Court will consider two petitions growing out of the Second Amendment dispute over a District of Columbia ban on private possession of handguns at its Conference on Nov. 9, according to the Court’s electronic docket on Wednesday.
A new test on lethal injection
The Supreme Court’s announced plan to rule on the constitutionality of the three-chemical formula for carrying out execution by lethal injection was interpreted by the Eleventh Circuit Court on Wednesday to indicate that other executions by that method should be delayed pending a ruling by the Justices.
Argument preview: Logan v. United States
Argument Preview In Logan v. United States, the Supreme Court will decide whether the “civil rights restored” provision of 18 U.S.C. § 921(a)(20) applies to convictions that did not result in the deprivation of civil rights at all, such that those convictions do not count as predicate offenses under the Armed Career Criminal Act, 18 U.S.C. § 924(e)(1).
Argument preview: US v. Williams
On March 26, 2007, the U.S. Supreme Court granted certiorari in U.S. v. Williams (06-694), a case involving the interplay between First Amendment rights and the constitutionality of the PROTECT Act of 2003.
Today at the Supreme Court | 10.23.07
No arguments are scheduled and no non-capital orders are expected today at the Court.
Welcome Pattie Millett
With today’s post (see below), we’re very excited to welcome Patricia Millett to the blog (and to Akin Gump, as my partner in heading up the Supreme Court practice).
Petition Explores Waivers of FMLA Rights
The following post was written by Patricia Millett, who together with Tom Goldstein leads Akin Gump’s Supreme Court practice.
Ginsburg defends dissents — oral ones, too
Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, speaking out on the record number of dissenting opinions announced orally at the Court’s last Term, said that she would “continue to give voice to my dissent if, in my judgment, the Court veers in the wrong direction when important matters are at stake.”
An ancient wrong and the Constitution
The age-old wrong of stealing another man’s wife — “alienation of affection” — is still recognized in six states, while being wholly or mostly abolished in 31 others. It traces its origins back at least to the Teutonic tribes of early Germany in the 10th Century.
Today at the Supreme Court: 10.22.07
No arguments are scheduled and no non-capital orders are expected today at the Court.
Petitions to Watch | Conferences of 10.26.07 and 11.2.07
The latest edition of “Petitions to Watch,” featuring highlighted petitions on the Court’s ‘paid’ docket up for consideration at the Justices’ conferences on Oct. 26 and Nov. 2, is now available here.
Government opposes detainee appeal
In a two pronged legal maneuver, the Justice Department has argued that no federal court has authority to hear any war crimes case against a Guantanamo Bay detainee until after a military commission has issued a final ruling — presumably, either a conviction, an acquittal, or a final dismissal of charges.
Government Recommends Grant in No. 06-939, Chamber of Commerce v. Brown
The federal government has asked the Court to consider a challenge to a California law barring private employers who receive state money from using the funds to influence union organizing campaigns.
The Week Ahead
No oral arguments are scheduled and no non-capital orders are expected this week. By mid-week, reply briefs are expected in both the District of Columbia’s petition to uphold the district’s handgun ban, District of Columbia v. Heller (07-290), and the respondent’s cross-petition contesting the finding that five plaintiffs lacked standing to challenge the ban, Parker v. District of Columbia (07-335).
Today at the Supreme Court: 10.19.07
No oral arguments are scheduled and no non-capital orders are expected to be issued today from the Court. The respondent’s brief is due in Sprint/United Management v. Mendehlson (06-1221).
“Ask the Author”: Andrew Martin
This edition of “Ask the Author” features a discussion with Andrew Martin, who is a professor of law and chair of the political science department at Washington University in St. Louis.
Baze, Emmett orders lead to death row stay
Relying on two recent orders of the U.S. Supreme Court, the Georgia Supreme Court on Thursday blocked the scheduled execution of Jack E. Alderman, sentenced to die for mudering his wife in hopes of collecting on a life insurance policy. Alderman, scheduled to die at 7 p.m.