Everything published in September 2006, most recent first.
On April 24, the Supreme Court asked for the views of the Solicitor General in the matter Microsoft v. AT&T (05-1056), an important IP case dealing with patents on software code. The government has just filed this amicus brief supporting a cert. grant (Microsoft’s petition can be found here).
Salim Ahmed Hamdan, the Guantanamo Bay detainee whose case led to what may be the most important Supreme Court decision in history on war powers, has a chance to make even more history.
Term previews galore: Edward Lazarus of Akin Gump highlights Justice Kennedy’s role on the Court in an article here at Findlaw. James Vicini of Reuters highlights the term’s abortion and race cases here.
To complete our coverage of today’s grants handed down by the Court, we are now making available every brief that has been filed in all of the cases added to the Court’s docket earlier today – cert. petitions, briefs in opposition (BIOs), reply briefs, even amici filings.
More news articles about yesterday’s grants: Charles Lane of the Washington Post discusses the union fees grants here. Linda Greenhouse of the New York Times also discusses those cases here. Tony Mauro weighs in on the WEA cases here at the First Amendment Center.
The docket numbers of today’s grants are (with links to the petitions or the questions presented where available): 05-1345 05-1508 05-1575 05-1589, 05-1657 (consol.) 05-1629 06-84, 06-100 (consol.) 06-102 06-116 05-1272 Tom’s list of cases that he thought had a reasonable chance going in to today can be found here.
UPDATE: The Supreme Court, in a later order, set up expedited briefing schedules in 05-1272, Rockwell International v. U.S., and 05-1629, Gonzales v. Duenas-Alvarez (05-1629).
We have compiled a list of the questions presented in all granted cases; the list can be downloaded here. Continue checking back with us this afternoon as we make available the complete set of Supreme Court filings in the cases granted today.
[Update] Scott Nelson has a post here at the new Consumer Law and Policy Blog discussing the cases granted dealing with the FCPA Here is an AP wire story regarding the cert. grant in the credit reporting cases.
In certain previous Terms, Tom has identified the group of cert. petitions that had a reasonable chance of being granted cert. for a column called “Conference Call” that ran in the Legal Times and other American Lawyer Media publications. “Conference Call” typically featured a detailed analysis of
Pfizer, Inc. has aked the Supreme Court to conclude that Apotex v. Pfizer, a high-profile case in the fight over pharmaceutical patents now pending before the Supreme Court, is moot.
Tony Mauro has this story at the Legal Times previewing the upcoming Term. Over the weekend, David Savage of the LA Times wondered, “Is the Chief Justice Really a Judicial Activist?” At the Volokh Conspiracy, Orin Kerr comments on this op-ed, while Ilya Somin offered further thoughts on the question.
The Supreme Court decided the war-on-terrorism military commission case (Hamdan v. Rumsfeld, 05-184) on June 29. Sometime in the next week or two, Congress is expected to vote on a bill crafted by the White House and key Senate Republicans in reaction to Hamdan.
Shifting gears from the practice pointers that have been the subjects of our first two podcasts, today’s episode features an interview with a woman whose voice will be instantly recognizable to long-time listeners of NPR: Nina Totenberg.
This is a highly technical post about the Court’s calendar, not for the faint of heart or those with a life. Prior to departing for the summer recess, the Court had granted certiorari in 31 cases — accounting for 29 hours of argument time — for the October 2006 Term. Here is the list.
Two attorney profiles up at Law.com today may be of interest. The first is by Tony Mauro and can be found here; it is a profile of Roy Englert, Jr., the counsel of record in the case of Northwest Airlines v. Spirit Airlines that was filed out of time.
This is another in a continuing series of posts on the impact of Supreme Court precedents on later disputes. The precedents at issue in this case are Buckley v. Valeo (1976), Weiss v. U.S. (1994), Ryder v. U.S. (1995) and Edmond v U.S. (1997).
At Sentencing Law and Policy, Doug Berman wonders if Florida will execute Clarence Hill today. Andrew Cohen has this column on WashingtonPost.com called “Chaos in Sentencing.” The Seattle Post-Intelligencer has this article highlighting the pending cert. petition in Washington v. Washington Education Association (05-1657).
UPDATE: Clarence E. Hill was executed Wednesday evening at a state prison in Starke, Fla. He was pronounced dead at 6:12 p.m., according to news reports.
Fourteen U.S. Senators — 13 Democrats and an Independent — urged the Justice Department on Wednesday to pursue a new appeal in the massive government case against the tobacco industry, perhaps setting the stage ultimately for Supreme Court review of the government’s power to force a surrender of corporate profits as a remedy for a RICO anti-racketeering violation.
The Justice Department on Wednesday urged the Supreme Court to clarify when a non-lawyer parent of a disabled child may file a lawsuit, without a lawyer, to enforce the child’s rights under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).
Next Monday morning, the Supreme Court Institute at the Georgetown University Law Center is convening a press briefing on the leading cases of the upcoming Term.
After a two-year study, a federal courts committee headed by Supreme Court Justice Stephen G. Breyer reported on Tuesday that the lower federal courts have acted properly in dealing with most complaints about misconduct, ethical lapses or disabilities among U.S. District or Court of Appeals judges,
The U.S. Judicial Conference, policymaking arm of the federal courts, on Tuesday adopted a strict new system to control the kinds of privately-funded educational seminars that federal judges may attend, and limit the expenses they may get reimbursed for attending such events.
Rick Hasen at Election Law blog has posted links to a new petition for review in the Supreme Court, raising issues about equal access to voting in the wake of Bush v. Gore. Rick’s post can be found here.
Marcia Coyle has this article at Law.com previewing several of the high-profile cases already on the Court’s docket for the coming Term. In today’s L.A. Times, David Savage has a piece here discussing two of this Term’s criminal cases that arise from opinions by Judge Reinhardt of the Ninth Circuit.
UPDATE 2: One-sentence summaries of the questions presented in each case on our list of “reasonable” cert. grants are now featured on the site where you can view the full selection (here).
Clarence E. Hill, a Florida death row inmate who won a Supreme Court decision in June allowing him to pursue a challenge to the protocol used to carry out executions by lethal injection, on Monday asked the Supreme Court to delay his scheduled execution so that he can get a chance to make that very challenge.
The Supreme Court will begin making available, without charge, the transcripts of oral arguments, on the same day that an argument has been held, the Court announced Thursday.
UPDATE: The Supreme Court identified the individual a Travis Banks, 48, of Philadelphia. He was charged with carrying a pistol without a permit, and was turned over to Washington, D.C., police for jailing. His arrest came without incident, the Court said.
Andrew Cohen, who writes the Washington Post’s Bench Conference blog, has this entry called “The Myth of Judicial Activism.” In it, he cites this forthcoming paper by University of Kentucky Professor Lori Ringhand entitled, “Judicial Activism: An Empirical Examination of Voting Behavior on the
This is another in a continuing series of reports on the impact that Supreme Court decisions may have on later cases.
The American Constitution Society has issued this advisory about a panel discussion of pending legislation on the trial of Guantanamo Bay detainees. The moderator is this blog’s own Marty Lederman.
Today, Amy Howe of Howe & Russell elaborates on the practice pointers that Tom outlined in the first episode. In today’s episode of the podcast, Amy discusses mistakes that are occasionally made when drafting a cert. petition – and how to avoid them.
On Tuesday, September 19 from 8:30-10 AM, the National Chamber Litigation Center is hosting its 19th Annual Pre-Term Supreme Court Media Briefing. Speakers will include Roy T. Englert, Jr. of Robbins, Russell, Englert, Orseck & Untereiner, LLP; and Mark I. Levy of Kilpatrick Stockton, LLP.
Yesterday, we filed this reply brief in the matter of Detroit Entertainment LLC et. al v. Romanski. The original cert petition, docketed number 06-38 on July 10, can be found here. [UPDATE: 9/13]: The brief in opposition can be now be downloaded here.
Two former U.S. solicitors general, Harvard law professor Charles Fried and Washington attorney Seth P. Waxman, have urged the Supreme Court to settle a long-standing issue: the nature of the Court’s authority to give lawyers more time to file appeals.
Retired Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor is writing a new book, this time on the early history of the Court. She mentioned her project briefly in a “fireside chat” at the Tenth Circuit Judicial Conference in Colorado Springs on Thursday night.
Today, Kevin Russell of Howe & Russell filed this petitioner’s brief in the case of Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire and Rubber (the joint appendix can be downloaded here).
Tony Mauro has this story at Law.com called, “Is Time Ripe for Dr. Miles to Fall?” His question is prompted by this Supreme Court order which stayed a judgment in a case that appears to test that holding. For more on this case, see Lyle’s earlier post here or this post from the Antitrust Law Blog.
Some time ago, Aaron Harber of “The Aaron Harber Show” asked SCOTUSblog readers to submit questions for interviews that he was to conduct with Justices Breyer and O’Connor for Colorado Public Television.
Next Thursday, September 14, the Cato Institute will hold an event entitled “The Supreme Court: Past and Prologue.” More details, including a complete schedule, can be found here.
The University of Pennsylvania Law Review on Tuesday announced a new online publication, PENNumbra. The announcement can be found here, including a link. The author of this post has an article in the inaugural edition.
Supreme Court Justice Anthony M. Kennedy has had surgery in Washington to replace a stent — a device used to keep open a vein that had previously been blocked.
Lyle reports immediately below on the Court’s issuance of its final orders list for the summer. Some had anticipated that the Court would grant certiorari in a number of cases on that list in order to “fill out” the final week of its December argument calendar.
The discussion regarding the diversity of Supreme Court clerks continues with this Slate article from Dahlia Lithwick and with this Concurring Opinions post by Dan Filler.
The Supreme Court on Friday issued its final list of summer orders, including orders on participation of the Solicitor General in oral arguments, along with in-chambers matters and rehearing requests. The list can be found here.