Today at the Supreme Court: 12/29/06
The Supreme Court is in recess until its Conference on Friday, Jan. 5. No oral arguments are scheduled and no non-capital orders or opinions are expected to be issued today.
December 2006 Archive
Showing 1–50 of 79 items published in December 2006, most recent first.
Ex-judges’ brief cast aside in detainee cases
The D.C. Circuit Court on Friday barred a group of retired federal judges from filing a friend-of-court brief supporting war-on-terrorism detainees’ challenge to the new Military Commissions Act of 2006.
“Ask the Author” with David Stras: Part 3
This post is part 3 in our discussion with Professor David Stras of the University of Minnesota Law School (part 1 is here, part 2 here). Professor Stras has written extensively on issues surrounding the Supreme Court; in this entry, we discuss his paper advocating a revival of circuit riding for Supreme Court Justices, “Why Supreme Court Justices Should Ride Circuit Again,” which can be found here.
Court to be closed Tuesday; no filings
The Supreme Court building will be closed on Tuesday, as part of the presidentially ordered National Day of Mourning for former President Gerald R. Ford, Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr., announced Friday. The announcement of the closing can be found here.
Further Thoughts on the Docket
Further to my previous posts on the state of the Court’s docket, there have been a couple of developments. First, the Court issued the February argument calendar. The calendar includes three days with only a single argument.
Today at the Supreme Court: 12/28/06
The Supreme Court is in recess until its Conference on Friday, Jan. 5. No oral arguments are scheduled and no non-capital orders or opinions are expected to be issued today.
Uncertainty on Texas death penalty cases
For more than a quarter of a century, the Supreme Court and the courts that review Texas death penalty cases have been carrying on a not-always-cordial exchange over the jury’s role in weighing evidence that defense lawyers offer to try to head off capital punishment in that state.
Today at the Supreme Court: 12/27/06
The Supreme Court is in recess until its Conference on Friday, Jan. 5. No oral arguments are scheduled and no non-capital orders or opinions are expected to be issued today.
“Ask the Author” with David Stras: Part 2
This post is part 2 in our discussion with Professor David Stras of the University of Minnesota Law School (part 1 is here). Professor Stras has written extensively on issues surrounding the Supreme Court; in this entry, we discuss his paper about life tenure, “An Empirical Analysis of Life Tenure: A Response to Professors Calabresi & Lindgren,” which can be found here.
Commentary: Gerald Ford’s impact on the Court
Gerald R. Ford’s legacy, now being reassessed in the wake of his death Tuesday night, will be measured many ways. Of course, much is being made of his decision as President to pardon former President Richard M. Nixon for the crimes of the Watergate scandal; historians may well mark that as his most consequential act.
Today at the Supreme Court: 12/26/06
The Supreme Court is in recess until its Conference on Friday, Jan. 5. No oral arguments are scheduled and no non-capital orders or opinions are expected to be issued today.
A Coming Wave of Environmental Cases?
Yes, the docket is sparser than ever, but this Term and last have already been major Terms for environmental cases, and we might not have seen the end of it yet.
Round-Up
In today’s LA Times, David G. Savage has this article on the federal court decision in the Wisconsin Right to Life v. FEC case, overturning a key segment of the campaign finance law that prohibited issue advertisements paid for by corporations, unions, and special interest groups.
“Ask the Author” with David Stras: Part 1
This post is part 1 in our discussion with Professor David Stras of the University of Minnesota Law School. Professor Stras has written extensively on issues surrounding the Supreme Court; in this entry, we discuss his new paper, “The Supreme Court’s Gatekeepers: The Role of Law Clerks in the Certiorari Process,” which can be found here.
Today at the Supreme Court: 12/20/06
No oral arguments are scheduled and no non-capital orders or opinions are expected to be issued today.
New Filing in Winkelman
On Friday, the we filed the attached Amicus Brief of The Ohio Coalition for the Education of Children With Disabilities and the Autism Society of Ohio in the case of Winkelman v. Parma City School District (05-983), which is set for argument on Tuesday, February 27.
Top-Side Briefs in Rita and Claiborne
On Monday, the top-side briefs in the Rita and Claiborne federal sentencing cases were filed, and Paul Kamenar of the Washington Legal Foundation sent us his organization’s amicus filing; it can be downloaded here.
Round-Up
Jonathan Hafetz, writing at the Huffington Post, weighs in on detainees’ habeas corpus rights here. Also in the Huffington Post, Jayne Lyn Stahl discusses the role the Supreme Court plays in keeping executive branch power in balance in this article.
Podcast #9 – Professor Charles Fried
In today’s episode of the SCOTUSblog podcast, Tom has a conversation with Professor Charles Fried of Harvard Law School about his new book, Modern Liberty and the Limits of Government.
Today at the Supreme Court: 12/19/06
No oral arguments are scheduled and no non-capital orders or opinions are expected to be issued today.
Today at the Supreme Court: 12/18/06
No oral arguments are scheduled and no non-capital orders or opinions are expected to be issued today.
Round-Up
At ACSBlog, Martin Magnusson discusses last week’s argument in the Rockwell case here. In this post at PrawfsBlawg, Jeremy Blumenthal highlights this new paper by Peter Hook called “Visualizing the Topic Space of the United States Supreme Court.” Deepak Chopra, writing at the Huntington Post, adds his voice to the discussion about school integration here.
Restoring habeas rights?
Even as the federal courts are reviewing Congress’ move to strip them of authority to hear challenges to military detention of foreign nationals in the war on terrorism, Congress is likely to be considering whether to undo what it has just done.
Thin calendar for February
The drop in the volume of cases accepted for review this Term shows up clearly in the Supreme Court’s calendar of hearings for February, released Monday by the Court.
Chief rebuffs document relief plea
UPDATE: Tuesday, 11:30 AM – The in-chambers opinion of the Chief Justice can now be found here. Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr., refused on Monday to delay the planned auction of nearly 450 historic documents from the Civil War.
Today at the Supreme Court: 12/15/06
No oral arguments are scheduled and no non-capital orders or opinions are expected to be issued today. UPDATE: The Chief Justice has denied the following application: Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr., is considering an application for a stay of deportation in a case from the Fourth Circuit Court, 06A589, Estrada v. Myers.
South Carolina seeking historic papers
The state of South Carolina and its chief archivist have asked Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr., to prevent the sale of nearly 450 historic documents from the Civil War era, claiming that they belong to the state.
New filings on detainees
Lawyers for detainees now in U.S. military custody on Friday filed letters in two federal appeals courts on the impact of the first court ruling on the court-stripping law enacted by Congress in October.
Today at the Supreme Court: 12/14/06
No oral arguments are scheduled and no non-capital orders or opinions are expected to be issued today.
Round-Up
In today’s LA Times, David G. Savage has this article on U.S. District Court Judge Robertson’s dismissal of Hamdan’s case denying Guantánamo Bay detainees access to the U.S. courts.
“Ask the Author” with David Stras
For another installment of our “Ask the Author” feature (archive here), we’ve invited Professor David Stras of the University of Minnesota Law School to talk with us about some of his recent work, especially a new paper of his which contains a statistical analysis of the influence of the Supreme Court clerks in the cert. process.
Government moves to bolster habeas position
The Justice Department moved swiftly on Thursday to exploit the significant victory it won from a federal judge on Wednesday on Congress’ move to wipe out existing habeas challenges by war on terrorism suspects being held at a U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
Today at the Supreme Court: 12/13/06
No oral arguments are scheduled and no non-capital orders or opinions are expected to be issued today.
Morning Round-Up
In the new issue of the journal Democracy, Erwin Chemerinsky has this review (free registration req’d) of Kermit Roosevelt’s new book, The Myth of Judicial Activism: Making Sense of Supreme Court Decisions. At PrawfsBlawg, Dan Markel reacts to Chemerinsky’s piece here.
Al-Marri seeks to keep case going
UPDATE: Added three amicus briefs on Tuesday, 12/14 at noon. The can be found at the bottom of the post.
Hamdan’s case dismissed, but new Act may be partly invalid
U.S. District Judge James Robertson, in a mixed ruling on constitutional and statutory law, ruled on Wednesday that Congress had not validly suspended the historic “writ of habeas corpus” in the new Military Commissions Act of 2006.
Morning Round-Up
Tony Mauro of the Legal Times discusses the Supreme Court’s unanimous ruling in Carey v. Musladin here; Linda Greenhouse has this article in today’s New York Times; the LA Times’ David Savage discusses the justices’ reversal of the 9th Circuit decision here; Robert Barnes has this article in the Washington Post; and NPR’s Nina Totenberg reports on the Court’s opinion here.
Recent Filing — Rahmani v. United States
We recently filed an amicus brief on behalf of Congressman Bob Filner (D-Calif.) and Tom Tancredo (R-Colo.) in No. 06-241, Rahmani v. United States.
Today at the Supreme Court: 12/11/06
The Court will issue orders and is expected to release at least one opinion today beginning at 10 AM eastern. We will have coverage of both as soon as possible after they are made public.
Morning Round-Up
In yesterday’s New York Times, Adam Liptak had this article called “Brown v. Board of Education, Second Round.” In today’s Legal Times, Tony Mauro also discusses the school cases here (via How Appealing).
Court overturns victim buttons ruling
The Supreme Court ruled Monday that a federal appeals court had no basis under existing law for overturning a state court ruling that allowed the family members of a murder victim to wear buttons with his picture during the trial.
Today’s Orders and Opinions
The opinion in the BP America case now be found here (syllabus here). The opinion of the Court in Musladin can now be found here. Justice Stevens’ concurrence is here, Justice Kennedy’s is here, and Justice Souter’s is here. The syllabus is here. Today’s orders can now be found here.
“On Liberty” with Justice Breyer and Professor Charles Fried
On Friday afternoon, the Georgetown University Law Center hosted a conversation entitled “On Liberty” between Justice Breyer and Charles Fried of Harvard Law School and which featured Neal Katyal as moderator. A webcast of the event is now available by clicking here.
Today at the Supreme Court: 12/8/06
No oral arguments are scheduled and no non-capital orders or opinions are expected to be issued today.
Round-Up
UPDATE 2:55 PM: Jonathan Soglin discusses the Fry v. Pliler case here; and weighs in on four cert-worthy criminal justices issues in this post from his blog, Criminal Appeal. Yesterday, the Supreme Court granted certiorari in five cases.
Government wants Hamdan case dismissed
This is another in a continuing series of reports on the lower court impact of the Supreme Court’s ruling last June in Hamdan v. Rumsfeld, striking down the Bush Administration’s initial plan for war crimes tribunals of detainees at the war-on-terrorism camp at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
Linda Greenhouse Investigates “The Case of the Dwindling Docket”
It’s the function of mulitple factors, she suggests — e.g., few major new complex statutes; more consensus in the courts of appeals; the growing infrequency of government losses in the lower courts; reticence of clerks in the cert. pool; etc. The Orin Kerr post that Greenhouse quotes about boring times for CONLAW scholars is here.
Today at the Supreme Court: 12/7/06
The Court is holding a private Conference today on new and pending cases, and it could issue orders later in the day. Otherwise, orders will be issued Monday, 12/11, at 10 AM eastern. You can see our “Petitions to Watch” for today’s Conference here.
A New Perspective on Monday’s Arguments: Take 1
This entry was written by Andrew Pincus, an attorney at Mayer, Brown, Rowe, and Maw in Washington, DC; he authored an amicus brief in support of the school districts that can be found here.
Court to rule on price fixing, 4 other cases
The Supreme Court, reopening an issue that has seemed settled since 1911, agreed on Thursday to rule on the antitrust standard to be used when a product maker sets a price floor on its products when sold at retail.
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