Wednesday round-up
The Supreme Court — and President Donald Trump’s nomination of Judge Amy Coney Barrett — were the subject of the first segment of Tuesday night’s chaotic presidential debate.
September 2020 Archive
Showing 1–50 of 83 items published in September 2020, most recent first.
Event announcement: ABA and American University to host “On the Docket: Looking at the New Supreme Court Term”
On Thursday, Oct. 1, at 12 p.m. EDT, the American Bar Association Public Education Division and the Program on Law & Government at American University Washington College of Law will co-host a virtual briefing of the upcoming Supreme Court term.
Case preview: In newest chapter in long-running water dispute, court will hear first-ever challenge to ruling by interstate river master
Texas v. New Mexico is a new dispute in an old Supreme Court proceeding, first filed in 1974 but, until recently, dormant since the early 1990s. The litigation involves the Pecos River, the waters of which are apportioned between New Mexico and Texas under the Pecos River Compact, approved by Congress in 1949.
Tuesday round-up
The justices are meeting privately on Tuesday for their so-called “long conference,” during which they will review hundreds of cert petitions that have accumulated over the summer and decide which of those cases to add to the Supreme Court’s docket for the 2020-21 term.
Symposium: Ginsburg was a champion of voting rights, but mostly in dissent
This article is the first entry in a symposium on the jurisprudence of the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Richard L. Hasen is the chancellor’s professor of law and political science at the University of California, Irvine School of Law and the founder of Election Law Blog.
Monday round-up
Reporters and legal commentators turned their focus over the weekend to Amy Coney Barrett, President Donald Trump’s nominee to fill the Supreme Court vacancy created by the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
“What would Ruth do?”: A feminist pioneer on what Justice Ginsburg meant to her
This tribute is the last in a series on the life and work of the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Gloria Steinem is a writer, lecturer, political activist and feminist organizer.
Who is Amy Coney Barrett?
Who is Judge Amy Coney Barrett and what’s next for her confirmation battle? Amy Howe answers these questions and more on this week’s episode of SCOTUStalk.
October Term 2020 and the specter of (a lot of) mootness
Recent discussions of the Supreme Court’s upcoming term have understandably focused on the implications of the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg — and the seemingly inevitable confirmation of Judge Amy Coney Barrett to succeed her.
Pennsylvania GOP leaders ask justices to block order on counting absentee ballots after Election Day (updated)
Telling the Supreme Court that there is a “very real possibility that the final presidential election results” could rest on the outcome of voting in Pennsylvania, Republicans in the state asked the justices on Monday to block a ruling by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court that would require election
A “view” from the Rose Garden: The nine
President Donald Trump announced his first two Supreme Court nominees in the East Room of the White House, and both in prime time on a weeknight.
This week at the court
On Tuesday, the justices held their “long conference” after summer recess. On Friday, the court released orders from the September 29 conference. The justices granted seven cases for a total of four hours of oral argument.
“We’ll just have to keep doing the work”: Ginsburg’s clerks remember her example in a tumultuous term
The members of the 2016-17 clerk class for Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg started their clerkship amid great uncertainty and a grieving court. In the second in a two-part series of interviews with former Ginsburg clerks, SCOTUStalk host Amy Howe talked with all four of the justice’s clerks from that term: Subash Iyer, Hajin Kim, Beth Neitzel and Parker Rider-Longmaid.
Trump nominates Barrett to Supreme Court
Judge Amy Coney Barrett (University of Notre Dame) Shortly after he appointed then-Judge Brett Kavanaugh to fill the vacancy on the Supreme Court created by the retirement of Justice Anthony Kennedy, President Donald Trump reportedly told his advisors that he was “saving” Judge Amy Coney Barrett, another of the finalists for the Kennedy slot, in case Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg stepped down from the bench.
Justices deny request to postpone federal execution of man who killed as teenager
The Supreme Court on Thursday declined to postpone the execution of Christopher André Vialva, who was sentenced to death for the 1999 murders and carjacking of Todd and Stacie Bagley, two youth ministers from Iowa who had agreed to give Vialva a ride after stopping to use a pay phone in Texas.
Friday round-up
After lying in repose for two days atop the front steps, the casket of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg today will move across the street from the Supreme Court.
The upcoming nomination battle, explained
President Donald Trump is expected to announce his nominee to fill the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s seat on Saturday at 5 p.m. EDT. Whomever Trump selects, the nomination is certain to trigger weeks of high-stakes procedural maneuvers as Republicans try to fast-track the nomination process and Democrats try to block it.
RBG: She never stopped caring
This tribute is part of a series on the life and work of the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Rachel Bayefsky is an associate at Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP. She clerked for Ginsburg during the 2018-19 term.
Petitions of the week: Snapchat discipline, sex offender registration, deportation proceedings and more
This week we highlight cert petitions that ask the Supreme Court to decide whether schools may discipline students for off-campus social media posts, whether sex offender registration is punishment, and whether a deported immigrant received effective assistance of counsel, among other petitions.
She lights our way
This tribute is part of a series on the life and work of the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Parker Rider-Longmaid clerked for Ginsburg during the 2016-17 term. He is now an appellate attorney at Jones Day in Washington, D.C. All views are his own. What will I teach my son about Justice Ginsburg?
House Democrats to introduce new bill for Supreme Court term limits
With the debate over Supreme Court reform taking center stage in the 2020 election after the passing of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, three members of the House of Representatives on Tuesday will introduce a bill to establish term limits for Supreme Court justices.
Empirical SCOTUS
Empirical SCOTUS: Justice Ginsburg leaves a lasting legacy on the court
In the week since the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the legal community has simultaneously honored her legacy with heartfelt eulogies and prepared for the upcoming battle over her vacant seat.
An advocate’s perspective on a justice who could never be outworked
This tribute is part of a series on the life and work of the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Paul Clement is a partner at Kirkland & Ellis. He served as U.S. solicitor general under President George W. Bush from 2005 to 2008, and he has argued more than 100 cases at the Supreme Court.
“Like playing with Michael Jordan”: Three former Ginsburg clerks talk about what it was like working for the justice
SCOTUStalk Host Amy Howe spoke this week with two groups of former law clerks for the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. In the first of these interviews, Kelsi Brown Corkran, Lori Alvino McGill, and Amanda Tyler share their memories of meeting Ginsburg for the time and working for a boss who herself was such a hard worker.
Thursday round-up
Six days after the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, retrospectives on Ginsburg’s life and career continue.
Justices decline to block sixth federal execution this year
The Supreme Court on Tuesday evening declined to postpone the execution of William Emmett LeCroy, Jr., who was sentenced to death for raping and killing 30-year-old Joann Tiesler while on probation in 2001. Shortly after the court’s ruling, LeCroy died by lethal injection at around 9 p.m.
Justice Ginsburg the writer: Something in between
This tribute is part of a series on the life and work of the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
Wednesday round-up
As the Supreme Court and the nation honor Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the court’s regular work continues.
Ginsburg’s casket carried into court building
A host of onlookers gathered on the sidewalk across from 1 First Street NE on Wednesday to watch as Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s casket was brought inside the Supreme Court.
In her seat
This tribute is part of a series on the life and work of the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Judge David S. Tatel serves on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. President Bill Clinton’s nomination of Judge Ruth Bader Ginsburg to the Supreme Court was widely acclaimed.
Tuesday round-up
The legal community continues to mourn Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg with essays commemorating her life and her jurisprudence. At the same time, commentators are assessing what the new vacancy on the court means for the upcoming term — and how quickly that vacancy might be filled.
Precision, persistence and a more humane vision of the law
This tribute is part of a series on the life and work of the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Ginger Anders is an appellate partner at Munger, Tolles & Olson and a former assistant to the solicitor general. She clerked for Ginsburg during the 2004-05 term.
Changing employment law landscape aided by new legal tech
On June 15, 2020, the Supreme Court handed down its landmark decision in Bostock v. Clayton County, ruling that the ban on sex discrimination in Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 also prohibits workplace discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
How a landmark ruling from Justice Ginsburg changed my life
This tribute is part of a series on the life and work of the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Kelly Kolleen Sullivan graduated from the Virginia Military Institute in 2001.
Clerking for Justice Ginsburg was a gift beyond measure
This tribute is part of a series on the life and work of the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Justice Goodwin Liu is an associate justice of the California Supreme Court. He clerked for Ginsburg during the 2000-01 term. I’m often asked what it was like to clerk for Justice Ginsburg.
Trump administration asks court to act quickly on census appeal
The Trump administration asked the Supreme Court on Tuesday to quickly resolve another dispute related to the 2020 census and citizenship – this one involving whether people living in the country illegally must be included in the apportionment of congressional seats.
Monday round-up: Remembering Justice Ginsburg
The flags at 1 First Street are flying at half-staff, where they will remain for 30 days. A black wool crepe hangs over Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s chair on the Supreme Court bench. And words of tribute and gratitude to the late justice are pouring in.
Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s fight for gender equity was for all of us
This tribute is the first in a series on the life and work of the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Ria Tabacco Mar is the director of the Women’s Rights Project at the American Civil Liberties Union.
A portrait of an extraordinary life
This tribute is part of a series on the life and work of the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Ruthanne Deutsch is a founding partner at Deutsch Hunt PLLC. She clerked for Ginsburg during the 2007-08 term. I remember my clerkship interview with Justice Ginsburg as if it were yesterday.
Ginsburg to lie in repose at court on Wednesday, Thursday
Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg will lie in repose at the Supreme Court on Wednesday and Thursday, and she will lie in state at the Capitol on Friday. Shortly before 9:30 a.m. on Wednesday, a brief public ceremony will occur on the front steps of the court as Ginsburg’s casket arrives, the court said in a news release.
Profile of a potential nominee: Amy Coney Barrett
President Donald Trump announced on Saturday that he would nominate a woman to fill the vacancy left by the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. According to news reports, Judge Amy Coney Barrett, a judge on the Chicago-based U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit, is on the shortlist of candidates whom the president is considering.
Grieving RBG: Words of sorrow and gratitude from mourners at the court
As soon as the public learned of the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on Friday evening, mourners began gathering outside the Supreme Court. Leaving flowers, candles and messages in chalk written near the courthouse steps, thousands of people have paid their respects to a woman who inspired a generation and, late in life, attained an iconic status in American culture.
Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, feminist pioneer and progressive icon, dies at 87
Ruth Bader Ginsburg, a trailblazer who fought for gender equality as a lawyer and became a beloved hero of the progressive movement as a justice, died on Friday of complications from pancreatic cancer.
Statements from Supreme Court justices on the death of Justice Ginsburg (updated)
The eight members of the Supreme Court, along with retired Justices Anthony Kennedy and David Souter, released statements on Saturday addressing the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
Friday round-up
Two Supreme Court justices made public appearances on Thursday — if only virtually — and a third received a lifetime achievement award as the legal academy celebrated Constitution Day.
Petitions of the week: A pair of cases on Trump and the emoluments clauses
This week we highlight two new cert petitions that ask the Supreme Court to decide whether business competitors of the Trump International Hotel have the right to sue the president under the Constitution’s emoluments clauses.
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