November 2020 Archive
Showing 1–50 of 99 items published in November 2020, most recent first.
Monday round-up
It’s not quite yet December, but the Supreme Court opens its December argument sitting on Monday morning with oral arguments in a pair of cases with broad ramifications: Trump v. New.
Case preview: When can U.S. companies be sued for alleged violations of international human rights?
Enacted as part of the Judiciary Act of 1789, the Alien Tort Statute allows foreigners to bring lawsuits in U.S. courts for serious violations of international law.
Case preview: Dueling statutes, pre-enforcement review and the fight over tax shelters
CIC Services v. Internal Revenue Service is one of the rare tax cases to come before the Supreme Court. While apparently technical, the case has great implications for jurisdiction, administrative law and the tax system overall.
Legal research no longer limited to keywords
Longtime readers of SCOTUSblog are by now familiar with Casetext’s legal search tool. It solves an ever-present need for our team: finding opinions from all levels of the court system for our articles and case pages.
Argument analysis: Justices seem inclined to put off ruling on merits of Trump’s plan for census data
The Supreme Court heard oral argument on Monday in Trump v. New York, the challenge to the Trump administration’s plan to exclude people who are in the United States illegally from the state-by-state breakdown used to allocate seats in the House of Representatives.
Case preview: Justices to consider breadth of federal computer fraud statute
Van Buren v. United States gives the Supreme Court its first chance ever to interpret the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, a federal statute that imposes civil and criminal liability for unauthorized access of computers.
This week at the court
On Monday, the justices heard oral argument in Trump v. New York and Van Buren v. United States. On Tuesday, the justices heard oral argument in Nestlé USA v. Doe I and CIC Services v. Internal Revenue Service. On Wednesday, the justices heard oral argument in Edwards v. Vannoy.
Symposium: A not-at-all disguised attempt to shift power away from Latino voters
This article is the final entry in a symposium previewing Trump v. New York. Nina Perales is vice president of litigation for the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund and counsel in La Union del Pueblo Entero v. Trump, a related case currently pending in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland.
The Supreme Court, faithless electors, and Trump’s final, futile fight
Much has been written about how there is essentially no chance that the Supreme Court will intervene in any of the existing litigation in a way that will call into question Joe Biden’s victory.
Justices lift New York’s COVID-related attendance limits on worship services
The Supreme Court late Wednesday night granted requests from the Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn and two Orthodox Jewish synagogues to block enforcement of a New York executive order restricting attendance at houses of worship.
Wednesday round-up
Here’s a round-up of Supreme Court-related news and commentary from around the web: On Night of Ginsburg’s Death, McConnell Pushed Trump to Nominate Amy Coney Barrett (Patrice Taddonio, Frontline) Indiana Asks the Supreme Court to Let It Strip Rights From Same-Sex Parents (Mark Joseph Stern, Slate)
Court releases January calendar (updated)
The Supreme Court on Wednesday issued the calendar for its January argument session. The session will be a relatively quiet one, with only five hours of argument over four days.
Symposium: Trump’s census policy is both fundamentally fair and legally sound
This article is part of a symposium previewing Trump v. New York. Hans von Spakovsky is a senior legal fellow at the Institute for Constitutional Government of the Heritage Foundation and the manager of Heritage’s Election Law Reform Initiative.
Ask the author: Hamilton and the Law (and the court)
Hamilton content? Hamilton content! Hardly any topic is more ubiquitous these days than Lin-Manuel Miranda’s smash musical. Fans, academics, artists and writers of all stripes – even Supreme Court justices – have found cause to analyze or drop references to it.
Symposium: All foreign nationals should be excluded from apportionment. That’s what the Constitution requires.
This article is part of a symposium previewing Trump v. New York. John S. Baker Jr. is professor emeritus at the Louisiana State University Law Center. He filed an amicus brief in support of the federal government.
Tuesday round-up
Here’s a round-up of Supreme Court-related news and commentary from around the web: Cuomo’s Pandemic Powers Might Be Tested in Supreme Court Case (Jimmy Vielkind, The Wall Street Journal) Election Case Risks Awkward About-Face for Biden Administration (Kimberly Strawbridge Robinson, Bloomberg Law)
Case preview: Justices to review Trump’s plan to adjust census data used for congressional apportionment
This article is the first entry in a symposium previewing Trump v. New York. Joe Biden has been declared the winner of the 2020 presidential election and is scheduled to be sworn into office on Jan. 20, 2021.
Reminder — SCOTUSblog and Goldstein & Russell are hiring
SCOTUSblog and Goldstein & Russell, P.C. are seeking to hire a full-time employee to serve as firm manager for Goldstein & Russell, P.C., and deputy manager of SCOTUSblog. The position is based in Bethesda, Maryland, and requires occasional in-person work during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Symposium: Depoliticizing the census through administrative process
This article is part of a symposium previewing Trump v. New York. Jennifer Nou is a professor of law at the University of Chicago Law School. The census saga continues. This time, however, the Trump administration is more truthful about its motivations.
Monday round-up
After agreeing Friday to review two new cases — both involving the scope of police officers’ search-and-seizure authority — the Supreme Court will begin Thanksgiving week by releasing additional orders from its Friday conference.
No new grants from Friday’s conference
After adding two new cases to their merits docket for the current term on Friday, the justices did not grant any new petitions for review in an order list released on Monday morning.
Another glimpse into the shadow docket
What is the Supreme Court’s “shadow docket”? John Elwood, head of Arnold & Porter’s appellate and Supreme Court Practice, sits down with SCOTUStalk host Amy Howe to explain the often opaque work that happens outside of the court’s regular roster of argued cases.
This week at the court
On Monday, the court released additional orders from the Nov. 20 conference. The justices did not add any new cases to their merits docket. On Thursday, the court will be closed for Thanksgiving.
Justices clear the way for eighth federal execution this year
The Supreme Court on Thursday night allowed the government to proceed with the execution of Orlando Hall, who became the eighth federal inmate to be put to death since the Trump administration resumed federal executions in July.
Friday round-up
After a series of late Thursday-night orders that cleared the way for the federal government to carry out the latest execution of a person on death row, the Supreme Court meets Friday morning for its weekly private conference to consider pending petitions seeking the court’s review.
Court issues new circuit assignments
A little less than a month after the confirmation of Justice Amy Coney Barrett, the Supreme Court on Friday issued a new set of circuit justice assignments, which take effect immediately. Barrett was assigned to the 7th Circuit, where she served as a judge for three years before becoming a justice.
Petitions of the week: CARES Act payments for Alaska Natives, courts in church-property disputes, Miranda warnings and more
This week we highlight cert petitions that ask the Supreme Court to review, among other things, whether Alaska Native corporations are “Indian tribes” who can receive CARES Act payments, whether courts should defer or decide disputes over church property, and how explicit police officers must be in explaining to a suspect her right to a lawyer before and during interrogations under Miranda v. Arizona.
Court shelves oral argument in dispute over Mueller materials, grants two new cases
The Supreme Court announced on Friday morning that it would postpone oral argument in Department of Justice v. House Committee on the Judiciary, the dispute over access to secret materials from the Mueller investigation that had been scheduled for Dec. 2.
New York tells justices not to intervene in conflict over attendance limits at worship services
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo urged the Supreme Court on Friday to stay out of the state’s battle with two Orthodox Jewish synagogues in New York City over an executive order that limits attendance at houses of worship as part of an effort to combat the coronavirus.
Thursday round-up
Here’s a round-up of Supreme Court-related news and commentary from around the web: House Hints It May Drop Supreme Court Case Seeking Mueller Grand Jury Info (Nina Totenberg, NPR) Four Years of the Trump Administration in Court. One Word Stuck in My Head.
Wednesday round-up
Here’s a round-up of Supreme Court-related news and commentary from around the web: The Chief Justice’s Unexpected Super Precedent from the Shadow Docket (Josh Blackman, The Volokh Conspiracy) Can Liberals Win in a Conservative Court?
Relist Watch
John Elwood reviews Monday’s relists. If case numbers keep growing at the current rate, things will quickly become unsustainable. That’s right: Experts warn that if present trends continue, the Supreme Court will be relisting 8,388,608 cases per week by the end of June.
Empirical SCOTUS: How the court’s decisions have limited the national electorate
This article looks at the Supreme Court’s election law jurisprudence under the Roberts court. Supreme Court opinions and applications were searched from 2005 through the present for the term “election.” All cases were examined, and any that related to elections or voting procedures were maintained in the dataset.
Why counting presidential votes is not for federal district courts
For the past several months, Election Law at Ohio State and SCOTUSblog have teamed up to track significant election-related lawsuits with the potential to reach the Supreme Court and affect the presidential election.
Tuesday round-up
This week is already shaping up to be a busy one on the Supreme Court’s unofficial coronavirus docket. The justices on Monday rejected an emergency request from incarcerated individuals at a Texas geriatric prison who had asked the court to reinstate stricter safety precautions to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in the prison.
House Committee on the Judiciary asks court to put off oral argument on Mueller materials
The House Committee on the Judiciary on Tuesday asked the Supreme Court to remove its dispute with the Department of Justice over secret materials from the Mueller investigation from the court’s December argument calendar.
Monday round-up
After a November argument sitting that featured two of the most significant cases of the term, the Supreme Court begins a two-week break from oral arguments.
Justices do not grant any new cases
The Supreme Court issued an uneventful order list on Monday morning, the second released from the justices’ private conference on Friday, Nov. 13. On Friday, the justices added one case to their merits docket for the 2020-21 term: Cedar Point Nursery v. Hassid, a challenge to a California regulation that gives union organizers access to the property of agricultural growers.
Court denies plea from Texas inmates to restore coronavirus safety measures pending appeal
The Supreme Court on Monday afternoon rejected a request from two inmates at high risk for complications from COVID-19 to reinstate an order by a federal district court that would require Texas prison officials to take basic safety precautions to combat the virus.
Reminder — SCOTUSblog and Goldstein & Russell are hiring
SCOTUSblog and Goldstein & Russell, P.C. are seeking to hire a full-time employee to serve as firm manager for Goldstein & Russell, P.C., and deputy manager of SCOTUSblog. The position is based in Bethesda, Maryland, and requires occasional in-person work during the COVID-19 pandemic.
New York synagogues ask justices to lift attendance limits (updated)
Four days after the Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn asked the justices to block enforcement of a New York executive order restricting attendance at houses of worship, two Orthodox Jewish synagogues came to the Supreme Court to make a similar request.
This week at the court
On Monday, the court released additional orders from the November 13 conference. The justices did not add any new cases to their merits docket. On Friday, the justices held their Nov. 20 conference and released orders during the afternoon.
Friday round-up
In the latest entry to the Supreme Court’s coronavirus docket, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn filed an emergency request Thursday asking the justices to grant it relief from attendance limits at church services ordered by New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D). Amy Howe explains the dispute.
At Federalist Society convention, Alito says religious liberty, gun ownership are under attack
Justice Samuel Alito told the Federalist Society on Thursday night that two constitutional protections – the First Amendment right to free exercise of religion, and the Second Amendment right to bear arms – are rapidly becoming “second-class” liberties.
Justices will review property rights case
The Supreme Court on Friday added one new case to its merits docket for 2020-21 term. In Cedar Point Nursery v. Hassid, the justices will weigh in on a California regulation that gives union organizers access to the property of agricultural growers up to three hours per day, 120 days each year.
Petitions of the week: First Step Act, student-athlete compensation, detained bystanders and more
This week we highlight cert petitions that ask the Supreme Court to review, among other things, resentencing under the First Step Act, amateurism in college sports under the Sherman Antitrust Act, and an exception to the Fourth Amendment’s warrant requirement allowing police to detain bystanders.