Utah couples support same-sex marriage review
The same-sex marriage case that is most familiar to the Supreme Court — from Utah — is close to being ready for the Justices to consider it alone or among other cases for review.
August 2014 Archive
Everything published in August 2014, most recent first.
Last of first-round same-sex marriage cases is in
The last in the first round of new same-sex marriage cases to reach the Supreme Court — an appeal by a county clerk in Virginia — was filed on Friday, and it offered the Court a variety of options for confronting the constitutional controversy.
New advice on how to handle same-sex marriage appeals
In the most specific advice so far on how the Supreme Court could handle the same-sex marriage cases, lawyers for an Oklahoma lesbian couple urged the Justices on Wednesday to consider two options: a slimmed-down, one-issue, one-case review or a sweeping, all-issues, multiple-cases approach.
Thursday round-up
Briefly: In The National Law Journal’s Supreme Court Brief (registration or subscription required), Tony Mauro reports on the reorganization of the Supreme Court Clerk’s Office in the wake of the upcoming retirement (effective September 1) of Chief Deputy Clerk Chris Vasil.
New plea to limit gun rights in D.C.
Arguing that “the potential for armed mischief is perhaps greater in the District of Columbia than in any other American city,” the local government in the nation’s capital asked a federal judge on Monday to reconsider a ruling expanding gun rights beyond one’s own home.
Petition of the day
The petition of the day is: [PAGE]14-19[/PAGE]
Tuesday round-up
Recent coverage related to the Court focuses on the release by the Department of Health and Human Services of new proposed regulations intended to comply with the Court’s June 30 decision in Burwell v. Hobby Lobby, as well as an interim final rule for non-profit religious groups in the wake of the Court’s July 3 order in a case involving Wheaton College.
Reading the Court’s signals on same-sex marriage
Commentary Since early this year, the Supreme Court has stepped back into the same-sex marriage controversy five times. While it has done little to explain those actions, it has sent some signals about its thinking.
Rules for birth-control mandate after Hobby Lobby (UPDATED)
UPDATE 5:27 p.m. The proposed new rules have now been published by the government.
A fourth same-sex marriage appeal filed
Arguing that lower federal courts have “subverted” the Supreme Court’s decision last year on same-sex marriage, a Virginia court clerk on Friday filed his own petition — the second filing seeking a ruling on the constitutionality of that state’s ban on such marriages and the fourth on the basic constitutional issue.
Thursday round-up
Yesterday the Court blocked the order by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit striking down Virginia’s ban on same-sex marriage.
Test of gap in veterans’ benefits for same-sex marriages
With six federal appeals courts already drawn deeply into the same-sex marriage controversy, a seventh — the specialized U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit — has just become involved.
Florida ban on same-sex marriage nullified
Ruling that Florida’s ban on same-sex marriage “stems entirely, or almost entirely, from moral disapproval of the practice,” a federal trial judge in Tallahassee on Thursday ruled that the prohibition is unconstitutional.
The much-discussed Ryan v. Hurles returns, expanded
The Supreme Court labored over some major rulings at its last Term, but perhaps no harder on any one of them than on a case it did not actually decide.
Court blocks Virginia same-sex marriage ruling (UPDATED)
Just as it did when a federal trial judge in Utah struck down that state’s ban on same-sex marriage, this afternoon the Supreme Court put on hold a ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, which had held that Virginia’s ban on same-sex marriage is unconstitutional.
Tuesday round-up
Yesterday supporters of same-sex marriage urged the Court not to delay the implementation of a ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, striking down Virginia’s ban on same-sex marriage; in his own filing, the Virginia attorney general asked the Court to stay the lower court’s ruling but – like same-sex marriage supporters – asked it to move to decide the issue as soon as possible.
A plea to leave fate of health care subsidies to the Court (UPDATED)
UPDATE 7:01 p.m. Additional material has been added to this post. ————- Challengers to a key part of the Obama administration’s plan for enforcing the new health care law urged a federal appeals court on Monday to stand aside and let the issue be decided finally — and soon — by the Supreme Court.
Rapid action on same-sex marriage urged (FURTHER UPDATED)
UPDATE Tuesday 1:48 p.m. The Virginia county clerk seeking a delay of a federal appeals court decision striking down the state’s ban on same-sex marriage told the Supreme Court Tuesday that she does not oppose converting that request into a formal petition for review of the case.
Delay sought on Virginia same-sex marriages (UPDATED)
UPDATE Friday 12:37 p.m. Chief Justice Roberts has asked for a response to this stay application, due by 5 p.m. next Monday. —————- UPDATE Thursday 6:52 p.m.
SCOTUSblog on camera: Edward Blum (Part five)
Choosing cases and the strategies, tactics, and teams behind cases aimed at the Court; theluxury of building cases by thinking backwards from the Supreme Court to a trial court; the importance of taking intermediate steps, listening to counsel, and having a Supreme Court lawyer at trial; what Heman Sweatt and Abigail Fisher have in common; and what to do now.
Crime on the Internet: A difficult new question
Analysis The Supreme Court’s recent forays into the Constitution as it applies to expression in the digital age have given the Justices a real-world awareness that, in addition to producing cultural and social gains, electronic devices can sometimes enable crime.
Thursday round-up
Briefly: In the wake of recent comments by President Obama to Democratic donors about the possibility of additional appointments to the Supreme Court, Sahil Kapur of Talking Points Memo discusses the prospect that, if all of the Justices remain on the Court through the end of the president’s second
Rearranging the Clerk’s office
On September 1, the Court will put into place a new staffing structure for the Clerk’s office. With the retirement of Chris Vasil as chief deputy clerk, that position will be abolished.
Wide-ranging new challenge to war crimes courts
In the broadest challenge so far to the system of war crimes courts set up at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba, lawyers for a Yemeni national fighting his conviction on a terrorism conspiracy charge argued on Wednesday that those tribunals are an unconstitutional attempt to diminish the power of civilian courts.
SCOTUSblog on camera: Edward Blum (Part four)
The role of politics on the bench; focusing on education; the Roberts Court, the Supreme Court, and the historical arc of race and ethnicity; and a timeline for getting out of the classification business.
Tuesday round-up
Yesterday Chief Justice John Roberts spoke at the annual meeting of the American Bar Association in Boston, where he urged both courts and lawyers to “rise above” partisanship. Coverage of the speech comes from Scott Malone of Reuters and Zachary Sampson of the Boston Globe.
Texas newly defends college admissions plan
The University of Texas, renewing its defense of its freshman class admissions policy, contended on Monday that the ongoing court battle has become nothing more than an “ideological struggle” over well-established Supreme Court precedent allowing some use of race in selecting new students.
The marriage ruling “streak” and what it means, made simple
Commentary In sports, a “streak” can say a lot about talent, endurance — and plain luck. Cal Ripken, Jr., of the Baltimore Orioles set a major league baseball record by playing in 2,632 consecutive games.
Ask the author: Robert Post – Citizens Divided
The following is a series of questions posed by Ronald Collins on the occasion of the publication of Citizens Divided: Campaign Finance Reform & the Constitution by Robert C. Post, with commentaries by Pamela Karlan, Lawrence Lessig, Frank Michelman, and Nadia Urbinati. Welcome, Robert.
Court hands off feud about murder appeal
The Supreme Court on Monday asked an attorney disciplinary panel in Pennsylvania to sort out a dispute among lawyers over a death penalty appeal that an inmate has said he did not want filed.
String of same-sex marriage rulings broken
For the first time in nearly fourteen months, a state’s ban on same-sex marriage has withstood a constitutional challenge in court. A state judge in Tennessee ruled last week that “neither the Federal Government nor another state should be allowed to dictate to Tennessee what has traditionally been a state’s responsibility.” The decision, issued last Tuesday, has just become available in electronic format.
SCOTUSblog on camera: Edward Blum (Part three)
Reading the political and legal landscapes; what it means when John Lewis and Newt Gingrich are on the same side on voting rights; reading Supreme Court cases for their signals; an expanding litigation portfolio; and the importance of the NAACP’s advocacy model in building Supreme Court cases.
Virginia joins in urging same-sex marriage review (UPDATED)
UPDATED Tuesday, August 12, 11:53 a.m.
Thursday round-up
Coverage of the Court once again focused on the issue of same-sex marriage – and in particular, which case the Court might review on the merits and when.
SCOTUSblog on camera: Edward Blum (Part two)
What a non-lawyer brings to a political advocacy that sees litigation – especially Supreme Court cases – as the linchpin; the importance of race and religion and what growing up in a Jewish household in Texas means to a passion for civil rights; and seeking to change Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
Same-sex couples to support Court review on marriage
Lawyers for two same-sex couples in Utah who wish to marry and a married same-sex Utah couple seeking to have the state recognize their marriage in Iowa will be filing papers in the Supreme Court urging review of the new appeal by state officials in the case of Herbert v. Kitchen.
Oklahoma clerk appeals on same-sex marriage
The nation’s longest-running federal court challenge to a state ban on same-sex marriage — now in its tenth year — reached the Supreme Court on Wednesday. A county clerk in Oklahoma filed a petition seeking to defend that state’s ban, one day after a similar appeal was filed by Utah officials.
Pressing for speed on health care subsidies
Seeking to get early action by the Supreme Court on the major test case on access to federal subsidies to help people buy health insurance, attorneys for the challengers made an unusual request on Wednesday.
Tuesday round-up
Recent comments by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg continue to make news. Ginsburg told Katie Couric of Yahoo! News that the five male Justices who voted in favor of the challengers in Burwell v. Hobby Lobby have a “blind spot” on issues involving women.
SCOTUSblog on camera: Edward Blum (Part one)
A passion for advocacy and the founding of the Project on Fair Representation; the lessons learned from an unsuccessful bid for the 18th Congressional District in Houston; discovering the courts to fight gerrymandered voting districts; and developing Bush v. Vera – his first case and a Supreme Court win.
Same-sex marriage issue reaches the Court early (UPDATED)
UPDATE 4:32 p.m. Virginia officials will be submitting their own petition to the Supreme Court on Friday, Attorney General Mark R. Herring said in a filing in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.
Third same-sex marriage case is Court-bound (UPDATED)
UPDATE 5:15 p.m. The list of court rulings striking down state same-sex marriage bans lengthened again on Monday, as a state judge in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., found that state’s law unconstitutional.
Health care subsidies issue rushed to Court (FURTHER UPDATE)
FURTHER UPDATE Monday 11:20 a.m. The Supreme Court petition in King v. Burwell, filed by the challengers to the subsidies, has now been docketed as 14-114. The government’s response is due September 3, unless it obtains added time to file.
New same-sex marriage case headed for Court
A county clerk in Virginia signaled on Friday that she will be asking the Supreme Court in the next three months to consider the constitutionality of that state’s ban on same-sex marriage.