Editor’s Note
The Court has not yet released Orders from its Long Conference at the end of the summer.
September 2014 Archive
Everything published in September 2014, most recent first.
Tuesday round-up
Yesterday the Justices met for the so-called “Long Conference,” at which they considered new petitions for certiorari for the first time since late June.
Federal judge limits health care subsidies
Deepening the controversy over tax subsidies to help lower-income workers obtain health insurance, a federal trial judge in Oklahoma on Tuesday barred those credits for individuals who shop for coverage on marketplaces run by the federal government, not by a state.
Monday round-up
Today the Justices will meet to consider petitions for certiorari for the first time since late June. Much of the coverage of the Court focuses on the cases that they are scheduled to consider today, including the seven petitions involving challenges to state bans on same-sex marriage.
Argument preview: Justices to resolve circuit split on juror testimony about deliberations
On October 8, in Warger v. Shauers, the Court will hear oral arguments on whether, in support of a motion for a new trial, a juror may testify about statements made during deliberations which show that another juror gave misleading answers to questions asked on voir dire.
Securities case dropped; split on legal issue remains
UPDATED 2:12 p.m. The Court’s amended calendar for oral argument in October is here. —————– The Supreme Court, apparently finding that little is left of a case that the Justices were to hear on opening day of the new Term next week, dismissed on Monday the case of Public Employees Retirement System v. IndyMac.
Early voting in Ohio blocked (UPDATED)
UPDATE 6:10 p.m. Justice Elena Kagan turned down without comment a separate request by Ohio’s legislature for the same kind of order postponing some of the early voting options. The legislature has been allowed into the controversy only as a “friend of the court,” not as a full party.
Court urged to let Ohioans vote early (UPDATED)
UPDATED Sunday 11:48 a.m. State officials filed a final brief on Sunday morning, replying to the challengers’ pleas to allow early voting to go ahead on Tuesday.
Ohio challenges early-voting mandate (UPDATED)
UPDATED Friday 5:11 p.m. Justice Elena Kagan has called for a response to the state officials’ application (14A 336) by 5 p.m. Saturday. She cited the uncertainty about when the Sixth Circuit would act on a pending plea by state officials for en banc rehearing, as well as timing issues.
Friday round-up
Briefly: Congratulations to Deputy Solicitor General Edwin Kneedler, the recipient of the 2014 Service to America Award for career achievement. Lillian Cunningham of The Washington Post covers the awards.
Argument preview: Justices to mull pleading standard for removal
As the leaves change for the fall in Washington, the Justices may cast their thoughts back to their own days studying Federal Courts in law school, when they consider Dart Cherokee Basin Operating Co. v. Owens on the second day of the Term.
Thursday round-up
Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is once again in the news for her response to calls for her to retire from the Court to allow President Obama to appoint her successor.
Court urged to go ahead with securities case
A plan to settle a significant case over losses from investing in mortgage-backed securities should not keep the Supreme Court from going ahead to decide a related but separate dispute, lawyers involved told the Court on Thursday.
Texas, Louisiana same-sex marriage cases linked
Two conflicting federal trial court rulings on same-sex marriage — one in Texas in favor, one in Louisiana against — will be heard by the same panel of appellate judges, but in separate hearings, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ordered on Thursday.
Wednesday round-up
With the start of the October Term 2014 less than two weeks away, coverage of the Court focuses on looking ahead at the Court’s caseload.
Tuesday round-up
In six days, the Justices will convene for the first private Conference since late June. Among the petitions scheduled for consideration at the September 29 Conference are the seven petitions arising out of challenges to state bans on same-sex marriage.
Court orders additional briefing in securities case (UPDATED)
UPDATED 4:57 p.m. This post has been updated by Lyle Denniston with background material on the proposed settlement. —————- Today the Court ordered the parties in Public Employees’ Retirement System of Mississippi v. IndyMac MBS, Inc., to file new, ten-page briefs addressing the possibility that the case could become moot.
Rulings differ on same-sex marriage in Louisiana
A state judge in Louisiana, ordering state officials to treat as legal the California wedding of a same-sex couple, has struck down a state ban on such marriages — the same ban that was upheld in federal court earlier this month.
Monday round-up
Briefly: At BuzzFeed, Chris Geidner discusses the possibility that, after the Justices first consider the seven petitions arising out of challenges to state bans on same-sex marriage at their September 29 Conference, the Court could ask the federal government to file a brief weighing in; he
Friday round-up
Briefly: At Re’s Judicata, Richard Re discusses Tuesday’s comments by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg suggesting that the Court might decline to grant any of the pending petitions challenging state bans on same-sex marriage because there is currently no division among the circuits.
Argument preview: Able opponents trade arguments in high-stakes dispute over deadlines for filing class actions
It is almost a joy to read the papers in Public Employees’ Retirement System of Mississippi v. IndyMac MBS, Inc., with David Frederick squaring off against Ted Olson.
Mixed signals on same-sex marriage (UPDATED)
UPDATED 6:03 p.m. The Supreme Court may be poised to start acting on the same-sex marriage controversy, although the post below casts some doubt on that. It now appears that some lower courts will not go ahead with other cases while they await the Justices’ action.
Thursday round-up
Briefly: At BuzzFeed, Chris Geidner chronicles the path of the challenges to state bans on same-sex marriage from the Supreme Court to the lower courts and now back to the Supreme Court, and he suggests that, although the Justices “might not see ‘urgency’ to take a case immediately, the filings by
Petitions to watch | The “Long Conference” of September 29 (Part III)
This is the third installment of “Petitions to watch” featuring cases up for consideration at the Court’s September 29 “Long Conference.” Because the Court has not considered new petitions since the end of June, the number of petitions slated for review at the September 29 Conference is quite large – more than at any other Conference of the year.
U.S. urges review of investment cases
With the support of the Justice Department, two new cases on investment law are more likely to be reviewed by the Supreme Court: one on the right of investors to sue for false stock registration statements, and one on the duty of employee benefit plan managers to get rid of questionable items in plan portfolios.
Wednesday round-up
Briefly: In The New Yorker, Jeffrey Toobin discusses the “undue burden” standard for laws regulating abortion, which he characterizes as Justice Sandra Day O’Connor’s “most important triumph during her long and consequential tenure on the U.S. Supreme Court,” and whether that standard will survive if challenges to a Texas law requiring abortions to be performed in ambulatory surgical centers come to the Court.
Tuesday round-up
Briefly: In The National Law Journal (registration or subscription required), Tony Mauro reports on the amicus briefs filed in Elonis v. United States, in which the Justices will consider whether a Pennsylvania man’s Facebook posts violated a federal law prohibiting the transmission of threats across state lines.
Monday round-up
Briefly: The Georgetown University Law Center’s Supreme Court Institute has published its preview of cases on the Court’s docket for the upcoming Term.
Arizona same-sex marriage ban likely to fall
A federal judge in Phoenix has taken an initial step toward allowing same-sex marriage in that state, indicating that he is likely to strike down the state’s ban when he rules on it soon.
Friday round-up
Briefly: In June, the Court held in Susan B. Anthony List v. Driehaus that a pre-enforcement challenge to an Ohio law prohibiting false statements in campaigns can go forward, when the challenge is brought by a group that has been previously been accused of violating the law and is at risk of being accused again.
Thursday round-up
The big news out of the Court yesterday came in the challenges to several states’ bans on same-sex marriage: the seven petitions that have been filed so far will all be considered by the Justices at their private Conference on September 29.
New assistive hearing system at the Court
The Court has announced that, when it resumes oral arguments in October, visitors will be able to use a new “induction loop” assistive listening system that has been installed in the Courtroom.
Petitions to watch | The “Long Conference” of September 29 (Part II)
This is the second installment of “Petitions to watch” featuring cases up for consideration at the Court’s September 29 “Long Conference.” Because the Court has not considered new petitions since the end of June, the number of petitions slated for review at the September 29 Conference is quite large – more than at any other Conference of the year.
Wednesday round-up
Yesterday Indiana and Wisconsin both filed petitions asking the Court to review a decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit striking down their respective bans on same-sex marriage.
Same-sex marriage cases set for early look
Matching the speed of lawyers and lower courts in handling the same-sex marriage controversy, the Supreme Court on Wednesday set the stage for its first look at all of the pending cases, when the Justices assemble on September 29 for a private Conference.
New test of punishment beyond the verdict
For the past fourteen years, the Supreme Court has spent a good deal of time and energy sorting out the constitutional roles of judges and juries in the system of punishment for federal crimes. The process has made even more puzzling an already complex array of federal sentencing guidelines.
Tuesday round-up
Briefly: At Education Week’s School Law blog, Mark Walsh reports on the death of Lillian Gobitas Klose, who as a child unsuccessfully challenged mandatory participation in the Pledge of Allegiance at school.
New marriage appeals: Indiana and Wisconsin (UPDATED)
UPDATED 6:31 p.m. All of today’s filings in the two cases have now been linked. ———— With lawyers moving very rapidly, the number of appeals to the Supreme Court on same-sex marriage rose on Tuesday to seven, as state officials in Indiana and Wisconsin separately challenged a federal appeals court ruling against their bans, and lawyers for the couples planned to file immediate replies.
Monday round-up
As Lyle reported for this blog, on Thursday the full U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit announced that it would rehear the challenge to the subsidies provided to individuals who purchase health care on exchanges established by the federal government.
SCOTUS for law students (sponsored by Bloomberg Law): Overturning the Court
When Congress comes back into session this week, among the unfinished business is the question of what to do about a number of Supreme Court rulings from the spring.
Bringing Carolene Products up to date?
Much of the modern history of civil rights law finds its origin in a famous footnote in a 1938 Supreme Court decision dealing with shipping “adulterated” milk across state lines.
Indiana, Wisconsin same-sex marriage bans fall
Closely examining all of the arguments made by two states to support their bans on same-sex marriage, but ultimately dismissing them as “implausible,” the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit on Thursday afternoon struck down the bans in Indiana and Wisconsin.
Friday round-up
Coverage of the Court looks ahead to cases already on the Court’s docket for the October Term 2014.
Full D.C. Circuit will rule on health care subsidies
A vital part of the federal health care law will get a new review before the full bench of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.
November and December arguments, day by day
The Supreme Court on Thursday released the calendars of oral arguments for the sessions beginning on November 3 and December 1. The Court will hear two arguments at each of the public sittings; no hearings will be held in the afternoons.
Petitions to watch | The “Long Conference” of September 29 (Part I)
This is the first installment of “Petitions to watch” featuring cases up for consideration at the Court’s September 29 “Long Conference.” Because the Court has not considered new petitions since the end of June, the number of petitions slated for review at the September 29 Conference is quite large – more than at any other Conference of the year.
Louisiana same-sex marriage ban survives challenge
Ruling that the Supreme Court’s one-year-old decision striking down a provision of the Federal Defense of Marriage Act “does little more than give both sides in this case something to hope for,” a federal judge in New Orleans on Wednesday upheld Louisiana’s ban on same-sex marriages and its refusal to recognize any such union performed in another state.
Legal wars on abortion heating up
Nine months after the Supreme Court allowed enforcement of a Texas law that led to the closing of a third of all clinics in that state, a new courthouse battle over that same law is rapidly developing.
Tuesday round-up
With the calendar having turned to September, the Justices’ first private Conference is now less than a month away. As Lyle Denniston reported for this blog on Friday, one of the issues that the Justices will soon consider is whether to take up, once again, one or more challenges to state bans on same-sex marriage.
Delay on health care subsidies case
The Obama administration on Tuesday received an additional thirty days to file its answer in the Supreme Court to a new challenge to the subsidies so far given to nearly five million individuals to help them afford health insurance.