This week at the Court
The Court has recessed for the summer.
June 2013 Archive
Showing 1–50 of 196 items published in June 2013, most recent first.
New same-sex marriage challenge fails
Supreme Court Justice Anthony M. Kennedy turned down at midday Sunday a request to stop same-sex marriages from occurring in California. Without comment, and without seeking views from the other side, Kennedy rejected a challenge to action by the Ninth Circuit Court on Friday implementing a federal judge’s ruling allowing such marriages.
October Term 2012 summary memo
For several years now, SCOTUSblog has been producing a memorandum at the conclusion of each Term that summarizes key statistical trends at the Court. This year’s summary memo is now ready, and you can find the five-page document here.
The Chief Justice’s remarks to the Fourth Circuit
The Chief Justice participated today in the Fourth Circuit judicial conference. (The video from C-SPAN is at this link (he appears towards the end): http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/CourtChie.) His remarks were very well received. For practitioners, I thought three points were most interesting.
Emergency stay of California same-sex marriages sought (updated 6:05pm)
Attorneys for the parties who sought to defend Proposition 8 in federal court have filed an emergency motion in the Supreme Court seeking to block same-sex marriages from proceeding in California. The filing (via Jess Bravin) is available here.
Friday round-up
Court watchers continue to focus on Wednesday’s same-sex marriage decisions: Hollingsworth v. Perry, in which the Court held that the sponsors of California’s ban on same-sex marriage lacked standing to defend the initiative on appeal, and United States v. Windsor, in which the Court struck down the federal Defense of Marriage Act.
A view from Alabama
John Neiman is the Alabama Solicitor General. Like many of you, I spent most of my Tuesday working on cases that were not at the Supreme Court. But from time to time, I found a spare moment to glance through my office window, to look out over the Montgomery church where Dr. King once was pastor, and to think about Shelby County v. Holder.
Fourth Circuit Judicial Conference Term Review on C-SPAN
At 9 a.m. Eastern on Saturday, June 29, the Fourth Circuit Judicial Conference will host a panel discussion about the 2012 Term. Following the panel discussion, Chief Justice John Roberts will speak with Fourth Circuit Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson about the Court and the Constitution.
Marriage benefits start for same-sex spouses
The federal government’s Office of Personnel Management on Friday issued orders to federal agencies to move rapidly to extend benefits available to married federal workers and retirees to those who have legally married their gay or lesbian partners — the first effort to carry out the Supreme Court decision Wednesday striking down a benefit ban in the federal Defense of Marriage Act.
Actions on Baby Veronica, birth control mandate
Supreme Court Justice Samuel A. Alito, Jr., and a federal district judge in Oklahoma took actions on Friday that moved along two cases the blog discussed yesterday — the Baby Veronica case (see this post) and the case involved the federal health care law’s contraceptive insurance mandate (see this post).
Same-sex marriages start in California (UPDATED)
UPDATE Friday evening: Same-sex couples have begun getting married in California.
Menu of today’s coverage | June 26, 2013 (Updated 11:32)
The Court issued the last decisions of the Term this morning. A transcript of the live blog is here. The opinion in United States v. Windsor holding that Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act is unconstitutional, is here.
The fate of same-sex marriage in California after Perry
Back before the oral arguments in Perry, I wrote a post explaining what might happen to same-sex marriage in California if the Supreme Court were to hold that the Proposition 8 sponsors did not have standing to appeal from Judge Vaughn Walker’s judgment of August 4, 2010.
Round-up of news on today’s opinions
Today the Supreme Court issued decisions in the three final cases of this Term, including the long-anticipated rulings in the same-sex marriage cases. A full menu of the blog’s own coverage is here.
Evening round-up of news on today’s opinions
The Court decided three cases this morning, including two eagerly anticipated cases relating to same-sex marriage. Mark Walsh reported on the atmosphere in the courtroom, while Dan Stein collected Twitter reactions and had an earlier round-up of news coverage.
Key excerpts from the DOMA ruling
Here is key language (still extensive) from all of the Justices’ opinions. Justice Kennedy delivered the opinion of the Court. … In this case the United States retains a stake sufficient to support Article III jurisdiction on appeal and in proceedings before this Court.
Key excerpts from the Proposition 8 ruling
Excerpts from Chief Justice Roberts’ majority opinion: “The requirement of a “case” or “controversy” “is an essential limit on our power: It ensures that we act as judges, and do not engage in policymaking properly left to elected representatives.” “In other words, for a federal court to have authority under the Constitution to settle a dispute, the party before it must seek a remedy for a personal and tangible harm.
SCOTUSblog media: Wednesday’s podcast
Headed out for a jog? Don’t forget to take SCOTUSblog with you. Catch the highlights of the historic day at the Court with our podcast. Click to listen or right-click to download: June 26, 2013
Court grants new cases
In a final round of orders for the Term, the Supreme Court on Thursday granted three new cases but delayed further action on one of them — an abortion rights case from Oklahoma — until after it gets answers to questions sent to that state’s Supreme Court.
Thursday round-up
The Court issued the last three decisions of the Term yesterday, bringing the total decisions this week to eleven. Coverage and commentary have focused on the decisions in the two same-sex marriage cases, United States v. Windsor and Hollingsworth v. Perry.
Impact of voting, marriage rulings spreads
The Supreme Court, acting swiftly to promote further review of voting rights under federal law, told lower courts on Thursday to take a new look at two Texas cases involving a photo ID law for voters and a new set of redistricting plans for the state’s delegation in Congress and for members of the two houses of its state legislature.
New test on abortion rights
Edging closer to a new review of state power to restrict the right to abortion, the Supreme Court on Thursday added to its docket a case from Oklahoma, while indicating that it would not move ahead until it gets some answers from that state’s Supreme Court.
Federalism and the authority of the states to define marriage
The twin decisions in United States v. Windsor and Hollingsworth v. Perry share an unexpected unifying theme – state sovereignty. In Windsor, the Court explains that because the “definition and regulation of marriage” is “within the authority and realm of the separate States,” a federal definition of marriage that creates “two contradictory marriage regimes within the same State” must fall.
Contraceptive mandate ruling (UPDATED)
UPDATE Friday 5:46 pm: Facing a Monday deadline, two Oklahoma corporations run by devoutly religious families got a temporary court order Friday afternoon, barring the government from enforcing the mandate to provide birth control health insurance for their employees, under the new federal health care law.
Drama over Baby Veronica goes on (UPDATED)
UPDATE Friday 5:51 pm: Supreme Court Justice Samuel A. Alito, Jr., on Friday afternoon ordered that the Court’s ruling in the “Baby Veronica” case will go into effect a week from now.
Menu of today’s coverage | June 25 (Updated: 10:39)
This morning the Court issued three opinions. We expect opinions again tomorrow at 10 a.m. ET. We will be live blogging beginning at 9. A transcript of today’s live blog is here.
SCOTUSblog media: Tuesday’s podcast
Take SCOTUSblog with you on your morning or evening run. This podcast will give you highlights of today’s opinions. Click to listen or right-click to download: June 25, 2013
Shadowboxing and unintended consequences
The Court today struck down a statute that did not exist. And it did so at the request of jurisdictions seeking a little extra “dignity” — who might end up with less dignity as a result.
Relist Watch
John Elwood reviews Monday’s relisted cases. As October Term 2012 races toward a close, ye faithful readers of Relist Watch – both of you – deserve your own well–timed dénouement.
Details on United States v. Windsor: In Plain English
The federal Defense of Marriage Act defines “marriage,” for purposes of over a thousand federal laws and programs, as a union between a man and a woman only. Today the Court ruled, by a vote of five to four, in an opinion by Justice Kennedy, that the law is unconstitutional.
Opinions recap: Giant step for gay marriage
Analysis Giving tens of thousands of already married same-sex couples in a growing list of states fully equal access to all benefits that the federal government provides for those who are wed, a closely divided Supreme Court on Wednesday struck down a 1996 law on the theory that it was aggressively anti-gay.
Details: Sekhar v. United States
In 1946, Congress enacted the Hobbs Act, which punishes extortion, “one of the oldest crimes in our legal tradition.” Extortion is the act of using a threat of force or violence to take someone else’s property.
Details on Hollingsworth v. Perry: In Plain English
The challenge to the constitutionality of California’s Proposition 8, which bans same-sex marriage: After the two same-sex couples filed their challenge to Proposition 8 in federal court in California, the California government officials who would normally have defended the law in court, declined to do so.
A “view” from the Court: June 26, 2013
So we know today is the last day of the Supreme Court’s Term, and we know there are three outstanding cases, the two same-sex marriage cases (United States v. Windsor and Hollingsworth v. Perry), and a case about the federal Hobbs Act (Sekhar v. United States).
Windsor and Perry: Twitter reactions
After weeks of waiting, the Court finally issued its decisions today in United States v. Windsor and Hollingsworth v. Perry, the challenges to the Defense of Marriage Act and California’s Proposition 8.
A one-two punch to the nation’s most prominent antigay laws
Suzanne Goldberg is a Professor of Law at Columbia Law School. Professor Goldberg was counsel of record on an amicus brief in support of the respondents in Hollingsworth v. Perry and was among the counsel on an amicus brief in support of the respondents in United States v. Windsor.
California moves fast on gay marriages (UPDATED)
UPDATE 7:06 pm. California’s attorney general said that she will be asking the Ninth Circuit Court to lift a stay order and thus enable same-sex marriages to go forward promptly in the state.
DOMA, Prop 8, and Justice Scalia’s intemperate dissent
Laurence H. Tribe is the Carl M. Loeb University Professor and Professor of Constitutional Law at Harvard Law School. Today’s decisions striking down the key provision of DOMA and dismissing for want of standing the appeal from the district court’s invalidation of California’s Prop 8 were not at all surprising.
Unraveling the Windsor knot
On Friday, Bloomberg BNA will host a webinar in which experts will discuss the impact of today’s DOMA decision on employers and employee benefits. More information about the webinar is available here.
Federalism marries liberty in the DOMA decision
Randy Barnett is the Carmack Waterhouse Professor of Legal Theory at the Georgetown University Law Center, and Director of the Georgetown Center for the Constitution Because the logic of Justice Kennedy’s opinion for the majority in Windsor is novel, it is likely to confuse observers as it seems to have confused the dissenters.
Bad news for marriage, good news for government power
William Duncan is the director of the Marriage Law Foundation. Like the lower court decisions in the case, the majority opinion in Windsor reads like a result in search of a reason.
A home run but not a grand slam for gay-marriage advocates: In Plain English
In some ways, it was déjà vu all over again. Just like last year, when it upheld the individual mandate of the Affordable Care Act, the Court saved the biggest cases of the Term – this time, challenges to California’s ban on same-sex marriage and the federal Defense of Marriage Act – for last.
The Court opts for an incremental approach but a major victory nonetheless
Paul Smith is a Partner in the DC office of Jenner & Block. So at long last the day has arrived. The Supreme Court has issued its rulings on the Defense of Marriage Act and Proposition 8.
Final October Term 2012 Stat Pack
[Updated June 27, 2013 2:50 PM: We have updated the Stat Pack to reflect the two petitions for certiorari that were granted today. The links below all feature updated information.] Our final Stat Pack for October Term 2012 is now available, and you can download it in its entirety here.
Taking sides on the meaning of marriage
Helen Alvare is a Professor of Law at George Mason University School of Law. Professor Alvare filed an amicus brief in support of Hollingsworth and BLAG.
Next on the agenda for marriage equality litigators…
Steve Sanders is associate professor at the Maurer School of Law, and an affiliated faculty member in political science and gender studies, at Indiana University Bloomington. He tweets @SteveSSanders.
Great expectations
The results of the marriage cases conformed to widespread expectations. Perry was resolved on procedural grounds; the Court held that the intervenors who defended Prop 8 lacked standing. DOMA was held unconstitutional in a five-to-four split, with majority opinion by Justice Anthony Kennedy.
Menu of today’s coverage (Updated 11:25 p.m.)
This morning the Court issued five decisions in argued cases and granted nine cases for next Term. Our live blog coverage is here. Mark Walsh reported on the atmosphere inside the courtroom this morning. Dan Stein has rounded up news coverage of today’s orders and opinions.
Evening round-up of news on today’s orders and opinions
The Court released opinions today in five argued cases. A full menu of this blog’s coverage of today’s decisions is available here. Dan Stein also did an early round-up of news coverage.
Commentary on Fisher: In with a bang, out with a fizzle
The Court’s decision today in Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin shows the folly of predicting outcomes with any degree of confidence. It brings to mind a story about when Thurgood Marshall was hospitalized with pneumonia in 1970.