In my new role as Director of the Institute on the Supreme Court of the United States, I am happy to introduce “Drama in the Court,” a new series on ISCOTUSnow. “Drama in the Court” will offer a weekly post in which I revisit interesting moments at oral argument in the Supreme Court. I will … Continue reading Introducing a New ISCOTUS Series: Drama in the Court
Case: Prado Navarette v. California By Professor Christopher Schmidt This one was a bit crazy from the start. One just senses that Chief Justice Roberts was sitting there as the first lawyer kicked off oral argument, tapping his foot impatiently, counting the seconds before a respectable amount of time had passed so he could pounce … Continue reading Hypotheticals Gone Wild – A Look Back at Oral Arguments in Navarette v. California
Case: National Labor Relations Board v. Noel Canning Last week’s Supreme Court oral arguments on the President’s recess appointment power was absolutely fascinating. National Labor Relations Board v. Noel Canning might seem on the surface a rather dry, technical case. But it has potentially dramatic implications. (Here is my colleague Carolyn Shapiro’s excellent summary of … Continue reading Constitutional First Principles on Display: A Look Back at Oral Arguments in NLRB v. Noel Canning
Case: Smith v. Maryland The precedent that looms over the legal challenges to the NSA’s massive phone data collection is the 1979 case of Smith v. Maryland. The issue before the Supreme Court in Smith was whether the police’s use of a pen register—a device that identifies the numbers dialed from a particular phone—constituted a … Continue reading Pork Chops and Privacy: Looking Back at Oral Arguments in Smith v. Maryland