Although all eyes have been on the Kavanaugh nomination, the Supreme Court has continued to go about its business. It will have its first day of oral arguments on Monday, October 1. (For an in-depth review of the upcoming Term, listen to this National Constitution Center podcast.) And last week, the Court announced that it would be adding several more cases to its docket. In Tennessee Wine and Spirits Retailers Association v. Byrd, the Court granted the Tennessee Wine and Spirits Retailers Association’s petition for writ of certiorari. As the Wine Spectator explains, Tennessee law requires a person to reside in Tennessee for two years before being eligible for a retail license to sell liquor to consumers. The Sixth Circuit, however, held that this law violates the dormant Commerce Clause. This holding created a circuit split, as the Eighth Circuit has held that such laws are valid exercises of the authority granted to the States via the Twenty-first Amendment, which ended prohibition and gave states the power to control the distribution and sale of liquor within their own borders. The decision in this case could have implications for the twenty-one other states with similar durational-residency laws.
The Court will also hear a case for which Supreme Court nominee Judge Brett Kavanaugh wrote the opinion in the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. The Court granted cert in Azar, Secretary of Health and Human Services v. Allina Health Services, in which the D.C. Circuit held that HHS should have conducted a notice-and-comment process before providing instructions to a Medicare Administrative Contractor that might have changed reimbursement rates.
The Court also granted certiorari in Home Depot U.S.A. Inc. v. Jackson, involving the removal of class action claims from state to federal court, and in Thacker v. Tennessee Valley Authority, which addresses the scope of federal sovereign immunity.
Finally, the Court denied the last appeals of Daniel Acker to stay his execution, allowing Texas to carry out Mr. Acker’s execution on Thursday.
Written by Zoe Arthurson-McColl and Bridget Flynn, edited by Matthew Webber; overseen by ISCOTUS co-director Carolyn Shapiro.