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A Sharp Dissent

Yesterday, the Court announced its opinion in the case of Genesis Health Care v. Symczyk. In a 5-4 decision, the Court held that if a plaintiff’s individual claim becomes moot before a collective action is certified in a Fair Labor Standard Act case, the whole case is moot. But the Court assumed, without deciding, that the plaintiff’s claim in fact was moot. In a remarkably conversational dissent, Justice Kagan asks, “But what if that premise is bogus?” She goes on to explain that the plaintiff’s claim in this case was not in fact moot, making the majority opinion “the most one-off of one-offs” and “fit for nothing,” and she argues that the majority is “wrong, wrong, and wrong again.” Could Justice Kagan be vying to rival Justice Scalia in the quotability and sharpness of her dissents?

DOMA Arguments

Case:

United States v. Windsor

In the second of two same-sex marriage cases, the Court on Wednesday will consider the constitutionality of the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act. Oyez will have audio from the arguments by 2:00 PM Eastern Time, and a synchronized, searchable transcript will follow roughly 2 hours later.

UPDATE: The audio and transcript are now available.

Download our recently released (free!) ISCOTUSnow app for iPhone and iPad for instant access to the audio when it’s released. And check out our deep dive for a great primer on the issues.

Today’s Prop. 8 Argument Audio – Now available

Case:

Hollingsworth v. Perry

Oyez will have oral argument audio in today’s Prop. 8 case around 1:00 PM Eastern Time today, moments after we have the audio from the Court. A synchronized, searchable transcript of the audio will be posted roughly 90 minutes after the audio.

UPDATE: The audio and transcript are now available.

For easy access to the audio and transcript, check out our ISCOTUSnow app for iPhone and iPad.

Forum on the Same Sex Marriage Cases

Case:

United States v. Windsor

On Wednesday, May 27, 2013, at 3 pm CDT, IIT Chicago-Kent is presenting a forum on the same sex marriage cases. The forum will be streaming live here and will be posted later on Chicago-Kent’s YouTube channel. The event is cosponsored by ISCOTUS, as well as by the Chicago-Kent Lambdas and the Chicago-Kent chapters of The Federalist Society and The American Constitution Society. Panelists are Professors Steven Heyman, Katharine Baker, and Christopher Schmidt, and the event will be moderated by ISCOTUS director Professor Carolyn Shapiro. (All of these Chicago-Kent faculty members — and several of their colleagues — can also be seen discussing key issues in the cases here.)