On Friday November 16, 2018, the Court granted the petition for certiorari in In Re Department of Commerce, et al., a case in which they previously denied the request to delay a trial over a dispute about whether a question relating to citizenship status should be included on the 2020 census. As The Hill discusses, … Continue reading The Census Case Grant and Other Orders
After the Supreme Court justices met in Conference on October 26, the Court called for the views of the Solicitor General in two cases. In Swartz v. Rodriguez, the Court is asking the Solicitor General to weigh in on issues relating to an implied remedy for damages and qualified immunity where a United States border … Continue reading Conference Report: October 26 Conference
Last Friday, the Supreme Court agreed to hear Manhattan Community Access Corp. v. Halleck, a case about when and whether a private entity that runs a public access channel is a “state actor.” The question is important because state actors can be held liable for violating constitutional rights; private actors generally cannot. As the Legal Information Institute … Continue reading New Case on State Action: Manhattan Community Access Corp. v. Halleck
Although the Supreme Court has held two Conferences since it began hearing oral arguments in October, it has not added any new cases to its argument docket for the Term. [Correction: it added one case on Friday, October 12. See here for details.] Indeed, the Order Lists from those Conferences were fairly uneventful. The Court … Continue reading Orders Lists: October 9 and 15, 2018
In a 5-4 opinion, which was quickly criticized by some as “flagrantly political” and “nakedly political,” and praised by others as “a victory for election integrity, ”the Court reversed the Sixth Circuit’s decision in Husted v. A Philip Randolph Institute. The Court held that the voter list-maintenance process in Ohio does not violate the National … Continue reading Opinions and Orders: Voting Rights, Contracts Clause, and Class Actions
On Monday, the Supreme Court asked the United States Solicitor General to weigh in on four petitions for certiorari when it released the Order List from its April 13 Conference. And it denied the petition filed by former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich, who was convicted of seeking campaign contributions in exchange for official acts. Blagojevich … Continue reading Conference Report: April 13, 2018 Conference
The Supreme Court added only one new case to its docket for next year in its two most recent Conferences, held on March 23 and March 29. The Court granted certiorari in Stokeling v. United States, a case about the definition of “violent felony” under the Armed Career Criminal Act (“ACCA”), 18 U.S.C. §924(e)(2)(B)(i). Because … Continue reading Conference Report: March 23 and 29 Conferences
On Monday, March 19, the Court released orders from the March 16 conference. The Court granted certiorari for Nielson v. Preap, a case concerning whether a noncitizen, pursuant to 8 U.S.C. §1226(c) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, is exempt from mandatory detention if the Department of Homeland Security does not take him into immigration … Continue reading Conference Report: March 16, 2018 Conference
On Tuesday morning, the Court released orders from its February 16 Conference. No new petitions for writs of certiorari were granted, and perhaps the most significant news was a failure to rule at all. Specifically, the Court did not rule on the federal government’s petition for review concerning the Trump administration’s termination of the policy … Continue reading Conference Report: Conference of February 16, 2018
On January 19, the Supreme Court held its last Conference until February 16 and on the same day it announced its decision to grant review in the latest travel ban case, Trump v. Hawaii. This case involves one of several legal challenges to President’s Trump third executive order restricting entry into the country primarily by … Continue reading Conference Report: January 19, 2018 Conference