At its Conference on January 12, the Supreme Court announced that it would hear twelve new cases, including an important Texas voting right case and a potentially significant case about whether states can tax their residents’ purchases from out-of-state vendors. In Abbott v. Perez, the Court agreed to hear a pair of appeals from the … Continue reading Conference Report: January 12, 2018 Conference →

On Monday, the Supreme Court gave a death row inmate another chance to persuade the federal courts to consider whether his sentencing proceeding was infected with racial bias. The opinion in this case,  Tharpe v. Sellers, was issued as part of the Order List from the Court’s January 5, 2018 Conference. The Court did not … Continue reading Conference Report: January 5, 2018 Conference →

Over the last two weeks, the Supreme Court has granted cert in eight new cases and has issued a number of rulings of note. First, on Friday, December 8, in a 5-4 order, the Court granted a stay of a discovery order in a case challenging the Trump Administration’s decision to end the DACA program … Continue reading Conference Report: December 1 and 8 Conferences →

On Monday, the Court issued orders from its pre-Thanksgiving Conference. It did not grant any new cases for full argument. In the most notable denial of certiorari, the Court declined to hear Kolbe v. Hogan, a challenge to a Maryland law that bans semiautomatic rifles and magazines. The law was passed in the wake of … Continue reading Conference Report – November 21, 2017 Conference →

The Supreme Court issued orders from the November 9th conference on Monday morning.  The justices added three new cases to their docket and denied certiorari in a death penalty case from Alabama. All three of the cases that were added to the docket are First Amendment cases. The first, National Institute of Family and Life … Continue reading Conference Report – November 10, 2017 Conference →

As part of its Order List from its November 3 Conference, the Supreme Court on Monday issued two summary decisions reversing lower court rulings in favor of habeas petitioners. It did not otherwise grant review in any new cases. The first case, Dunn v. Madison, involves the execution of an Alabama inmate who cannot remember … Continue reading Conference Report – November 3, 2017 Conference →

On Monday, the Court released its Order List from the October 27 Conference. It didn’t add any new merits cases to the docket, but there were still a few noteworthy orders. In one closely watched case, the Court denied certiorari in 616 Croft Ave., LLC et al. v. West Hollywood, CA. The builders of a … Continue reading Conference Report – October 27 Conference →