Supreme Court

OT2023’s last grants?

The Relist Watch column examines cert petitions that the Supreme Court has “relisted” for its upcoming conference. A short explanation of relists is available here.

At last week’s conference, the Supreme Court had 472 petitions and applications before it – including three new relists, which yielded (so far) zero grants. On Monday the court denied review in the relisted climate change case, but all of last week’s other relists are back again this week.

This week’s conference is … Read the rest

Supreme Court

Government power, from federal agencies to counties, highlights January session

The justices returned to the bench on Jan. 8 for a packed session of oral arguments – starting with immigration policy and the post-9/11 “No Fly List” and ending on Jan. 17 with two cases that could upend the functional power of the federal administrative state.

Monday’s arguments began with two consolidated cases, Campos-Chaves v. Garland and Garland v. Singh, in which the court will consider what kind of notice the government must provide before a noncitizen can … Read the rest

Supreme Court

Justices take up abortion case pitting state against federal law

The Supreme Court on Friday afternoon granted a request from Idaho and the state’s Republican-controlled legislature to temporarily put on hold a ruling by a federal district court that would require emergency rooms in the state to provide abortions to pregnant women in an emergency. The justices agreed to weigh in on the question at the center of the dispute: whether the federal law on which the lower court relied trumps an Idaho law that criminalizes most abortions in … Read the rest

Supreme Court

The constitutionality of a magnet school’s admissions policy

The Relist Watch column examines cert petitions that the Supreme Court has “relisted” for its upcoming conference. A short explanation of relists is available here.

The Supreme Court will consider a whopping 472 petitions and applications at this Friday’s conference, making it the biggest conference since the behemoth end-of-summer “long conference.” The justices will be reconsidering three cert petitions for the first time.

Last June, the Supreme Court invalidated the undergraduate admissions programs at Harvard and the University of … Read the rest

Supreme Court

Texas man on death row presses claim of attorney abandonment

The Petitions of the Week column highlights a selection of cert petitions recently filed in the Supreme Court. A list of all petitions we’re watching is available here.

Individuals held in state prison can challenge their convictions in federal court through a device known as a petition for a writ of habeas corpus. But under the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996, known as AEDPA, they generally only have one opportunity to do so. This week, … Read the rest

Supreme Court

AI won’t displace human judges, but will affect judiciary, Roberts says in annual report

In his annual report, Chief Justice John Roberts on Sunday addressed the future of artificial intelligence in the judiciary. Roberts predicted that “human judges will be around for a while,” but he also suggested that “judicial work—particularly at the trial level—will be significantly affected by AI,” and he assured members of the public that committees within the federal judiciary would consider the use of AI in litigation in the federal courts.

Roberts submits the annual report each year on … Read the rest

Supreme Court

The morning read for Friday, December 29

Each weekday, we select a short list of news articles, commentary, and other noteworthy links related to the Supreme Court. Here’s the Friday morning read:

US Supreme Court officially asked to take up Trump’s 14th Amendment issue (Zach Montellaro, Politico)
She lost her gun rights for passing a bad check. Now she wants the Supreme Court to restore them. (Dennis Romboy, Deseret News)
Legal scholar: SCOTUS rejecting Jack Smith’s immunity request “might actually be bad news for Trump” (Tatyana

… Read the rest

Supreme Court

The morning read for Wednesday, December 27

Each weekday, we select a short list of news articles, commentary, and other noteworthy links related to the Supreme Court. Here’s the Wednesday morning read:

How Supreme Court Practice Has Changed (and Stayed the Same) Headed Into 2024 (Jimmy Hoover, The National Law Journal)
What the Supreme Court Will Do with Trump’s Colorado Ballot Disqualification (Dahlia Lithwick & Jeremy Stahl, Slate)
The Supreme Court’s refusal to expedite Trump’s immunity claim could make or break the 2024 election (Austin Sarat,

… Read the rest