Supreme Court

The morning read for Friday, May 6

Each weekday, we select a short list of news articles, commentary, and other noteworthy links related to the Supreme Court. To suggest a piece for us to consider, email us at roundup@scotusblog.com.

Here’s the Friday morning read:

Chief Justice Roberts says Supreme Court leak won’t alter deliberations (Robert Barnes, The Washington Post)
Roe leak may impact how Supreme Court decides gun rights, climate and immigration cases this spring (Ariane de Vogue, CNN)
How the Supreme Court could proceed with

… Read the rest

Supreme Court

The morning read for Wednesday, May 4

Each weekday, we select a short list of news articles, commentary, and other noteworthy links related to the Supreme Court. To suggest a piece for us to consider, email us at roundup@scotusblog.com.

Here’s the Wednesday morning read:

What a Supreme Court Ruling on Roe v. Wade Would Mean for Women (Laura Kusisto, Liz Essley Whyte, & Jennifer Calfas, The Wall Street Journal)
Abortion Draft Raises Alarm Over Privacy, LGBTQ Rights (Kimberly Strawbridge Robinson & Jordan S. Rubin, Bloomberg Law)

… Read the rest

Supreme Court

Court has voted to overturn Roe, according to draft opinion published by Politico

The Supreme Court has voted to overturn Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey, according to a copy of an apparent draft opinion obtained by Politico.

Obtained by reporters Josh Gerstein and Alexander Ward, the 98-page draft opinion by Justice Samuel Alito is dated Feb. 10, 2022. It is styled as the “opinion of the Court” in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, in which Mississippi and its supporters have asked the justices to eliminate the … Read the rest

Supreme Court

Capital defendant whose lawyer conceded guilt despite his objection seeks relief from Supreme Court

This week we highlight cert petitions that ask the Supreme Court to consider, among other things, a capital defendant’s request for habeas relief on the ground that his lawyer conceded guilt over his objection, as in 2018’s McCoy v. Louisiana.

Though the inmate in the 2018 case, Robert McCoy, had insisted that he was innocent, his lawyer considered the evidence against McCoy “overwhelming” and counseled that the best strategy to avoid the death penalty was to concede guilt. … Read the rest

Supreme Court

Republicans call ethics hearing a double-standard; Democrats call for a standard

On the same day that Congress approved legislation to improve the justices’ financial disclosure transparency, a House panel was caught up in a political scuffle over legislative proposals for broader Supreme Court reform, including a binding code of ethics.

At the hearing on Wednesday, Democrats on the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property, and the Internet raised concerns over apparent ethical lapses by the justices and the court’s legitimacy. Chair Hank Johnson, D-Ga., opened by pointing to the … Read the rest

Supreme Court

Tough questions for both sides in dispute over “remain in Mexico” policy

The Supreme Court heard oral argument on Tuesday in the battle over the Biden administration’s efforts to end one of the Trump administration’s signature immigration policies. The lower courts ordered the Biden administration to reinstate the controversial policy, which requires asylum seekers to stay in Mexico while they wait for a hearing in U.S. courts. During nearly two hours of oral argument in Biden v. Texas, the justices appeared torn on whether the Biden administration must maintain the … Read the rest

Supreme Court

In the case of the praying football coach, both sides invoke religious freedom

Joseph Kennedy had never coached football when Bremerton High School, a public school near Seattle, Washington, hired him in 2008. He was too small to play in high school, and his football experience was limited to playing for two years while he was in Hawaii serving in the Marines.

Kennedy describes the school district’s decision to hire him to coach the school’s junior varsity team and to serve as an assistant for the varsity team as a “fluke”: His … Read the rest

Supreme Court

Justices will clarify how death-row prisoners can contest a state’s method of execution

The Supreme Court doesn’t care all that much for method-of-execution challenges. It particularly disfavors Eighth Amendment litigation attacking familiar lethal injection protocols as “cruel and unusual” punishment. In the past 20 years, the court has announced substantive constitutional law, pleading requirements, and timeliness rules that make it harder to win such arguments. Nance v. Ward (to be argued on Monday) is about the procedural vehicle that prisoners must use to challenge execution methods. The case is important because Georgia’s … Read the rest