Supreme Court

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

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

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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

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

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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

Civil Law

Senate Grows Impatient with PTAB

Tillis/Hirono Demand Answers on OpenSky

Barely on the job for a week, Director Vidal is already being politically pressured to address a festering issue of patent policy.   That issue—the use of a recycled IPR petition as a means to collaterally attack large damage verdicts— is a self-inflicted wound for the agency.  The OpenSky business model wouldn’t exist absent the ill conceived expansion of discretionary denial practices under former Director Iancu.

Senator Tillis (a vocal supporter of Director Iancu) sent a … Read the rest

Supreme Court

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

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

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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

Civil Law

CBP to Issue Warning Letters to Certain Importers in Advance of Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act Implementation

In December 2021, President Biden signed the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (“UFLPA”) into law. The UFLPA creates a rebuttable presumption that goods “mined, produced, or manufactured wholly or in part” in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (“XUAR”) of China, or by certain other entities in China, are made with forced labor and that such goods, wares, articles, and merchandise are not entitled to entry to the United States.[1] The presumption applies unless the Commissioner of … Read the rest

Supreme Court

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

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

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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

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

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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