U.S. Courts News Reporter
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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.
Just before the Supreme Court begins its new term on the first Monday in October, the court gathers to consider all the hundreds of cert petitions that have built up over the summer. The court’s so-called “long conference” took place on Sept. 30 this year, and it yielded 15 granted cases so far. … Read the rest
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The justices on Tuesday were divided over a dispute regarding attorney’s fees for plaintiffs in civil rights cases. A federal appeals court in Richmond, Va., ruled that a group of drivers challenging a state motor vehicle law was entitled to reimbursement of their attorney’s fees because a federal district court had issued an order that temporarily barred the state from enforcing the law – and then the Virginia legislature repealed the law. During roughly 80 minutes of oral argument … Read the rest
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Twice in the past decade the Supreme Court has blocked Oklahoma from executing Richard Glossip. Now the state has joined Glossip to argue that newly uncovered evidence shows prosecutors violated his rights at trial. But even with the Oklahoma’s rare confession of error, both the state’s highest court for criminal cases and the state’s pardon and parole board turned down Glossip’s pleas for relief. On Oct. 9, two former U.S. solicitors general – Seth Waxman, representing Glossip, and Paul … Read the rest
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The Supreme Court on Friday turned down a request from Republican-led states and industry groups to block a rule from the Environmental Protection Agency that imposes more stringent standards on emissions of hazardous air pollutants from coal-fired power plants. At the same time, the justices turned down a similar request from Oklahoma and industry groups to block an EPA rule that seeks to regulate emissions of methane, a powerful greenhouse gas, from crude-oil and natural gas facilities.
Friday’s … Read the rest
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The Supreme Court on Friday denied a request from the campaign committee for Robert F. Kennedy Jr., to reinstate him to New York’s ballot for the 2024 presidential election. Kennedy suspended his campaign in August and endorsed former President Donald Trump. A New York court had ordered the state’s board of elections to strike him from the ballot because Kennedy – who lives in California – had used an address in New York in his filing papers, but Kennedy … Read the rest
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The Supreme Court on Tuesday declined to block the execution of Marcellus Williams, who in 2001 was convicted and sentenced to death for the 1998 stabbing murder of Felicia Gayle. None of the forensic evidence found in Gayle’s house tied Williams to the scene and his lawyers argued there was reason to believe he was innocent. The lawyer who prosecuted Williams also testified that he excluded at least one potential juror because of that juror’s race.
Williams was executed … Read the rest
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The Supreme Court on Friday left in place a ruling by the Nevada Supreme Court that keeps the Green Party off the state’s ballot for the 2024 general election. The Green Party had asked the justices to vacate the ruling while it appealed that decision, but in a brief unsigned order, the justices declined to do so.
Friday’s order means that Jill Stein, the Green Party’s candidate for president, will not appear on the ballot in Nevada in November. … Read the rest
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The Supreme Court on Wednesday temporarily barred the Biden administration from implementing one of its latest efforts to provide debt relief to Americans with student loans. In a brief unsigned order, the justices declined to allow the Department of Education to put into effect a July 2023 rule, known as the SAVE Plan, intended to provide debt relief for lower-income borrowers while challenges to the rule continue in the lower courts.
There were no dissents recorded from Wednesday’s order, … Read the rest