Supreme Court

RICO injury, federal jurisdiction, and giving veterans the benefit of the doubt

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 is back in the relist business with a vengeance. On Monday, it granted review of the Biden administration’s newly relisted petition seeking to establish the lawfulness of its efforts to regulate so-called “ghost guns,” as well as the Commonwealth of Virginia’s first-time relist arguing that a plaintiff who won a … Read the rest

Supreme Court

On presidential immunity, a riveting national civics lesson

Today is the last day of argument for the 2023-24 term, and – as everyone in the courtroom knows – we are here to see what is probably the biggest case of the term: Trump v. United States.

Yesterday, after an intense argument over abortion and emergency care in Moyle v. United States, Chief Justice John Roberts popped over to Georgetown University Law Center’s annual end-of-arguments reception, which revolves around the law school’s Supreme Court Institute and … Read the rest

Supreme Court

Justices dubious about dismissing suits while waiting for arbitration

Monday’s argument in Smith v. Spizziri was this month’s case under the Federal Arbitration Act. This one explores what a trial court can do when it refers a pending suit to arbitration. Section 3 of the FAA says that if the court refers the case to arbitration, it “shall on application of one of the parties stay the trial of the action until such arbitration has been had.” The question is whether the trial court, instead of staying the … Read the rest

Supreme Court

Supreme Court to hear case on criminal penalties for homelessness

The Supreme Court will hear oral argument on Monday in a case that one legal expert has called the “most important Supreme Court case about homelessness in at least 40 years.” The issue before the court is the constitutionality of ordinances in an Oregon town that bar people who are homeless from using blankets, pillows, or cardboard boxes for protection from the elements while sleeping within the city limits. Defending the ordinances, the city contends that the laws simply … Read the rest

Supreme Court

Kentucky man says police violated Fourth Amendment by searching his backpack during arrest

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.

The Fourth Amendment generally bars police from searching people or their property without a warrant. The Supreme Court has made an exception for searches made during an arrest. But although that exception applies to arrestees themselves, it only extends to their nearby possessions if there is a risk they can … Read the rest

Supreme Court

The morning read for Wednesday, April 17

The court expects to issue one or more opinions this morning in argued cases from the current term. Following the opinion announcements, the court will hear oral arguments in Thornell v. Jones. 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:

Supreme Court gives skeptical eye to key statute used to prosecute Jan. 6 rioters (Nina Totenberg, NPR)
Takeaways from the Supreme Court’s

… Read the rest

Supreme Court

Court allows Idaho to generally enforce ban on gender-transition care for minors

The Supreme Court on Monday cleared the way for Idaho to temporarily enforce a state law criminalizing gender-transition care for minors against anyone who is not part of a lawsuit currently challenging that ban. In a brief order, the justices granted the state’s request to limit the scope of an earlier order entered by a federal district court in Idaho, which had barred the state from enforcing the law at all while a challenge to its constitutionality continues.

The … Read the rest

Supreme Court

Justices exempt bakery-truck drivers from arbitration requirement

The justices on Friday ruled in favor of a group of truck drivers who transport goods for Wonder Bread in their arbitration dispute. Bissonnette v. LePage Bakeries Park St. is another of the court’s numerous cases interpreting the Federal Arbitration Act’s command that courts enforce mandatory pre-dispute arbitration agreements. Bissonnette involves an exception from the FAA for any “class of workers engaged in foreign or interstate commerce,” and the question in Bissonnette is whether that exception turns on the … Read the rest