Justices | Judiciary.org

Justices asked to strengthen the right to earn a living

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.

Under longstanding constitutional law, most laws survive constitutional challenges so long as the government has a “rational basis” for enacting them. This week, we highlight cert petitions that ask the court to consider, among other things, whether rational basis is the correct standard of review for a law that affects … Read the rest

Supreme Court

Justices grant review in cases on Bank Secrecy Act and False Claims Act

The Supreme Court on Tuesday morning added two cases — one involving the Bank Secrecy Act, the other involving the government’s power to dismiss fraud claims — to its 2022-23 docket. In a list of orders from the justices’ private conference last week, the justices also turned down – over a dissent from Justice Clarence Thomas that was joined by Justice Samuel Alito – a request from Ohio to reinstate the conviction and death sentence of an inmate who … Read the rest

Supreme Court

Justices curtail ability to get discovery in U.S. court for use in international arbitrations

In a decision that was much anticipated in the international business community, the Supreme Court on Monday clarified the scope of 28 U.S.C. § 1782, which allows an interested party to obtain discovery in the United States “for use in a proceeding in a foreign or international tribunal.” The court unanimously held in ZF Automotive US, Inc. v. Luxshare, Ltd. and AlixPartners, LLP v. Fund for Protection of Investors’ Rights in Foreign States that only a governmental or intergovernmental … Read the rest

Supreme Court

Justices broaden trial courts’ discretion in child-custody disputes under Hague Convention

The Supreme Court on Wednesday gave federal trial courts more discretion over whether children in some international custody disputes must be returned to their home countries. The unanimous decision in Golan v. Saada was the latest in a series of cases interpreting the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction, an international agreement adopted in 1980 to deal with international child abduction during domestic disputes.

Under the Hague Convention, children who are wrongfully taken from the … Read the rest

Supreme Court

Justices earned extra money from books and teaching in 2021, disclosures show

Justice Amy Coney Barrett received $ 425,000 last year as part of a book deal reportedly worth $ 2 million, while Justice Neil Gorsuch received just over $ 250,000 in book royalties. The news came in financial disclosures released on Thursday by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, the administrative agency of the federal judiciary.

The justices are required to file the financial disclosures every year by May 15, although Justice Samuel Alito’s disclosure was not included in … Read the rest

Supreme Court

Justices decline to block Biden policy on social costs of greenhouse gases

The Supreme Court on Thursday rejected a plea from Louisiana and nine other states to bar federal agencies from considering the social costs of greenhouse gases as part of their decision-making process. In a brief, unsigned order, the justices declined to reinstate a district-court ruling that had temporarily blocked the Biden administration from using the cost estimates. There were no dissents recorded from Thursday’s order.

The dispute in which the justices declined to intervene began last year, after President … Read the rest

Supreme Court

Justices grant review in two cases that test jurisdiction of district courts

The Supreme Court on Monday added two new cases, both involving the jurisdiction of federal district courts, to the merits docket for the 2022-23 term. And the justices called for the federal government’s views in two more cases, involving a school board’s responsibility for student-on-student sexual harassment and pleading requirements in cases brought under the False Claims Act.

In Securities and Exchange Commission v. Cochran, the justices agreed to decide whether federal district courts have the power to … Read the rest