U.S. Supreme Court

The Court is on winter recess until the Justices reconvene for the Conference of February 17.  Our “Petitions to watch” for that Conference is here. The February sitting begins February 21.

The Obama Administration asked the Supreme Court on Friday to expand by a half-hour — to a total of six hours — the time allowed for oral arguments in late March on the constitutionality of the new federal health care law.   In a ten-page motion, U.S. Solicitor General Donald B. Verrilli, Jr., said the added [...]

With the Court still in its mid-term recess, today’s clippings focus on the activities of Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Sonia Sotomayor. The AP’s Mark Sherman (via the Traverse City (Mich.) Record-Eagle) reports that Justice Ginsburg has returned from her visit to Egypt and Tunisia, a trip that was sponsored by the State Department. Speaking [...]

The Supreme Court will conclude its oral arguments for the current Term with the major case on a state’s power to pass laws to control undocumented immigrants living in the state — Arizona v. United States (docket 11-182) — on April 25.   The Court on Friday released the April calendar, listing cases to be heard [...]

At its February 17, 2012 Conference, the Court will consider such issues as the burden of persuasion for warrantless searches of residences, the use of a defendant’s pre-arrest silence, grandparent visitation, whether human genes are patentable, and exhaustion under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. This edition of “Petitions to watch” features petitions raising issues [...]

This is another post in an ongoing series analyzing statistical trends at the Court. For a more complete look at the statistics that we collect on the Court, you can find all of our up-to-date charts and graphs here. Pace of Opinions. The Court has released opinions at a blistering pace through the first half [...]

The petition of the day is:

The Ninth Circuit Court on Thursday barred the public release of a videotape recording of the historic trial two years ago on the constitutionality of California’s Proposition 8 — a voter-approved ban on same-sex marriage in the state.   The three-judge panel, in a unanimous ruling, found that the trial judge had promised both sides in the [...]

Although the Justices are in their mid-term recess, coverage of the Court continues to focus on last week’s decision in United States v. Jones. Writing for Fox News, Robert Samuel of NewsCore reports on the lack of consensus regarding whether the Court’s decision in Jones requires authorities to obtain warrants before attaching GPS devices to [...]

The first ruling by the Ninth Circuit Court on California’s controversial ban on same-sex marriage — but not an ultimate ruling on the ban’s constitutionality — will be released Thursday morning, the Circuit Court announced Wednesday.  Coming out at 1 p.m. Washington time (10 a.m. in San Francisco), this will be a decision on whether the courts will [...]

The petition of the day is:

The Justices are now in their mid-term recess, setting us up for several weeks in which we will not get any new opinions or orders.  But before starting their break, the Justices gave us a parting gift:  three opinions in argued cases.  And the debate generated by one of those decisions in particular could well [...]

The Court’s recent opinion in United States v. Jones continued to provoke coverage and commentary yesterday.  At The Lakeland (Minn.) Times, Richard Moore breaks down the majority and concurring opinions.  And at The Hill’s Congress Blog, Christopher Wolf and Jules Polonetsky address Justice Alito’s suggestion that “in circumstances involving dramatic technological change, the best solution [...]

The petition of the day is:

SCOTUSblog is now accepting applications from current law students interested in interning with us.  Details about the position’s qualifications and responsibilities, as well as how to apply, are below the jump. The principal focus of the internship (which is a paid one)  will be assisting Tom with the “Petition of the Day” and “Petitions to [...]

With the Court’s winter recess underway, commentators continue their discussion of last week’s decision in United States v. Jones, the GPS tracking case. At this blog, Tom Goldstein provides an extended analysis of why Jones is less of a pro-privacy case than many initially reported, and why the opinions “may be the result of extremely [...]

The petition of the day is:

John Elwood reviews Monday’s relisted and held cases. Last Monday brought bad news for respondents in Ryburn v. Huff, 11-208, as we finally got the predicted opinion in that four-time-relisted case.  The Court summarily reversed the Ninth Circuit’s decision, holding that police officers were entitled to qualified immunity for their entry into the Huffs’ house [...]

Last week’s decision in United States v. Jones, the GPS tracking case, remained a popular topic for commentators over the weekend.  In an op-ed for the New York Times, Barry Friedman contends that in an age of lives lived online, Jones “may turn the Fourth Amendment into a ticking time bomb, set to self-destruct – [...]

I want to return to Jones for what will probably be my final thoughts on the case for a while.  In earlier posts here and here, I explained why the widespread initial reaction that the Court’s decision in Jones requires the police to get a warrant to install a GPS tracking device was incorrect. Having [...]