Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission appears to be the Supreme Court case garnering the most public attention this term. The question in the case is whether a baker’s First Amendment rights (free speech and/or free expression) are violated when a law compels him to bake a cake for a couple in violation of his sincerely held…
Category: Cases
Who’s on the Case: Successful Cert Petitions 2017
The Supreme Court has its calendar set through January 2018 with ten cases already accepted for argument that are as of yet unscheduled. The total number of case grants so far is 53, and with consolidated cases this will lead to 47 arguments. This puts the Court on pace for one of the slowest grant rates…
Fast Out of the Gates (SCOTUS’ October 2017 Oral Arguments)
On October 2nd, the Supreme Court will be back in session with the first oral arguments of 2017. Since Justice Scalia passed away in February 2016 the justices have taken a light caseload and generally have not heard cases that would lead to great rifts among themselves. This non-divisive set of cases during the 2016…
Petitions to Watch For From SCOTUS’ Long Conference
Each October before the Supreme Court begins its term, the justices meet for the “long conference” to review the Court’s agenda. The justice held this conference for the upcoming term two days ago on September 25th. During this conference the justices meet to discuss petitions to the Court for the upcoming term. This is the…
A Primer on The Government’s Participation Before the Supreme Court at the Start of the 2017 Term
On the Merits The most prolific player before the Supreme Court, the federal government through the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG), should have its hands full this year. As is often the case, the OSG is involved in a large portion of the term’s first set cases. Even before the term begins though the…
The Court’s Recent Lack of Support for the Federal Government’s Agenda
This is the first of a series of two posts examining the federal government’s litigation in the Supreme Court. While this post looks at the last several terms of government litigation, the next will analyze the government’s upcoming cases. The federal government, through the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG), is the most frequent…
The Year of the Patent
Possibly due to its eight Justice configuration, the Supreme Court heard a unique slate of cases this term with no noted landmark cases or decisions. Then again perhaps landmark is in the eye of the beholder. This term the Supreme Court heard six patent cases which conceivably is the most such cases the Supreme Court has heard…
The Final Stretch: Cases from the Last Two Months of Supreme Court Oral Arguments
Two months of oral arguments remain on the Supreme Court’s calendar. That equates to twenty-four arguments with eleven in March and thirteen in April (some with consolidated cases). The Court usually saves some of the most publicly recognized cases for the end of the term. Last year in March and April the Court took up…
The Supreme Court and the Next Generation of Executive Power Cases
Over the past several months an entirely new class of executive power-related concerns have percolated through the national media and have begun burgeoning in federal courts. Prior to the election of President-Elect Trump, few knew about the Emoluments Clause in the Constitution and how it could be violated. Just this morning Trump’s comments on Twitter…
Breaking Down Arguments in Samsung v. Apple
On Tuesday the Justices heard oral arguments in the highly anticipated patent case, Samsung v. Apple. With this case, the Justices wrestled with the question of whether Samsung infringed on Apple’s front screen and interface on the IPhone. The stakes are quite high as the appellate court upheld a $400-million verdict against Samsung. While patent…
Redistricting Precedent in Light of Evenwel
The Supreme Court decided Evenwel v. Abbott this week – a case with vast implications for legislative districts. Some see the decision as snubbing Republicans by ruling that states and localities should use total rather than voting population to draw these districts. Other commentary views the ruling as sufficiently narrow to allow future litigation in the same…
Zubik and the Free Exercise Context
(image via The Atlantic) One of the most anticipated decisions of the current Supreme Court Term is forthcoming in the case Zubik v. Burwell. Zubik follows in the footsteps of another recent case: Hobby Lobby v. Burwell, 134 S.Ct. 2751 (2014). Both cases deal with First Amendment challenges under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) to…
Empirical SCOTUS 