Introduction While few people would argue against the proposition that the Supreme Court Justices are some of the most intelligent legal luminaries in the United States, these luminaries often rule in opposing directions. The number of the Court’s split decisions often outnumber the number of unanimous decisions. During the 2021 Term, the number of 6-3…
Category: Federal Appeals Courts
Citing Down the Ladder
One of if not the most well-known sentences from a Supreme Court opinion comes in the form of John Marshall’s line in Marbury v. Madison, “It is emphatically the duty of the Judicial Department to say what the law is.” This short sentence signified a power grab whereby the Supreme Court took on judicial review…
SCOTUS Predictions Based on Lower Court Judges
One of the best ways to forecast future events is through past trends. The U.S. Supreme Court hears the majority of its cases after a decision is rendered by one of the 13 federal courts of appeals. Since there are 13 circuits and the Supreme Court takes somewhere between 60 and 70 cases each term…
A Tale of Two Presidents
On April 19, 2021 President Biden released his first slate of judicial nominees. Along with five district court nominees and two other appeals court nominees, Biden nominated (now) Justice Ketanji Jackson to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals. Jackson was confirmed to the D.C. Circuit on June 14, 2021 and less than a year later…
Justice Brown Jackson Won’t Shift the Court, but Will She Shake Up the Liberals?
One of the loftiest decisions that a president can make is the choice of an individual to nominate to the Supreme Court. On average a new appointment to the Supreme Court is made every 2.5 years. President Trump lucked out in this respect with three nominations. Four presidents — Andrew Johnson, Harrison, Taylor, and Carter —…
A Comprehensive Look at Judge Amy Coney Barrett
Judge Amy Coney Barrett, now Supreme Court nominee, has followed a well-worn path of justices before her. President Trump nominated her to the Seventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on November 2, 2017. She was then nominated to the Supreme Court, just under three years later, on September 26, 2020. Chief Justice Roberts, nominated by…
The Heightened Importance of the Federal Circuit
This term the Supreme Court will hear arguments in its 100th case decided below by the Federal Circuit. The Court’s recent grant of the case Kisor v. Wilkie for argument also marks the fourth case granted from the Federal Circuit this term. This is by no means a small fraction of the Court’s total caseload….
Empirical SCOTUS 