Money talks…or so the saying goes. This is especially true in the world of politics with multi-million dollar campaigns that could not survive without it. Federal judges, however, are unelected and so they do not run political campaigns that leave financial trails. Once on the bench, federal judges must preserve a sense of impartiality which…
Comparing Candidates for the Next United States Solicitor General
Eleven possibilities for the next Solicitor General of the United States. There are in fact many more possible candidates although the eleven names produced in two articles – one by Tony Mauro of the National Law Journal and another by David Lat, managing editor of Above the Law provide an ample source of talented lawyers…
Four Takeaways From this Term’s 2016 SCOTUS Oral Arguments
We are experiencing a changing of the guard in the Supreme Court. There has been an usually long period with an eight-Justice dynamic which will very possibly continue on through the end of the Court’s current Term. Without some unprecedented occurrence, President-Elect Trump will nominate the next Justice to the Supreme Court who will likely…
Early Term Decisions
The Supreme Court released two more decisions today in Samsung Electronics Co. v. Apple Inc. and Salman v. United States. Both were unanimous – the Samsung decision written by Justice Sotomayor and Salman by Justice Alito. This brings the total number of authored decisions so far this Term to four. All were unanimous and the only separate opinion was a concurrence by…
Will the Election Help Normalize Business at the Supreme Court?
Prior to the Presidential Election there was profound uncertainty about the future of the Court. Before election night many believed Clinton would take the presidency and the democrats would look to move on the Garland nomination or otherwise nominate another candidate to the Supreme Court. With the Trump victory an entirely new chapter will be…
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…
Reasons to Suspect Trump Will Nominate a Federal Court of Appeals Judge to SCOTUS
Well before he is even ready to take control of the Oval Office, President-Elect Trump is engaging in unique Executive Branch politics. In terms of the Supreme Court vacancy, Trump, who has an acute awareness of how to use media and spin to his advantage, released two lists totaling twenty-one potential nominees for the seat on…
An Alternate Take on Trump’s Potential Supreme Court Nominees
Making sense out of who Donald Trump may nominate to the Supreme Court is a very different exercise than doing the same for Hillary Clinton. Trump, unlike Clinton, is not a career politician, and he has campaigned on a platform designating himself as an outsider looking to reform the Washington establishment. Trump’s list of potential…
Immediate Effect of the Election on the Court and the Justices
The Justices have languished for months with the uncertainty of who will fill the empty seat on the Court. This uncertainty will by no means end soon, but the impending election and the election itself may have had a cathartic effect on the Justices. There is now greater likelihood that the empty seat will be…
Supreme Obstruction and the 2016 Senatorial Election Mandate
Let’s begin with a few political facts. Presidential elections are held every four years. Senatorial elections are held every two. Supreme Court Justices are appointed for life (Article III of the Constitution actually provides that federal judges “shall hold their offices during good behavior” but this has become synonymous with life tenure). These terms of…
Under the Radar With GVRs
A regular yet often overlooked practice in the Supreme Court is the grant, vacate remand or GVR. A GVR is a summary disposition where, generally (although not always) based on a plenary decision, the Court grants certiorari in a case, vacates the lower court’s decision, and remands the case back to the lower court based…
The Supreme Court’s Gender Balance
The Supreme Court heard five oral arguments this week. This was one of the two weeks with five arguments scheduled on the Supreme Court’s argument calendar so far in the 2016 Term. All other weeks in the first three argument sessions have fewer scheduled arguments. By comparison, the Justices heard six arguments in two of…
Empirical SCOTUS 