Gorsuch and the Liberals The Supreme Court released five decisions on Monday with five more (and a DIG) coming out on Wednesday. These did not include the highly publicized decisions on guns, abortion, or border policy. The decision in Denezpi v. United States struck me as interesting based on the composition of the dissent with…
Tag: Sessions v. Dimaya
Changes Are Afoot: Evidence from 5-4 Decisions During the 2018 Term and What this Tells Us About the Supreme Court Moving Forward
Every year, SCOTUSBlog’s Stat Pack provides readers with an unparalleled look at the business of the Supreme Court across all of the merits cases it hears during a term. This year was no exception. The 2018 Term Stat Pack examines the details of the 67 cases the Court decided this term after oral argument as well…
Differences Between “Obama” and “Trump” Judges, While Sometimes Subtle, Can’t Be Denied
Justices of the Supreme Court rarely give public comments on words or actions of members of the elected branches of the federal government. This made the recent spat between Chief Justice John Roberts and President Donald Trump, when the two intrinsically debated the role of partisanship in the federal judiciary, all the more surprising and…
With a Little Help from Academic Scholarship
Judges’ citations tell a lot about their dispositions. We can glean relationships between cases, judges’ perspectives on these cases, and judges’ relationships with other judges based on case citations. For this reason, empirical scholars have spent much time and energy analyzing judges’ citation patterns. A slew of Supreme Court researchers have written fascinating pieces about…
One Opinion More Complex Than the Next
The Supreme Court finally appears decently situated to complete its decision making for the term. Some holdups are still in play including the long since argued case of Gill v. Whitford. Gill was argued 255 days from the next possible opinion release date of June 14, 2018. Only 10 cases have taken longer to decide…
Slicing and Dicing the Court’s 2017 Oral Arguments
While the Supreme Court is lagging in releasing its decisions this term, the justices wrapped up hearing oral arguments almost a month ago. The justices heard 63 oral arguments between October 2017 and April 2018. Within that block of time many expectations were reaffirmed while several new paths were blazed. Aside from those who sit…
Out of Steam or Out of Time
For those following the Supreme Court, the notion that the Court is moving slowly this term has already been reiterated multiple times. The first clear notion of the Court’s historically slow pace came with the timing of the Court’s second signed decision which was the modern Court’s latest second opinion released in a term. Other analyses…
Help a Justice Out
While Supreme Court justices are often guarded about how they come to their decisions, there are occasions where they are much more transparent. During oral argument, it is not uncommon for justices to bluntly say to an attorney “help me -” followed by a certain request. Instances where justices enlist attorneys’ help during oral argument present…
Major Players in the Lower Courts
Cases’ contours are primarily defined by the time they reach the Supreme Court. These contours take shape through litigation in lower courts. In the lower courts, judges make decisions that are by and large upheld as they are generally are left untouched. Even if appeals courts wanted to take a larger role in the universe…
The Strategic Right – Oral Arguments at the Beginning of the 2017 Term
Several possible facets of the justices’ new oral argument strategies became apparent during the first week of oral arguments for the 2017 Supreme Court term. The Court began with a series of high-profile cases – perhaps none as discussed and hotly contested as Gill v. Whitford which looks at gerrymandered voting districts in Wisconsin. The…
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…
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…
Empirical SCOTUS 