On January 24, 2022 the United States Supreme Court granted cert in consolidated cases reviewing affirmative action programs at both Harvard and North Carolina Universities along with the Court’s precedent upholding affirmative action programs from the 2003 case Grutter v. Bollinger. By August of 2022, nearly 100 groups and individuals filed amicus briefs covering a…
Tag: Solicitor General
Measuring Oral Arguments in the 2023/2024 Term
Some things from this year’s oral arguments are clear. We know for instance, who is talking more and less. These intricacies follow from what we saw last term. Justice Jackson is the most active justice in arguments. Thomas is the least. There are several aspects of oral argument that are below this playing field surface….
The Echo Chamber Grows
A seemingly innocuous Supreme Court case in 2017 looking at the narrow issue of time bars in class action lawsuits saw two giants of Supreme Court advocacy duke it out before the nine justices. California Public Employees’ Retirement System v. ANZ Securities pit Tom Goldstein of then-named Goldstein and Russell for the Petitioner CALPERS against…
The Supreme Court: Where Everyone Knows Your Name
At any level of legal jurisdiction, the American court system tends to operate as a system of working groups. That is, even as particular litigants and litigation are constantly changing, a core group of actors – i.e., judges, prosecutors, and defense attorneys – tend to retain a consistent presence in the courtroom. The Supreme Court…
A Record Set by the OSG During the Obama Years
The Solicitor General’s Office (OSG) has a special relationship with the Supreme Court. In the role of adviser the Solicitor General is often referred to as the 10th Justice. The OSG enjoys much higher than average success in bringing cases to the Court and is even asked to give its opinions on whether the Court should…
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…
Empirical SCOTUS 