Trinity Lutheran Church of Columbia, Inc. v. Pauley

The New Normal: Justice Gorsuch’s First Week of Supreme Court Oral Arguments

In some ways, this was just another week for the Supreme Court. The Court released decisions with the Court’s right splitting with the Court’s left. Orders were set forth in many petitions pending before the Court. The Justices heard seven oral arguments. But there was a new voice in the proceedings. A voice that sought…

How Will Gorsuch Decide on Cases from the Supreme Court’s April Calendar?

Recently confirmed Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch will be thrown into the middle of the 2017 oral argument season with the Court’s April hearings calendar beginning on April 17th. One of the first questions that has already generated speculation is how Gorsuch will rule on cases this Term. This post adds some insight into how…

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…

SCOTUS’ Slight Push Back at the End of 2016

Context By many metrics, and even by the Court’s standards, the Supreme Court has been quiet so far during the 2016 Term. While the Court has naturally taken fewer cases over recent years (exponentially fewer if we look back over the preceding decades), there is context for the most current muted effort. Much of the…

Forced Judicial Restraint

When, soon after his nomination to the Supreme Court, Judge Garland was praised for his judicial restraint, this praise was not envisioned for the type of impact Judge Garland’s nomination has made on the Court so far. Similarly, no one calling for judicial restraint or decrying the Court’s judicial activism prior to 2016 expected change to come in…

The Lucky Ones: Cert Grants 2016

Sixteen. That is the number of cases that the Supreme Court is currently slated to hear in the 2016 Term. This number in itself is exceptionally low for this time of year, although in terms of absolute case grants it is not exponentially far behind years past (see below). For those who follow the Supreme…