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Court will review census citizenship dispute this term – Amy Howe

Argument preview: Justices to examine rejection of contracts in bankruptcy – Ronald Mann

Argument preview: Justices to consider ability of government to challenge patents in administrative process – Ronald Mann

Live blog of confirmation hearing | September 27, 2018

Live blog of confirmation hearing | September 27, 2018

We live-blogged as the Senate Judiciary Committee heard testimony from Supreme Court nominee Judge Brett Kavanaugh and Dr. Christine Blasey Ford.

We live-blogged as the Senate Judiciary Committee heard testimony from Supreme Court nominee Judge Brett Kavanaugh and Dr. Christine Blasey Ford.

Feb. 2019

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Conference of February 15, 2019

3rd & 7 37yd

Klobuchar: But we'd like the FBI to be able to ask questions of him.

by Edith Roberts 9/27/2018 9:03:40 PM
Klobuchar: Sober in AA at age 90. You have said that you never drank so much as to not remember what happened. We have heard otherwise.

by Andrew Hamm 9/27/2018 9:05:07 PM
Klobuchar: Drinking is one thing. But the concern is about truthfulness. Did you ever drink so much that you can't remember what happened or part of what happened the night before? [No, and I wonder whether you have.]

by Edith Roberts 9/27/2018 9:06:45 PM
Klobuchar: Drinking is one thing, but the concern is about truthfulness. In written testimony, you said sometimes you drank too much. [No, I remember what happened.] Never a case where you drank so much that you didn't remember? [Have you?]

by Andrew Hamm 9/27/2018 9:06:47 PM
Grassley now quoting Biden as dismissing importance of FBI investigations. FBI does not make conclusions or recommendations.

by Andrew Hamm 9/27/2018 9:08:31 PM
Whitehouse: I have, others have, asked for FBI investigation. It's not so much the conclusion an FBI investigation draws, but the breadth of evidence that is brought out, and the difference one might say to an FBI agent than to a lawyer.

by Andrew Hamm 9/27/2018 9:09:08 PM
Whitehouse: The first background investigation in history not re-opened when new information like you mentioned brought up.

by Andrew Hamm 9/27/2018 9:09:34 PM
Fifteen minute break now.

by Edith Roberts 9/27/2018 9:10:26 PM
What's the speaking order for the remaining senators?

by Anonymous Coward 9/27/2018 9:19:17 PM
Okay, we are getting going again.

by Andrew Hamm 9/27/2018 9:28:21 PM
Kavanaugh apologizes to Klobuchar about asking whether she had ever blacked out. Klobuchar says she appreciates that; when you're the child of an alcoholic, you are careful about your drinking.

by Andrew Hamm 9/27/2018 9:30:11 PM
Hatch, R-Utah is speaking.

by Andrew Hamm 9/27/2018 9:30:24 PM
Hatch: This man is not a monster.

by Andrew Hamm 9/27/2018 9:30:52 PM
It's not clear what order the Republicans are going in. Mitchell was ceded time by three of them, but it's not clear which ones and now they are asking their own questions in what appears to be a random order.

by Edith Roberts 9/27/2018 9:31:32 PM
Hatch: We agree that if Kavanaugh committed this assault, he should not be confirmed. But the circus atmosphere after Democrats sat on allegation has not helped us.

by Andrew Hamm 9/27/2018 9:31:45 PM
Hatch: This is worse than Bork and Thomas and I didn't think it could get worse than that. This is a national disgrace.

by Andrew Hamm 9/27/2018 9:32:11 PM
Kavanaugh was an immature high schooler. That he wrote or said stupid things doesn't make him a sexual predator.

by Edith Roberts 9/27/2018 9:33:04 PM
Hatch: Guilt by association is wrong. That Kavanaugh drank in high school and college does not make him guilty of what he's been accused of.

by Andrew Hamm 9/27/2018 9:33:40 PM
Hatch: When did you first learn of allegations?

by Andrew Hamm 9/27/2018 9:33:52 PM
Immaturity does not equal criminality. A lifetime of respect and equal treatment ought to mean something.

by Edith Roberts 9/27/2018 9:33:55 PM
Kavanaugh: A week ago Sunday with the WaPo story.

by Andrew Hamm 9/27/2018 9:34:04 PM
Hatch: Did ranking member raise when you met or in hearing or written questions? [No] First time asked by ranking member about allegation? [Today]

by Andrew Hamm 9/27/2018 9:34:40 PM
Coons, D-Del.

by Andrew Hamm 9/27/2018 9:35:06 PM
Coons: I've found some of your answers evasive on key issues.

by Andrew Hamm 9/27/2018 9:35:41 PM
Against backdrop of previous hearing sessions is how Coons is assessing today's testimony.

by Edith Roberts 9/27/2018 9:35:52 PM
Coons: Have you ever gotten aggressive while drinking or forgotten an evening? [Two questions, as for the first, basically no, what are you talking about?]

by Andrew Hamm 9/27/2018 9:36:23 PM
Coons: Do you remember Liz Swisher?

by Andrew Hamm 9/27/2018 9:36:59 PM
Coons: She said Brett Kavanaugh drank more than a lot of people. How should we assess that?

by Andrew Hamm 9/27/2018 9:37:47 PM
Coons: Quoting other college classmates re Kavanaugh's drinking.

by Edith Roberts 9/27/2018 9:38:45 PM
Coons: Why not agree to a one-week pause to allow the FBI to investigate these allegations in order to clear your name? [All four witnesses alleged to be at the event said it didn't happen.]

by Andrew Hamm 9/27/2018 9:39:44 PM
Coons: If you were conducting a job search for a very important position and a credible allegation about a candidate came up near the end of the process, wouldn't you want to investigate further?

by Edith Roberts 9/27/2018 9:40:03 PM
Coons: I've struggled with the absence of a fair, neutral, law-enforcement investigation. I'm concerned with what this will do to the credibility of the court and will hang over your service.

by Andrew Hamm 9/27/2018 9:40:17 PM
Kavanaugh: For us, every day has been a lifetime. It's been investigated.

by Andrew Hamm 9/27/2018 9:40:40 PM
Grassley: There could have been time over the summer for an investigation.

by Andrew Hamm 9/27/2018 9:41:49 PM
(Coons is D-Del., not D-Conn.)

by dc074 9/27/2018 9:42:19 PM
Lee, R-Utah

by Andrew Hamm 9/27/2018 9:43:00 PM
Lee: You do not control the FBI, correct? [That's correct]

by Andrew Hamm 9/27/2018 9:43:14 PM
Lee: Feinstein had a moral obligation to contact the FBI when she first heard about the allegations.

by Edith Roberts 9/27/2018 9:44:18 PM
Lee: But whenever we asked you questions, you were attentive and responsive. Two ironies. At least one of my colleagues had access to this information weeks before anyone else. Also, calling for investigation by FBI while we are in the middle of a conversation with you.

by Andrew Hamm 9/27/2018 9:44:49 PM
Lee: During Clarence Thomas hearing, Biden made observations about FBI -- FBI does not reach conclusions or recommendations

by Andrew Hamm 9/27/2018 9:46:38 PM
Sasse slides in for last minute to Lee, so Kennedy can have his time.

by Andrew Hamm 9/27/2018 9:47:24 PM
Sasse: I think Dr. Ford is a victim. But Feinstein had recommended she hire a lawyer before the first hearing, and this was never asked?

by Andrew Hamm 9/27/2018 9:48:43 PM
Blumenthal, D-Conn.

by Andrew Hamm 9/27/2018 9:49:04 PM
Blumenthal: False in one thing, false in everything -- jury instructions mean that jury can disbelieve witness if find him to be false in one thing. The core of why we are here is credibility. [Core of why we're here is because of allegation the four witnesses say didn't happen.]

by Andrew Hamm 9/27/2018 9:50:15 PM
Blumenthal asked about Renate Alumnus, Kavanaugh says question is false.

by Andrew Hamm 9/27/2018 9:51:04 PM

Featured Posts

Court will review census citizenship dispute this term – Amy Howe

Argument preview: Justices to examine rejection of contracts in bankruptcy – Ronald Mann

Argument preview: Justices to consider ability of government to challenge patents in administrative process – Ronald Mann
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On Friday, the justices met for their February 15 conference and agreed to hear oral argument in Department of Commerce v. New York during the second week of the April sitting.
The calendar for the February sitting, which will begin on Tuesday, February 19, is available on the Supreme Court's website.
Major Cases
- Lamone v. Benisek
  In case in which the plaintiffs allege that a Maryland congressional district was gerrymandered to retaliate against them for their political views: (1) whether the various legal claims articulated by the three-judge district court are unmanageable; (2) whether the three-judge district court erred when, in granting plaintiffs’ motion for summary judgment, it resolved disputes of material fact as to multiple elements of plaintiffs’ claims, failed to view the evidence in the light most favorable to the non-moving party, and treated as “undisputed” evidence that is the subject of still-unresolved hearsay and other evidentiary objections; and (3) whether the three-judge district court abused its discretion in entering an injunction despite the plaintiffs’ years-long delay in seeking injunctive relief, rendering the remedy applicable to at most one election before the next decennial census necessitates another redistricting.
- Kisor v. Wilkie
  Whether the Supreme Court should overrule Auer v. Robbins and Bowles v. Seminole Rock & Sand Co., which direct courts to defer to an agency’s reasonable interpretation of its own ambiguous regulation.
- Rucho v. Common Cause
  (1) Whether plaintiffs have standing to press their partisan gerrymandering claims; (2) whether plaintiffs’ partisan gerrymandering claims are justiciable; and (3) whether North Carolina’s 2016 congressional map is, in fact, an unconstitutional partisan gerrymander.
- New York State Rifle & Pistol Association Inc. v. City of New York, New York
  Whether New York City’s ban on transporting a licensed, locked and unloaded handgun to a home or shooting range outside city limits is consistent with the Second Amendment, the commerce clause and the constitutional right to travel.
- The American Legion v. American Humanist Association
  (1) Whether a 93-year-old memorial to the fallen of World War I is unconstitutional merely because it is shaped like a cross; (2) whether the constitutionality of a passive display incorporating religious symbolism should be assessed under the tests articulated in Lemon v. Kurtzman, Van Orden v. Perry, Town of Greece v. Galloway or some other test; and (3) whether, if the test from Lemon v. Kurtzman applies, the expenditure of funds for the routine upkeep and maintenance of a cross-shaped war memorial, without more, amounts to an excessive entanglement with religion in violation of the First Amendment.
- Gamble v. United States
  Whether the Supreme Court should overrule the “separate sovereigns” exception to the double jeopardy clause.
see all this term’s cases »
Recent Decisions
- Helsinn Healthcare S.A. v. Teva Pharmaceuticals USA Inc. The sale of an invention to a third party who is obligated to keep the invention confidential may place the invention “on sale” for purposes of the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act, which bars a person from receiving a patent on an invention that was “in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention,” 35 U. S. C. §102(a)(1).
- New Prime Inc. v. Oliveira A court should determine whether the Federal Arbitration Act’s Section 1 exclusion for disputes involving the “contracts of employment” of certain transportation workers applies before ordering arbitration; here, truck driver Dominic Oliveira’s independent contractor operating agreement with New Prime Inc. falls within that exception.
- Stokeling v. United States The Armed Career Criminal Act’s elements clause encompasses a robbery offense that, like Florida’s law, requires the criminal to overcome the victim’s resistance.
- Culbertson v. Berryhill The Social Security Act’s fee cap of 25 percent of past-due benefits imposed on attorneys who successfully represent Title II benefit claimants in court proceedings applies only to fees for court representation and not to aggregate fees for both court and agency representation.
- Henry Schein Inc. v. Archer and White Sales Inc. The “wholly groundless” exception to the general rule that courts must enforce contracts that delegate threshold arbitrability questions to an arbitrator, not a court, is inconsistent with the Federal Arbitration Act and Supreme Court precedent.
see all this term’s cases »
Current Relists
- Altitude Express Inc. v. Zarda Whether the prohibition in Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-2(a)(1), against employment discrimination “because of . . . sex” encompasses discrimination based on an individual’s sexual orientation.
- Baxter v. United States (1) Whether a conviction for robbery under Florida law qualifies as a “violent felony” within the Armed Career Criminal Act’s elements clause simply because it requires overcoming victim resistance, as the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit has held, or whether such a conviction fails to qualify as an ACCA “violent felony” because Florida caselaw confirms that overcoming victim resistance does not invariably requires the use of “violent force” as the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit has held; and (2) whether a conviction for any state robbery offense that includes “as an element” the common law requirement of overcoming “victim resistance” is categorically a “violent felony” within the ACCA’s elements clause if the offense has been specifically interpreted by state appellate courts to require only slight force to overcome resistance.
- Bostock v. Clayton County, Georgia Whether discrimination against an employee because of sexual orientation constitutes prohibited employment discrimination “because of . . . sex” within the meaning of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-2.
More Petitions »
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Statistical Snapshot

Cases argued 43

Cases decided 10

Summary reversals 2

Merits cases granted to date 73

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Chief Justice Roberts at Belmont University

On February 6, Chief Justice John Roberts spoke at Belmont University College of Law with Alberto Gonzales, dean of the law school and former U.S. attorney general.

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Awarded the Sigma Delta Chi deadline reporting award for online coverage of the Affordable Care Act decision.
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Cases argued	43
Cases decided	10
Summary reversals	2
Merits cases granted to date	73

15
Conference

19
Orders
RETURN MAIL INC. V. U.S. POSTAL SERVICE (17-1594)

20
MISSION PRODUCT HOLDINGS INC. V. TEMPNOLOGY INC. (17-1657)
Opinions

22
Conference

25
Orders
MANHATTAN COMMUNITY ACCESS CORP. V. HALLECK (17-1702)

26
UNITED STATES V. HAYMOND (17-1672)
MONT V. UNITED STATES (17-8995)

27
THE AMERICAN LEGION V. AMERICAN HUMANIST ASSOCIATION (17-1717)