Scribble

Scribble

Opinion analysis: Justices narrow bankrupts’ power to rescind contracts in bankruptcy – Ronald Mann

Opinion analysis: Clarity on “clear evidence” of drug pre-emption? – Elizabeth McCuskey

Opinion analysis: Court rejects issue preclusion in affirming Crow Tribe’s treaty hunting right – Gregory Ablavsky

Live blog of nomination | July 9, 2018 (with First Mondays)

Live blog of nomination | July 9, 2018 (with First Mondays)

We live-blogged with First Mondays as President Donald Trump nominated Judge Brett Kavanaugh to replace Justice Anthony Kennedy on the Supreme Court.

We live-blogged with First Mondays as President Donald Trump nominated Judge Brett Kavanaugh to replace Justice Anthony Kennedy on the Supreme Court.

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Conference of May 23, 2019

3rd & 7 37yd

Thanking Kennedy for lifetime of distinguished service.

by Amy Howe 7/10/2018 1:03:55 AM
I think I see Maureen Scalia in the front row. Anyone?

by Amy Howe 7/10/2018 1:04:09 AM
Now talking about Gorsuch, nominated to replace "the late great justice Antonin Scalia."

by Amy Howe 7/10/2018 1:04:35 AM
Says he chose Gorsuch b/c he would be faithful servant of Constitution. Introduces Maureen Scalia, who stands up.

by Amy Howe 7/10/2018 1:05:01 AM
Kennedy and Scalia appointed by Reagan, who understood judges should apply Constitution as written.

by Amy Howe 7/10/2018 1:05:45 AM
Says he doesn't ask about a nominee's personal opinions. What matters, he says, is setting aside personal views to do what laws and Constitution require.

by Amy Howe 7/10/2018 1:06:23 AM
It is Kavanaugh.

by Amy Howe 7/10/2018 1:06:30 AM
Kavanaugh is coming out now, joined by his wife Ashley and their daughters.

by Amy Howe 7/10/2018 1:06:45 AM
All four Kavanaughs are standing on the stage/dais/whatever it is.

by Amy Howe 7/10/2018 1:07:13 AM
I wonder how Justice Kennedy would feel about being replaced by a Justice Kavanaugh?

by Johann 7/10/2018 1:07:37 AM
Everyone is still just clapping. Kavanaugh is wearing a dark blue tie to contrast with Trump's light-ish blue tie.

by Amy Howe 7/10/2018 1:07:52 AM
Says Kavanaugh has impeccable credentials, commitment to equal justice under the law.

by Amy Howe 7/10/2018 1:08:21 AM
Considered judge's judge, says Trump. A true thought leader among his peers. Universally regarded as one of the finest and sharpest legal minds of our times.

by Amy Howe 7/10/2018 1:08:48 AM
Has devoted his life to public services, says Trump. Authored over 300 opinions (reporters groan inwardly).

by Amy Howe 7/10/2018 1:09:28 AM
Active in community. Coaches Catholic Youth Org basketball, serves meals to needy families, tutors children at local elementary schools. NO one more qualified or deserving for this position, says Trump.

by Amy Howe 7/10/2018 1:10:02 AM
He's not exactly politically moderate though. Christ, this is going to be a fight. And the Democrats have ammo, far more than they did against Gorsuch (frozen trucker aside)

by Ned 7/10/2018 1:10:04 AM
This incredibly qualified nominee deserves swift confirmation, says Trump.

by Amy Howe 7/10/2018 1:10:26 AM
Picture from the East Room by Mark Walsh.

by Andrew Hamm 7/10/2018 1:10:30 AM
WROTE. Not Authored. WROTE

by KPOM 7/10/2018 1:10:30 AM
Kavanaugh about to speak.

by Amy Howe 7/10/2018 1:10:52 AM
Thank you, says BK. I have witnessed your appreciation for the vital role of the American judiciary. NO president has ever consulted more widely, talked to more people with more backgrounds to seek input about nomination.

by Amy Howe 7/10/2018 1:11:30 AM
BK praising AMK. Devoted his career to securing the blessings of liberty.

by Amy Howe 7/10/2018 1:12:05 AM
Deeply honored to fill AMK seat. (I wish they would let the family members sit down!)

by Amy Howe 7/10/2018 1:12:21 AM
BK says his parents are there. Says he is an only child.

by Amy Howe 7/10/2018 1:12:38 AM
Says mother taught history at two predominantly African-American high schools in DC. Taught him importance of equality.

by Amy Howe 7/10/2018 1:13:08 AM
Mother went to law school when BK was 10. Says she taught him, "use your common sense. What rings true is true. What rings false is false." She was one of first woman prosecutors, was the first Judge Kavanaugh. Dad went to law school at night while working full time, passed on work ethic, love for sports.

by Amy Howe 7/10/2018 1:13:57 AM
Model of Georgetown Prep, his high school, was "men for others." Tried to live out that creed.

by Amy Howe 7/10/2018 1:14:14 AM
Judicial philosophy: Interpret the law, not make it. Interpret laws and Constitution as written.

by Amy Howe 7/10/2018 1:14:46 AM
Teaches law school, hired by then-Dean Elena Kagan.

by Amy Howe 7/10/2018 1:15:09 AM
Proud that a majority of his law clerks have been women. Proud member of vibrant D.C. Catholic community. Introduces priest for whom he used to serve as altar boy. Introduces daughter Margaret -- loves sports and reading. Liza loves sports and talking. She laughs

by Amy Howe 7/10/2018 1:16:10 AM
Talking up law clerk hiring practices—now we're getting to the good stuff! (Says he's had people of diverse perspectives. Will BK hire counter-clerks?!)

by Ian Samuel 7/10/2018 1:16:31 AM
Someone has asked about the priest in the front row -- that's Msgr. Enzler who was just mentioned.

by Andrew Hamm 7/10/2018 1:16:40 AM
Says he tried to create bonds with daughters like his father did with him. Says girls on his basketball team call him Coach K (draws a laugh), they just won city championship. Says they also go to lots of games, including Women's Final Four.

by Amy Howe 7/10/2018 1:16:56 AM
Ashley is West Texan, graduated from public school and UT-Austin, she's a town manager in Chevy Chase. First date was September 10, 2001; they sprinted out of Bush White House together the next day.

by Amy Howe 7/10/2018 1:17:36 AM
Ashley was a source of strength in days that followed September 11, for Bush and rest of White House. Says he thanks God every day for his family.

by Amy Howe 7/10/2018 1:18:06 AM
Tomorrow I begin meeting with senators, says BK.

by Amy Howe 7/10/2018 1:18:19 AM
I will tell each senator that I revere the Constitution. I believe an independent judiciary is the crown jewel of our republic. If confirmed, will keep an open mind in every case, strive to preserve constitution and American rule of law.

by Amy Howe 7/10/2018 1:19:00 AM
Thank you Mr. President. Kavanaugh family group hug.

by Amy Howe 7/10/2018 1:19:11 AM
BK looks extremely happy.

by Amy Howe 7/10/2018 1:19:39 AM
He’s going out of his way to talk about how much he respects women.

by KPOM 7/10/2018 1:19:49 AM
And that is all. They walk out with Trump, now there is a lot of milling around.

by Amy Howe 7/10/2018 1:20:14 AM
Kennedy goes back-to-back with former clerks nominated to the Court. As does Georgetown Prep. Whether that's impressive or worrisome, it certainly is something.

by John 7/10/2018 1:20:18 AM
Everyone likes to point out that the two newest Justices (Gorsuch and now Kavanaugh) are both former clerks of Kennedy's, as if to say that they have Kennedy's stamp of approval. But at the same time, former clerks will always say that Justices don't screen out clerks based on ideology. Isn't perfectly possible that a Justice could hire a clerk they deeply disagree with for their legal skills and pray to g-d that clerk never comes up for nomination?

by Sammy! 7/10/2018 1:20:59 AM
I believe that is all we will get tonight. I am going to get to work on my post on the nomination, but hopefully Ian, Dan and Leah will stick around to talk amongst themselves and answer your questions. We'll be back again live blogging the hearings, though!

by Amy Howe 7/10/2018 1:21:13 AM
So, what were the Kennedy opinions in the year that Gorsuch and Kavanaugh clerked?

by NBC just announced it's Kavanaugh. 7/10/2018 1:22:23 AM
The bit about then-Dean Kagan hiring him surprised me most. I read that and thought 'this is what all the red-state Democratic Senators will reference in the approval speeches.' Kagan intentionally sought intelligent and respectable conservatives to diversify the Law School.

by Jonathan K 7/10/2018 1:23:45 AM
Another photo from the East Room by Mark Walsh.

by Andrew Hamm 7/10/2018 1:23:53 AM
This was live on my TV here in Australia. We're much more engaged with American stuff including judicial stuff than perhaps previously.

by Ne 7/10/2018 1:27:55 AM
We are going to collect statements about Kavanaugh's nomination. These can be sent to nominationstatements [at] gmail [dot] com.

by Andrew Hamm 7/10/2018 1:29:27 AM
We're going to shut down the live blog. Thanks for joining us! We'll have a post up about the nomination soon.

by Andrew Hamm 7/10/2018 1:31:53 AM

Featured Posts

Opinion analysis: Justices narrow bankrupts’ power to rescind contracts in bankruptcy – Ronald Mann

Opinion analysis: Clarity on “clear evidence” of drug pre-emption? – Elizabeth McCuskey

Opinion analysis: Court rejects issue preclusion in affirming Crow Tribe’s treaty hunting right – Gregory Ablavsky
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This Week at the Court
The Supreme Court released orders from the May 16 conference on Monday; the justices granted Ritzen Group Inc. v. Jackson Masonry, LLC.
On Monday, the justices released their opinions in Mission Product Holdings Inc. v. Tempnology, LLC, Herrera v. Wyoming and Merck Sharp & Dohme Corp. v. Albrecht.
On Thursday, the justices meet for their May 23 conference.
Major Cases
- Department of Commerce v. New York
  (1) Whether the district court erred in enjoining the secretary of the Department of Commerce from reinstating a question about citizenship to the 2020 decennial census on the ground that the secretary’s decision violated the Administrative Procedure Act, 5 U.S.C. 701 et seq; (2) whether, in an action seeking to set aside agency action under the APA, a district court may order discovery outside the administrative record to probe the mental processes of the agency decisionmaker -- including by compelling the testimony of high-ranking executive branch officials -- without a strong showing that the decisionmaker disbelieved the objective reasons in the administrative record, irreversibly prejudged the issue, or acted on a legally forbidden basis; and (3) whether the secretary’s decision to add a citizenship question to the decennial census violated the enumeration clause of the U.S. Constitution.
- 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.
- 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
- Herrera v. Wyoming Wyoming’s statehood did not abrogate the Crow Tribe’s 1868 federal treaty right to hunt on the “unoccupied lands of the United States”; the lands of the Bighorn National Forest did not become categorically “occupied” when the forest was created.
- Merck Sharp & Dohme Corp. v. Albrecht “Clear evidence” that the Food and Drug Administration would not have approved a change to a drug’s label – thus pre-empting a state-law failure-to-warn claim – is evidence showing that the drug manufacturer fully informed the FDA of the justifications for the warning required by state law and that the FDA, in turn, informed the drug manufacturer that the FDA would not approve a change to the drug’s label to include that warning; the question of agency disapproval is primarily one of law for a judge to decide.
- Mission Product Holdings Inc. v. Tempnology, LLC A bankruptcy debtor’s rejection of an executory contract under 11 U.S.C. §365 has the same effect as a breach of that contract outside bankruptcy; such an act thus cannot rescind rights that the contract previously granted.
see all this term’s cases »
Current Relists
- al-Alwi v. Trump (1) Whether the government’s statutory authority to detain Moath Hamza Ahmed al-Alwi has unraveled; (2) whether, alternatively, the government’s statutory authority to detain al-Alwi has expired because the conflict in which he was captured has ended; and (3) whether the Authorization for Use of Military Force authorizes, and the Constitution permits, detention of an individual who was not “engaged in an armed conflict against the United States” in Afghanistan prior to his capture.
- Box v. Planned Parenthood of Indiana and Kentucky Inc. (1) Whether a state may require health-care facilities to dispose of fetal remains in the same manner as other human remains, i.e., by burial or cremation; and (2) whether a state may prohibit abortions motivated solely by the race, sex or disability of the fetus and require abortion doctors to inform patients of the prohibition.
- Box v. Planned Parenthood of Indiana and Kentucky Inc. Whether a state, consistent with the 14th Amendment, may require an ultrasound as part of informed consent at least 18 hours before an abortion.
More Petitions »
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Statistical Snapshot

Cases argued 70

Cases decided 32

Summary reversals 4

Merits cases granted to date 73

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Justice Thomas at Pepperdine Law School

On March 30, Justice Clarence Thomas spoke with former clerk Brittney Lane Kubisch and Pepperdine University President-elect James Gash at Pepperdine University School of Law. Thomas told the audience that he had no plans to retire from the Supreme Court.

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Awarded the Peabody Award for excellence in electronic media.
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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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Awarded the National Press Club's Breaking News Award for coverage of the Affordable Care Act decision.
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Awarded the Silver Gavel Award by the American Bar Association for fostering the American public’s understanding of the law and the legal system.
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Awarded the American Gavel Award for Distinguished Reporting About the Judiciary to recognize the highest standards of reporting about courts and the justice system.
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Awarded the Webby Award for excellence on the internet.

Cases argued	70
Cases decided	32
Summary reversals	4
Merits cases granted to date	73

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