Good morning everyone. Welcome back - it's officially opinion time again.
We'll know soon how many to expect based on the number of boxes. The court's a bit behind on opinions compared to previous terms, so they'll be catching up today and tomorrow.
Good morning, everyone! It's good to be back.
I'm in the press room waiting for opinions at 10 am. It is pretty quiet here today, especially compared to yesterday, when there were lots of reporters -- and an awful lot of people in line -- for the Appalachian Trail pipeline case.
As of yesterday the court is down one case on its merits docket, with the parties' agreement to dismiss Mathena v. Malvo because of a change in Virginia law that eliminates life-without-parole sentences for minors.
We just had the five-minute buzzer sound.
Still no boxes out in the Public Information Office yet. For those of you who are new or new-ish here, the number of boxes of opinions waiting to be distributed is a rough proxy for the number of opinions that we are likely to get.
I just heard someone say two boxes.
Okay -- headed in to wait for opinions. Back soon.
Kavanaugh writes that the Supreme Court's precedents establish that state courts may conduct a reweighing of aggravating and mitigating circumstances under Clemens v. Mississippi, and may do so in collateral proceedings as appropriate and provided under state law.
Ginsburg dissents, joined by Breyer, Sotomayor, and Kagan.
Going back in for the next opinion.
Next up -- Rodriguez v. FDIC, from Gorsuch. It is unanimous.
It is 6 pages long. The Court rules that the Bob Richards rule is not a legitimate exercise of federal common lawmaking. Federal judges may appropriately craft the rule of decision in only limited areas.
I'm sorry; I'm not sure there is a quick Plain English description of that holding.
The Tenth Circuit's decision is vacated and remanded.
Going back in for the next one.
We have Hernandez v. Mesa, from Justice Alito. The Court rules that the holding of Bivens does not extend to claims based on a cross-border shooting.
The vote is 5-4. Alito is joined by Roberts, Thomas, Gorsuch, and Kavanaugh.
Thomas has a concurring opinion joined by Gorsuch. Ginsburg has a dissent joined by Breyer, Sotomayor, and Kagan.
"As we have made clear in many prior cases," Alito writes, "the Constitution's separation of powers requires us to exercise caution before" creating a damages remedy in a "new context, and a claim based on a cross-border shooting arises in a context that is markedly new."
Alito's statement was very brief, so we now have the final opinion, from Justice Ginsburg in Monasky v. Taglieri, an international child custody case.
The Sixth Circuit's ruling is affirmed.
The court rules that a child's habitual residence depends on the totality of the circumstances specific to the case, not on categorical requirements such as an actual agreement between the parents.
The habitual residence matters because, under the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction, a child who is abducted should normally be returned to her country of "habitual residence" for the courts in that country to resolve any custody disputes between the parents.
That's all for today. We are expecting more opinions tomorrow; now I am headed upstairs for arguments. See you tomorrow!
Alright, thanks everyone for joining. That's all for today. Four opinions, two 9-0 and two 5-4 along partisan lines. We'll be back again tomorrow morning at 9:45 a.m. for more opinions. See you then!
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