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Live blog of opinions | April 17, 2018

This live blog features discussion of the opinions in three argued cases that were released today -- Sessions v. Dimaya, Wilson v. Sellers and United States v. Microsoft.

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3rd & 7 37yd

Good morning and welcome to our live blog.

by Andrew Hamm 4/17/2018 1:43:54 PM
Good morning, everyone! It's a cold and gloomy day here at the Court.

by Amy Howe 4/17/2018 1:47:04 PM
Thank you Andrew, good morning :)

by Nason 4/17/2018 1:47:41 PM
We are expecting one or more opinions in argued cases this morning. As is almost always the case, we don't know which opinions or how many.

by Amy Howe 4/17/2018 1:48:22 PM
Good morning Amy and Andrew! Here too in Michigan, snowy! Correct me if I am wrong, the Supreme Court agreed to release the audio recording for Hawaii v Trump oral argument couple hours after its conclusion, correct?

by Al 4/17/2018 1:48:29 PM
Random question, how do you guys know what days we might get opinions?

by Is it spring yet? 4/17/2018 1:48:59 PM
What is the real deal with Justice Kennedy's law clerk hiring? I read at Above the Law that he has hired 4 new clerks for next term, but read a different article that he has only hired 1. Any more information?

by John 4/17/2018 1:51:48 PM
"The justices once again did not act in Azar v. Garza" You must have that on a hotkey by now.

by Electric Dragon 4/17/2018 1:53:03 PM
Two boxes today!

by Amy Howe 4/17/2018 1:54:08 PM
by Andrew Hamm 4/17/2018 1:54:29 PM
For those of you who are new or new-ish here, the number of boxes is a rough proxy for how many opinions we might get.

by Amy Howe 4/17/2018 1:54:31 PM
Any idea what's taking Garza so long? It's been since November when it was filed, and they've had the record for weeks now.

by Nathan Curtiss 4/17/2018 1:54:32 PM
by Andrew Hamm 4/17/2018 1:54:53 PM
Just heard the five-minute buzzer.

by Amy Howe 4/17/2018 1:54:57 PM
iirc you did a special livefeed during the Obergefell oral argument. Anything like that planned for Trump v. Hawaii, or will you let the audio recording do the job?

by James 4/17/2018 1:55:02 PM
Who decides on the early audio release? The clerk? It seems so subjective and lacking in neutrality when the court declares in advance in this way that it has determined a case to be more important than another.

by Yes it's spring. 4/17/2018 1:55:51 PM
@AndrewHamm What if we're here every blog day for all opinions?

by Nathan Curtiss 4/17/2018 1:55:56 PM
Are you able to blog inside the courtroom, or is there a media room nearby?

by Jason 4/17/2018 1:56:40 PM
2 boxes = ~ how many opinions?

by Zach 4/17/2018 1:57:20 PM
How soon after a hearing are audio recordings available? I'm here for South Dakota v. Wayfair.

by Ryan 4/17/2018 1:57:52 PM
Headed in to wait for opinions.

by Amy Howe 4/17/2018 1:58:24 PM
The waiting is the hardest part.

by VictimOrTheCrime 4/17/2018 2:02:03 PM
First opinion is Sessions v. Dimaya, from Kagan.

by Amy Howe 4/17/2018 2:02:18 PM
It is a long decision, and the holding is complicated.

by Amy Howe 4/17/2018 2:02:28 PM
It is (and I am summarizing this broadly, because there are a lot of opinions) 5-4: Kaqan, Breyer, Sotomayor, Ginsburg, and Gorsuch.

by Amy Howe 4/17/2018 2:03:29 PM
The lower court's judgment is affirmed.

by Amy Howe 4/17/2018 2:03:49 PM
The Court holds that the residual clause of Section 16 of the Immigration and Nationality Act, which defines an aggravated felony to include a "crime of violence," is unconstitutionally vague.

by Amy Howe 4/17/2018 2:04:35 PM
Here is a link to the opinion in Sessions v. Dimaya. Kevin Johnson of UC Davis School of Law will have our analysis:
https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/17pdf/15-1498_1b8e.pdf

by Andrew Hamm 4/17/2018 2:05:13 PM
This follows on the Court's decision in Johnson v. United States in 2015, holding that a similar provision in the Armed Criminal Career Act was also unconstitutional.

by Amy Howe 4/17/2018 2:05:18 PM
Gorsuch has a separate opinion concurring in part and in the judgment.

by Amy Howe 4/17/2018 2:05:39 PM
Roberts dissents, joined by Kennedy, Thomas, and Alito. Thomas also has a dissenting opinion joined by Kennedy and Alito.

by Amy Howe 4/17/2018 2:06:08 PM
Prof. Johnson seems to predicted this result. www.scotusblog.com

by krs 4/17/2018 2:07:01 PM
Breyer has the ruling in Wilson v. Sellers, a federal habeas case.

by Amy Howe 4/17/2018 2:07:16 PM
The decision of the 11th Circuit is reversed and remanded.

by Amy Howe 4/17/2018 2:07:34 PM
The vote is 6-3.

by Amy Howe 4/17/2018 2:07:46 PM
The court holds that a federal habeas court reviewing an unexplained state-court decision on the merits should "look through" that decision to the last related state-court decision that provides a relevant rationale and then presume that the unexplained decision adopted the same reasoning. The state can rebut that presumption by showing that the unexplained decision most likely relied on different grounds that the reasoned decision below.

by Amy Howe 4/17/2018 2:08:57 PM
Here is a link to the opinion in Wilson v. Sellers. Steve Vladeck from Texas Law will have our analysis:
https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/17pdf/16-6855_c18e.pdf

by Andrew Hamm 4/17/2018 2:09:41 PM
Aren't opinions issued in order of seniority?

by Ben 4/17/2018 2:09:49 PM
The justices have a short 3-page per curiam in US v. Microsoft.

by Amy Howe 4/17/2018 2:10:00 PM
Here is the opinion in US v. Microsoft. Amy will have our analysis:
https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/17pdf/17-2_1824.pdf

by Andrew Hamm 4/17/2018 2:11:01 PM
The Court holds that because the president has signed the CLOUD Act, which provides (among other things) that an e-mail service provider must disclose communications even when they are located outside the United States, there is no longer a live dispute between the parties.

by Amy Howe 4/17/2018 2:11:09 PM
Therefore, the Second Circuit's decision is vacated; the court is sending the cases back to the lower court with instructions to vacate the district court's orders and then to direct the district court to dismiss the case as moot.

by Amy Howe 4/17/2018 2:11:58 PM
This is not a big surprise given the passage of the CLOUD Act and the briefs filed by the US and Microsoft. It is the last opinion of the day; they are now moving on to bar admissions and then oral arguments.

by Amy Howe 4/17/2018 2:12:30 PM
So this means that there are only 2 opinions left from October oral arguments? And the only 2 Justices that have not yet written for October are Kennedy and...?

by Ashley Falls 4/17/2018 2:12:51 PM
Now that all Nov cases are decided, does Kennedy, Roberts, and Gorsuch not offering opinions from that month make them more likely to write for the Dec. and April sittings?

by MarkV 4/17/2018 2:13:55 PM
Bloomberg is reporting that Justice Sotomayor broke her shoulder

by Evan Lee 4/17/2018 2:14:40 PM
Okay, that's all we have for today. We'll have more on today's decisions, as well as more on today's oral arguments, later on. And we expect to be back here for a live blog and opinions tomorrow. Thanks so much for joining us today!

by Amy Howe 4/17/2018 2:16:48 PM
Thank you to everyone for joining us today. I'm shutting the live blog down now.

by Andrew Hamm 4/17/2018 2:29:52 PM

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- 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.
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