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Live blog of opinions | June 21, 2018 (with First Mondays)

We live-blogged as the Supreme Court released opinions in argued cases. The justices decided Lucia v. Securities and Exchange Commission, South Dakota v. Wayfair Inc., Pereira v. Sessions and Wisconsin Central Ltd. v. United States. Guest bloggers Dan Epps, Ian Samuel and Leah Litman of First Mondays live-blogged from 9 to 9:45 a.m.

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Conference

3rd & 7 37yd

It's after 930. Why aren't the order being live blogged here?

by Andrew 6/21/2018 1:43:09 PM
Now that Scalia is gone, which pair of Justices appear to be the closest friends? When Scalia was on the bench, it seemed like he was in the middle of the two most celebrated pairings - Scalia/Thomas and Scalia/Ginsburg.

by SMC 6/21/2018 1:43:52 PM
How quickly might a case involving child separation at the border make it to the Court?

by David 6/21/2018 1:44:03 PM
Can you post a picture of a box?

by APD 6/21/2018 1:44:08 PM
Which justices hire counter-clerks?

by Bricked It 6/21/2018 1:44:36 PM
Dumb question: What is a counter-clerk?

by AP 6/21/2018 1:45:05 PM
What do you think of term limits on a Chief Justice's tenure? (You know, so we'd have a shot at getting a Kagan Court someday.)

by JS 6/21/2018 1:45:17 PM
Do only site admins have gif posting privileges? I feel like I can't properly express myself without them.

by TrutherVandross 6/21/2018 1:46:52 PM
Where does the principle of one opinion per Justice per sitting come from? Why does the Court adhere to it?

by Kommodore M—. 6/21/2018 1:47:03 PM
Ok, it's time let the grownups take control again. This has been fun!

by Dan Epps 6/21/2018 1:47:38 PM
Okay, I think we're supposed to wrap this up now so that the actual reporters can take over and tell you guys about opinions. Great to be with you, and see you next time!

by Ian Samuel 6/21/2018 1:48:14 PM
This was a lot of fun--thanks everyone, and thanks SCOTUSBlog for having us!

by Leah Litman 6/21/2018 1:48:39 PM
Good morning, everyone! Thanks for joining us, and thanks SO much to the First Mondays crew for joining us again today.

by Amy Howe 6/21/2018 1:49:13 PM
We wait for the Supremes to give meaning to our day. And that's the way it is.

by Walter ConLawKite 6/21/2018 1:49:33 PM
Any guesses on how many decision days they have left? Today then next Monday and Thursday? (Apologies if this has already been asked - just logging in)

by Mason Seitz 6/21/2018 1:49:36 PM
And, as in the past few days, I will say this lovingly: We don't know how many opinions we are going to get, nor do we know which ones.

by Amy Howe 6/21/2018 1:50:42 PM
There are times when journalists indicate that they have a heads up as which decisions will be issued. They're mostly wrong. Which raises a question. Is the Supreme Court the last part of the government that is apparently leak-free?

by Internet Freud 6/21/2018 1:51:38 PM
+1 on a picture of a box

by Adam B 6/21/2018 1:51:42 PM
No boxes yet, for those who are interested. To answer a couple of questions from past live blogs, I would say that three of the boxes used to hold opinions at the PIO are roughly the size, collectively, of one banker's box.

by Amy Howe 6/21/2018 1:51:51 PM
It's great to see First Mondays participating! Love that podcast!

by The Chief 6/21/2018 1:52:40 PM
To answer another question, I am sitting in the press room, which is adjacent to the Public Information Office, where we get the opinions as they are released. It's about a 10-yard trip (if that) from the desk in the PIO where we get the opinions to my desk in the press room. So it doesn't take me very long, although when there are a lot of reporters here it can get a little congested going in and out of the PIO.

by Amy Howe 6/21/2018 1:53:25 PM
Let's pretend I'm a huge SCOTUS nerd and want to come on an opinion day solely to get a printed opinion from the PIO, which I believe any person can do. Do I need to wait in the same lines as other members of the public, or how can I get there?

by oxwof 6/21/2018 1:53:43 PM
Amy answers frequently asked questions in this post:

FAQs: Announcements of orders and opinions - SCOTUSblog
SCOTUSblogThis post — which is an updated version of posts that we have published in earlier terms — addresses some of the questions about orders and opinion announcements that we have commonly received during our live blogs. If you have a question that you don’t see answered here, please feel free to ask it

by Andrew Hamm 6/21/2018 1:54:36 PM
Can you please create a way for us to love or like responses to questions/comments? Because some of your responses are THE BEST and I'd really like to show it!

by Midwest is best 6/21/2018 1:54:37 PM
How many opportunities are left for opinions to be issued? I heard this is the next to last.

by bruceritchie 6/21/2018 1:54:45 PM
Two boxes today. And the five-minute buzzer just sounded. Mark Walsh has already gone up to the courtroom to give us a "view" on the goings-on there today.

by Amy Howe 6/21/2018 1:55:33 PM
Can you tell I'm really excited?

by Amy Howe 6/21/2018 1:55:40 PM
And have also had too much caffeine?

by Amy Howe 6/21/2018 1:55:58 PM
does the chronological order of when the case was heard matter?

by Pennoyer 6/21/2018 1:56:23 PM
Two boxes -- half way to two days of infinite glory.

by Eric Citron 6/21/2018 1:56:38 PM
@AmyHowe Is there ever too much caffeine . . .

by Loretta Kane 6/21/2018 1:57:02 PM
Thanks to Erica Evans for this picture of the court.

by Andrew Hamm 6/21/2018 1:58:10 PM
Okay, going in to wait for opinions now. Back soon!

by Amy Howe 6/21/2018 1:58:13 PM
@bruceritchie So next week is the last week for opinions to be issued? So if a case was argued this year, it will HAVE to come out next week -- right? Thanks.

by bruceritchie 6/21/2018 1:59:43 PM
Gorsuch has the first opinion, in Wisconsin Central v. US. The Seventh Circuit is reversed and remanded.

by Amy Howe 6/21/2018 2:01:42 PM
This case centers on a provision of the Railroad Retirement Act which defines “compensation” (for tax purposes) as “any form of money remuneration paid to an individual for services rendered as an employee.” The question is whether the exercise of stock options falls within the statute’s definition of “compensation.”

by Amy Howe 6/21/2018 2:01:58 PM
Here's the opinion in Wisconsin Central v. US. Daniel Hemel from UChicago Law will have our analysis:

https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/17pdf/17-530_6537.pdf

by Andrew Hamm 6/21/2018 2:02:37 PM
Court says that employee stock options are NOT taxable compensation for purposes of the Railroad Retirement Tax Act because they are not "money remuneration."

by Amy Howe 6/21/2018 2:02:39 PM
I think this means big tax refunds for the railroads; not sure that there's a lot of broader significance.

by Amy Howe 6/21/2018 2:02:58 PM
It is 5-4; Breyer dissents, joined by Ginsburg, Sotomayor, and Kagan.

by Amy Howe 6/21/2018 2:03:22 PM
Gorsuch is still reading from his summary of the opinion; I am not sure that there's a whole lot else that I'm going to say about the ruling right now unless Breyer dissents from the bench, which seems unlikely.

by Amy Howe 6/21/2018 2:04:27 PM
I will point out that, under the Court's normal opinion announcement rules, we could get opinions again from Gorsuch or anyone else today. The possibilities are endless!

by Amy Howe 6/21/2018 2:05:03 PM
Interesting to see the RR employer and employee join forces on this issue.

by Sarah Harrington 6/21/2018 2:05:17 PM
We have the next opinion, Lucia v. SEC, from Justice Kagan.

by Amy Howe 6/21/2018 2:06:26 PM
The DC Circuit's decision is reversed and remanded. This is a big deal.

by Amy Howe 6/21/2018 2:06:44 PM

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On Monday, the justices met for their September 24 conference. We expect orders from this conference on Thursday. The October 2018 term will begin on Monday, October 1. The calendar for the October sitting is available on the court's website.
Major Cases
- Trump v. Hawaii
  The president has lawfully exercised the broad discretion granted to him under 8 U. S. C. §1182(f) to suspend the entry of aliens into the United States; respondents have not demonstrated a likelihood of success on the merits of their claim that Presidential Proclamation No. 9645 violates the establishment clause.
- South Dakota v. Wayfair Inc.
  Quill Corp. v. North Dakota and National Bellas Hess Inc. v. Department of Revenue of Illinois -- which held that a state cannot require an out-of-state seller with no physical presence in the state to collect and remit sales taxes on goods the seller ships to consumers in the state -- are overruled.
- Janus v. American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees, Council 31
  The state of Illinois’ extraction of agency fees from nonconsenting public-sector employees violates the First Amendment; Abood v. Detroit Bd. of Ed., which concluded otherwise, is overruled.
- Gill v. Whitford
  Plaintiffs -- Wisconsin Democratic voters who rested their claim of unconstitutional partisan gerrymandering on statewide injury -- have failed to demonstrate Article III standing.
- Carpenter v. United States
  The government’s acquisition of Timothy Carpenter’s cell-site records from his wireless carriers was a Fourth Amendment search; the government did not obtain a warrant supported by probable cause before acquiring those records.
- Masterpiece Cakeshop, Ltd. v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission
  The Colorado Civil Rights Commission’s actions in assessing a cakeshop owner’s reasons for declining to make a cake for a same-sex couple’s wedding celebration violated the free exercise clause.
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