Scribble

Editor's Note :

Scribble

Government returns to Supreme Court on military transgender ban – Amy Howe

Symposium: Crosses and constitutional clarity – Lindsay See

Symposium: Cross purposes -- Why a Christian symbol can’t memorialize all war dead – Richard B. Katskee

Live blog of opinions | June 23, 2016

Live blog of opinions | June 23, 2016

Dec. 2018

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Peabody Award

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Conference of December 7, 2018

Orders

DAWSON V. STEAGER (17-419)

LORENZO V. SEC (17-1077)

BIESTEK V. BERRYHILL (17-1184)

HELSINN HEALTHCARE V. TEVA PHARMACEUTICALS (17-1229)

Supreme Court building closed for National Day of Mourning for George H.W. Bush

GAMBLE V. UNITED STATES (17-646)

Conference

Orders

Opinions

Holiday

3rd & 7 37yd

Good morning, everyone! Welcome to our live blog. We expect opinions at 10 am; as is almost always the case, we don't know which ones or how many.

by Amy Howe 6/23/2016 1:29:02 PM

Comment ()
Having said that, though, the field of cases has narrowed significantly, and we are now waiting on just eight more opinions. I summarized them briefly in Plain English on the blog last night; the link is here: www.scotusblog.com

by Amy Howe 6/23/2016 1:29:55 PM

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Yesterday Amy updated her answers to "frequently asked questions." That post is available here: www.scotusblog.com

by Andrew Hamm 6/23/2016 1:33:37 PM

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For those of you who want the really short version of what's left: tribal-court jurisdiction, affirmative action, DUI tests without a warrant, the interpretation of a federal law prohibiting possession of firearms by individuals convicted of domestic violence, abortion, Bob McDonnell, immigration, and issues relating to considering prior state convictions for purposes of mandatory minimums and removal under immigration law.

by Amy Howe 6/23/2016 1:34:37 PM

Comment ()
Is it true that if there is an opinion in whole woman's health, then it will be written by Kagan or Breyer (which is a good sign for the plaintiffs)? Could the court punt on an opinion even at this late stage?

by Is it true that if there is... 6/23/2016 1:34:41 PM

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Good morning from the press room.

by lylden 6/23/2016 1:34:59 PM

Comment ()
How many opinions are remaining at this time.

by Peggy Nienaber 6/23/2016 1:36:05 PM

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Nice stat pack. As always, fun to look at and informative.

by Leo Weiss 6/23/2016 1:37:19 PM

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Regarding Fisher, should the Court's ruling be the final word on this case or is there a chance it might punt it back to the lower courts using some other basis?

by Irvin Z. Martinez 6/23/2016 1:37:52 PM

Comment ()
What are the chances of the opinions on more than one case from Texas being released today?

by Moises 6/23/2016 1:37:55 PM

Comment ()
USA Today reported that Donald Verrilli will be on vacation in Italy on Monday. Assuming that we are still expecting opinions on major cases, are we thinking he'll be glued to the news Monday morning (perhaps joining us here) or that he'll be in full vacation mode (for those whose definition of that is being "disconnected")? Just some silly musing from my brain.

by Jordan 6/23/2016 1:38:38 PM

Comment ()
Kagan has authored an opinion for every month except Feb. So if she has WWH then it should be the first opinion released today as she's the most junior, correct?

by LoveRBG 6/23/2016 1:38:51 PM

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Apologies if this has been covered previously, but what happened to Justice Scalia's clerks after his passing?

by Hurley 6/23/2016 1:39:11 PM

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If the court reaches a 4 member majority, like in Fisher, does it hold the precedent weight of a 5 member majority opinion, or is it similar to when the court reaches a 4 vote plurality?

by GMan 6/23/2016 1:39:22 PM

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Is today opinions only?

by No1LyleFan 6/23/2016 1:39:47 PM

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Out of curiosity, how many decisions have split 4-4 since February and how many have been binding? I was wondering if there was a trend.

by Sarah M 6/23/2016 1:39:53 PM

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Any hope for the "liberal" side of the Fisher case (based on oral argument, other indications), given that Kagan is not participating?

by Ben 6/23/2016 1:40:06 PM

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How does the Court handle Scalia's participation in cases prior to his death? Does his vote still factor in on those cases?

by Paul 6/23/2016 1:41:15 PM

Comment ()
It's been six and a half months since the Dollar General oral argument; what is the record for longest time between argument and issuing of an opinion?

by Savannah 6/23/2016 1:42:02 PM

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For the Birchfield v. North Dakota, do you personally think, based on oral arguments, that there will be a majority? Or do you think there is a possibility that it locks at 4-4 and they order re-argument?

by DJ 6/23/2016 1:42:56 PM

Comment ()
What is the difference between orders and opinions?

by Jimmy 6/23/2016 1:43:03 PM

Comment ()
Does the Court generally also try to balance majority assignments throughout the term, too? So that Ginsburg and Kennedy, at 8 each, are unlikely to have any more majority opinions?

by Shashakiro 6/23/2016 1:43:10 PM

Comment ()
Any idea why affirmative action has gotten so much of the Court's attention recently? They've heard 3 cases in the last 4 terms: Fisher 1, Schuette, Fisher 2.

by Bb 6/23/2016 1:46:51 PM

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Here's Lyle with the first opinion.

by Amy Howe 6/23/2016 2:00:45 PM

Comment ()
Mathis v US

by Amy Howe 6/23/2016 2:00:55 PM

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Justice Kagan has the opinion.

by Amy Howe 6/23/2016 2:01:03 PM

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The Eighth Circuit is reversed.

by Amy Howe 6/23/2016 2:01:08 PM

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There is a concurring opinion by Kennedy and by Thomas.

by Amy Howe 6/23/2016 2:01:16 PM

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There is a dissent from Breyer joined by Ginsburg.

by Amy Howe 6/23/2016 2:01:24 PM

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Also a separate dissent from Alito.

by Amy Howe 6/23/2016 2:01:29 PM

Comment ()
Evan Lee will have our analysis of the opinion in Mathis v. US. Here is the opinion: www.supremecourt.gov

by Andrew Hamm 6/23/2016 2:02:00 PM

Comment ()
Holding: Becasue the elements of Iowa's burglary law are broader than those of generic burglary, Mathis's prior convictions cannot give rise to the Armed Career Criminal Act's sentence enhancement.

by Amy Howe 6/23/2016 2:02:10 PM

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Two concurrences in Mathis.

by Amy Howe 6/23/2016 2:02:39 PM

Comment ()
Ok well Kagan, Kennedy and Thomas on one side with Alito, Breyer and Ginsburg on the other - is that an odd makeup to anyone else?

by Odd Pairings 6/23/2016 2:02:53 PM

Comment ()
So for those of you wondering what is happening now, Kagan is presumably reading her summary of the decision from the bench. We won't get the next opinion until she has finished.

by Amy Howe 6/23/2016 2:03:33 PM

Comment ()
Kenendy's opinion states his continued belief that Apprendi was wrongly decided.

by Kevin Russell 6/23/2016 2:03:52 PM

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And because the Justices issue their decisions in order of reverse seniority, we could hear from Kagan or any other Justice today.

by Amy Howe 6/23/2016 2:04:01 PM

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Where did Roberts fall? With Kagan?

by Browning 6/23/2016 2:04:03 PM

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Justice Kagan is the Keeper of the Categorical Approach; she's written a lot of these cases.

by True 80% 6/23/2016 2:04:09 PM

Comment ()
Are the dissent's generally read as well?

by CGJ 6/23/2016 2:04:43 PM

Comment ()
Kagan is the newest, so any other justice may have the next opinion, correct?

by Joe Peltzer 6/23/2016 2:05:20 PM

Comment ()
Here's Lyle again with the next opinion.

by Amy Howe 6/23/2016 2:05:53 PM

Comment ()
Drunk driving cases.

by Amy Howe 6/23/2016 2:05:58 PM

Comment ()
Birchfield v. ND.

by Amy Howe 6/23/2016 2:06:01 PM

Comment ()
Justice Alito has the opinion.

by Amy Howe 6/23/2016 2:07:01 PM

Comment ()

Featured Posts

Government returns to Supreme Court on military transgender ban – Amy Howe

Symposium: Crosses and constitutional clarity – Lindsay See

Symposium: Cross purposes -- Why a Christian symbol can’t memorialize all war dead – Richard B. Katskee
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This Week at the Court
The Supreme Court released orders from the December 7 conference on Monday; the justices added Kisor v. Wilkie to their merits docket for this term. The justices also released their decision in United States v. Stitt on Monday.
The justices will meet next for their January 4 conference. The calendar for the January sitting, which will begin on January 7, is available on the Supreme Court's website.
Recent Decisions
- United States v. Stitt The term "burglary" in the Armed Career Criminal Act includes burglary of a structure or vehicle that has been adapted or is customarily used for overnight accommodation.
- Weyerhaeuser Company v. United States Fish and Wildlife Service An area is eligible for designation as “critical habitat” under the Endangered Species Act of 1973 only if it is habitat for the listed species; and the decision by the secretary of the U.S. Department of the Interior not to exclude an area from critical habitat under 16 U. S. C. §1533(b)(2) is subject to judicial review.
- Mount Lemmon Fire District v. Guido State and local governments are covered employers under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 regardless of the number of employees they have.
see all this term’s cases »
Current Relists
- City of Escondido, California v. Emmons (1) Whether the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit erred in denying the officers qualified immunity by considering clearly established law at too high a level of generality rather than giving particularized consideration to the facts and circumstances of this case; (2) whether the lower court erred in denying the officers qualified immunity by relying on a single decision, published after the event in question, to support its conclusion that qualified immunity is not available; and (3) whether the lower court erred in failing or refusing to decide whether the subject arrest was without probable cause or subject to qualified immunity.
- Hester v. United States Whether the rule of Apprendi v. New Jersey–which held that any fact, other than a prior conviction, that increases the penalty for a crime beyond the prescribed statutory maximum must be submitted to a jury and proven beyond a reasonable doubt–should apply to the imposition of criminal restitution.
- Kennedy v. Bremerton School District Whether public school teachers and coaches retain any First Amendment rights when at work and “in the general presence of” students.
More Petitions »
Major Cases
- 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.
- In re Department of Commerce
  Whether, in an action seeking to set aside agency action under the Administrative Procedure Act, 5 U.S.C. § 701 et seq., 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—when there is no evidence that the decisionmaker disbelieved the objective reasons in the administrative record, irreversibly prejudged the issue, or acted on a legally forbidden basis.
- 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.
- Timbs v. Indiana
  Whether the Eighth Amendment’s excessive fines clause is incorporated against the states under the Fourteenth Amendment.
- Apple Inc. v. Pepper
  Whether consumers may sue anyone who delivers goods to them for antitrust damages, even when they seek damages based on prices set by third parties who would be the immediate victims of the alleged offense.
see all this term’s cases »
Recent Special Features
Statistical Snapshot

Cases argued 32

Cases decided 3

Summary reversals 0

Merits cases granted to date 57

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Justice Sotomayor at Harvard

On November 13, Justice Sonia Sotomayor, Judge Jennifer Walker Elrod of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit and Judge Susan Carney of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit presided over the final round of the 2018 Ames Moot Court Competition at Harvard Law School.

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

3
Orders
DAWSON V. STEAGER (17-419)
LORENZO V. SEC (17-1077)

4
BIESTEK V. BERRYHILL (17-1184)
HELSINN HEALTHCARE V. TEVA PHARMACEUTICALS (17-1229)

5
Supreme Court building closed for National Day of Mourning for George H.W. Bush

6
GAMBLE V. UNITED STATES (17-646)

7
Conference

10
Orders
Opinions

Cases argued	32
Cases decided	3
Summary reversals	0
Merits cases granted to date	57