Scribble

Live blog of opinions | June 25, 2015

3rd & 7 37yd

How exactly does the amazing Lyle provide information? Does he have to leave the press room? Or is he able to use technology?

by Christopher 6/25/2015 1:27:11 PM

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Given that the president is speaking at the Pinckney funeral Friday, would they perhaps wait until Monday to issue their final decisions?

by Jim 6/25/2015 1:29:59 PM

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Why aren't people more concerned with Glossip v Gross? Will it have a large impact on capital punishment in the US?

by Dimitor 6/25/2015 1:30:27 PM

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Do the justice vote on opinions immediately after oral argument? can they change their minds after opinions are written?

by John Harding 6/25/2015 1:30:28 PM

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If, for whatever reason, a justice was absent for/was not allowed to vote on a case and the vote came to a 4-4, what would happen? Has this ever happened?

by Guest 6/25/2015 1:30:32 PM

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In the Kimble v Marvel Enterprises opinion, Justice Kagan quotes a 1962 comic book, the first appearance of Spider-Man. Is this the first time a Supreme Court opinion has referenced a comic book?

by Icarus27k 6/25/2015 1:31:14 PM

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In the unlikely event the court rules against gay marriage, would my "gay" marriage in Maryland void my Federal benefits?

by Mike 6/25/2015 1:31:28 PM

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If the ruling is not favorable to the Administration, can Obama simply ignore it and act independently as he did with immigration and Congress?

by John Deaux 6/25/2015 1:32:19 PM

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Do we know if any SSM proponents are inside courtroom?

by Adam 6/25/2015 1:32:35 PM

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How likely are we to see a decision today?

by Joey Marrone 6/25/2015 1:32:56 PM

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Is it essentially true that the outcome of each case is decided at the end-of-week conference right after arguments? Are the majority and dissent writers selected at that time?

by Ross Twele 6/25/2015 1:33:04 PM

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What're the chances that someone could--and what's the process to--get a copy of an opinion at the court for a case like Obergefell? Does the public have to compete with the press for those?

by lawstudent 6/25/2015 1:33:45 PM

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In NFIB v. Sebelius, the tax power argument seemed to surprise a lot of observers. Much media coverage (not yours!) presents many of the outstanding cases as black or white. Which of the current cases, if any, has the possibility of being decided on a "below the radar" justification?

by JG 6/25/2015 1:33:48 PM

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I have $20 that Scalia is the author of the opinion granting same sex marriage rights to all Americans. Am I going to lose my lunch money?

by holla bb17 6/25/2015 1:34:22 PM

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Does the Scotusblog staff discuss the cases and their preferred outcomes for the cases? For example, Burwell and Orbegefell

by Will Johnson 6/25/2015 1:34:37 PM

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Following up on Kevin Russell's response, what are the current odds for DC being hit by a meteor?

by Riyan 6/25/2015 1:34:53 PM

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If the court rules in favor of SSM, will states with marriage bans for same sex couples be able to continue enforcing said bans?

by Isobel 6/25/2015 1:35:38 PM

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Do you believe that the Court's refusal to stay the decision of the Alabama federal court regarding a ban on SSM is essentially the Court showing its hand as to Obergefell?

by TaxNerd 6/25/2015 1:36:12 PM

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Good afternoon from Paris (and hi to those listening to me at NSA, too)

by Randy in Paris 6/25/2015 1:36:35 PM

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Could the Court issue an order removing the confederate flag from the SC statehouse? If so, how?

by olekinderhook 6/25/2015 1:36:37 PM

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Any estimate of the size of the crowd outside the court? Are there more SSM or anti SSM supporters or about the same size crowds?

by Tony C. 6/25/2015 1:37:02 PM

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Do the justices lobby each other to change votes outside of formal conferences? Is a potential "swing" vote like Kennedy able to count on not having to buy his own lunch for a while if there's a sense his vote may still be "in play" before a decision is issued?

by Bill Murphy 6/25/2015 1:37:10 PM

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Are we expecting any orders today?

by Jason 6/25/2015 1:37:57 PM

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Wow, this is so much fun!

by Joseph Vitale 6/25/2015 1:38:28 PM

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Just how closely do the Justices work together generally, anyway? And do we know how formal/informal they are with each other? (Basically are they like normal people working in an office together, but with more black robes?)

by Drone 6/25/2015 1:39:04 PM

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Is it true that the justices only deliver hand-written notes to each other?

by Daniel 6/25/2015 1:39:18 PM

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I wonder if conservatives get the same enjoyment out of reading Kagan's opinions as liberals (like me) do in reading Scalia's. Sure, I don't agree with the response much of the time, but the reasoning is couched in such entertaining language. (And when you do agree, it's even better.)

by David Souter's Lunar Rover 6/25/2015 1:40:36 PM

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We've had two or three questions about whether there are or will be cameras in the courtroom. There are not, and we are not aware of any plan to change that any time soon. I think the Justices generally believe that things are working well the way they are, and would prefer to keep it that way. I would love for them to change their mind about this . . . although I suppose it's probably not in the LiveBlog's interest.

by Tejinder 6/25/2015 1:41:03 PM

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The opinion boxes have not come out yet. Stand by.

by lylden 6/25/2015 1:45:01 PM

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Any chance of the Court issuing a ruling today in Batman v. Superman?

by Therealrjl 6/25/2015 1:45:14 PM

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That illustration of Justice Kagan and Spider-Man on the front page is great.

by s 6/25/2015 1:45:45 PM

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What is the difference between an opinion and an order?

by Aimée Easton 6/25/2015 1:45:50 PM

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I'm watching Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association. It is listed as "Distributed for Conference" as of today. What does that mean?

by jjjohn 6/25/2015 1:46:21 PM

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Do the opinions ever get leaked early? Does the WH ever get a heads up?

by Todd 6/25/2015 1:47:03 PM

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Concurrences with a separate legal reasoning are not binding, correct? Is it just the justice's way of laying out their own argument?

by Bondosan 6/25/2015 1:47:07 PM

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Is there anywhere to watch this live online?

by Interested person 6/25/2015 1:47:30 PM

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If Obergefell is ruled in favour of the respondents, will that overturn other courts' decisions that did away with states' bans on same-sex marriage?

by Connie 6/25/2015 1:47:44 PM

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Do the justices ever have interactions outside of the court like pool parties and happy hours?

by Jon 6/25/2015 1:47:48 PM

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Even if the Court prefer the status quo of no cameras, couldn't Congress pass a law forcing it to allow them?

by Joshcow 6/25/2015 1:49:09 PM

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What is the blog count now?

by Steve 6/25/2015 1:49:25 PM

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Can President Obama be nominated to be on the supreme court after he is done?

by KLC 6/25/2015 1:49:25 PM

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What do the clerks do during the summer recess? Go on vacation or continue working on cert memos?

by Publius 6/25/2015 1:50:17 PM

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Will there be any comic book citations or funny zingers from Scalia when the court decides that states can execute death row inmates by injecting untested chemicals into them?

by Anonymous 6/25/2015 1:50:40 PM

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Yes he can, see William Howard Taft

by Val 6/25/2015 1:50:45 PM

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Why doesn't SCOTUSBlog link to the opinions in the pages for the cases? The history of actions on cases is great, but it's missing the most important document (the actual opinion).

by Joseph 6/25/2015 1:51:04 PM

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Featured Posts

Challengers urge justices to dismiss census case after district court ruling (Updated) – Amy Howe

Reargument analysis: Justices seek a “middle position” in takings litigation case – Miriam Seifter

Argument analysis: Justices have strong views about removal of class actions – Ronald Mann
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This Week at the Court
The Supreme Court will release orders from the January 18 conference on Tuesday at 9:30 a.m. There is a possibility of opinions on Tuesday at 10 a.m.
The justices will meet next for their February 15 conference.
The calendar for the February sitting, which will begin on Tuesday, February 19, is available on the Supreme Court's website.
Recent Decisions
- New Prime Inc. v. Oliveira A court should determine whether the Federal Arbitration Act’s Section 1 exclusion for disputes involving the “contracts of employment” of certain transportation workers applies before ordering arbitration; here, truck driver Dominic Oliveira’s independent contractor operating agreement with New Prime Inc. falls within that exception.
- Stokeling v. United States The Armed Career Criminal Act’s elements clause encompasses a robbery offense that, like Florida’s law, requires the criminal to overcome the victim’s resistance.
- Culbertson v. Berryhill The Social Security Act’s fee cap of 25 percent of past-due benefits imposed on attorneys who successfully represent Title II benefit claimants in court proceedings applies only to fees for court representation and not to aggregate fees for both court and agency representation.
- Henry Schein Inc. v. Archer and White Sales Inc. The “wholly groundless” exception to the general rule that courts must enforce contracts that delegate threshold arbitrability questions to an arbitrator, not a court, is inconsistent with the Federal Arbitration Act and Supreme Court precedent.
- City of Escondido, California v. Emmons The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit failed to conduct the analysis required by Supreme Court precedents in determining whether two Escondido police officers were entitled to qualified immunity.
- Shoop v. Hill Because Danny Hill’s intellectual disability claim must be evaluated based solely on holdings of the Supreme Court that were clearly established at the time the state-court decisions were rendered, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit’s reliance on Moore v. Texas -- which was handed down much later -- was plainly improper.
see all this term’s cases »
Current Relists
- Altitude Express Inc. v. Zarda Whether the prohibition in Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-2(a)(1), against employment discrimination “because of . . . sex” encompasses discrimination based on an individual’s sexual orientation.
- Bostock v. Clayton County, Georgia Whether discrimination against an employee because of sexual orientation constitutes prohibited employment discrimination “because of . . . sex” within the meaning of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-2.
- 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.
More Petitions »
Major Cases
- 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.
- Department of Commerce v. U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York
  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.
- 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 Special Features
Statistical Snapshot

Cases argued 43

Cases decided 9

Summary reversals 2

Merits cases granted to date 73

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Jan. 2019

Su	Mo	Tu	We	Th	Fr	Sa
		1 Holiday	2	3	4 Conference	5
6	7 Orders MERCK SHARP & DOHME CORP. V. ALBRECHT (17-290) OBDUSKEY V. MCCARTHY & HOLTHUS LLP (17-1307)	8 HERRERA V. WYOMING (17-532) FOURTH ESTATE PUBLIC BENEFIT CORP. V. WALL-STREET.COM, LLC (17-571) Opinions	9 FRANCHISE TAX BOARD OF CALIFORNIA V. HYATT (17-1299)	10	11 Conference	12
13	14 Orders THACKER V. TENNESSEE VALLEY AUTHORITY (17-1201) RIMINI STREET INC. V. ORACLE USA INC. (17-1625)	15 HOME DEPOT U.S.A. INC. V. JACKSON (17-1471) AZAR V. ALLINA HEALTH SERVICES (17-1484) Opinions	16 KNICK V. TOWNSHIP OF SCOTT, PENNSYLVANIA (17-647) TENNESSEE WINE AND SPIRITS RETAILERS ASSOCIATION V. BLAIR (18-96)	17	18 Conference	19
20	21 Holiday	22 Orders Opinions	23	24	25	26
27	28	29	30	31

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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.

Cases argued	43
Cases decided	9
Summary reversals	2
Merits cases granted to date	73

Editor's Note :

Scribble

Live blog of opinions | June 25, 2015

Featured Posts

Challengers urge justices to dismiss census case after district court ruling (Updated) – Amy Howe

Reargument analysis: Justices seek a “middle position” in takings litigation case – Miriam Seifter

Argument analysis: Justices have strong views about removal of class actions – Ronald Mann

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Merits Case Pages and Archives

Recent Decisions

Current Relists

Conference of January 18, 2019

Major Cases

Recent Special Features

Live Blog Archives

Jan. 2019

Download our App in the Apple Store

First Mondays see all

Videos see all

Peabody Award

Sigma Delta Chi

National Press Club Award

Silver Gavel Award

American Gavel Award

Webby Award