Live blog of orders and opinions - Monday, April 6
We live-blogged on Monday, April 6, as the Supreme Court released orders from the April 3 conference and opinions in Babb v. Wilkie and Kansas v. Glover. SCOTUSblog is sponsored by Casetext, the most intelligent way to search the law.
3rd & 7 37yd
3rd & 7 37yd
B
S
O
close
close

-





-
Good morning, everyone! Welcome to our live blog of (virtual) orders and opinions. We're expecting orders from the court at 9:30 this morning, followed by one or more opinions in argued cases at 10. Like last week, everything is released electronically. The justices are not taking the bench, and I am not at the court.
-
Also, we are waiting on an order today in the dispute over Wisconsin's primary, which is scheduled for tomorrow. I covered the filings over the weekend, but the Reader's Digest summary is that a federal judge in Wisconsin extended the deadline for absentee ballots to be received and counted until April 13 b/c of the COVID-19 crisis. Republicans in Wisconsin have asked the justices to step in and put that ruling on hold.
-
Good morning from another corner of the Virtual Press Room. This is what might be called the "third Monday" of the March (and early April) sitting, the Monday after two weeks of oral arguments when the court normally would have taken the bench for opinions and bar admissions, but no arguments.
-
-
There is a denial in Archdiocese of Washington v. WMATA, a case involving the Washington area transit system's refusal to put advertisements by the Catholic church on the sides of buses. Justice Kavanaugh did not participate, and Justice Gorsuch has a statement (joined by Thomas) regarding the denial.
-
Gorsuch says that the Archdiocese of Washington sought to put Christmastime ads on Washington, D.C., buses a few years ago."The proposed image was a simple one— a silhouette of three shepherds and sheep, along with the words 'Find the Perfect Gift' and a church website address. No one disputes that, if Macy’s had sought to place the same advertisement with its own website address, the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) would have accepted the business gladly."
-
We’re in the Virtual Supreme Court Press Room now, and we’re missing the real Press Room on the ground floor of the court building.
To cope with that withdrawal, I followed the most recent “Weekend Watch” recommendation of New York Times film critics A.O. Scott and Manohla Dargis and screened “His Girl Friday,” Howard Hawks’s 1940 take on “The Front Page.”
The action largely takes place in the press room of a criminal court building—New York City’s for “His Girl Friday” and Chicago’s for the original play of “The Front Page” (by Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur) and its multiple film versions.
Every time I watch “His Girl Friday,” though, I start to think it’s a documentary about an average day in ">our own ">Press Room.
-
We've had two questions about Ramos v. Louisiana, the jury unanimity case argued on the first day of the term. On the one hand, it might seem a little surprising that we haven't gotten it yet, but I think that even if there is support for a rule that would require unanimous juries, getting there might be somewhat fraught for a liberal justice like Justice Kagan because it would require the court to overrule its prior precedent, which is always a contentious topic these days.
-
Babb is up now, and it is by Justice Alito. It appears to be unanimous. Here is the link: https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/19pdf/18-882_3ebh.pdf