Live blog of orders and opinions - Monday, March 30
We live-blogged on Monday, March 30, as the Supreme Court released orders from the March 27 conference and its opinion in CITGO Asphalt Refining Co. v. Frescati Shipping Co. SCOTUSblog is sponsored by Casetext, the most intelligent way to search the law.






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And then we are expecting one or more opinions in argued cases starting at 10 am. Last week the Court released opinions in roughly five-minute intervals (because, remember, the justices did not take the bench) on its website, so I would imagine it will do the same today. And they are likely to do so in order of reverse seniority.
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Good morning all,
In case you missed it, The New Yorker contemplated the members of the Supreme Court communicating via a Zoom-like teleconference. They have conducted two conferences by audio conference call now, and one can imagine that that presents enough of a technological challenge for some of them.
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In Patrick, Justice Sotomayor adds this:
Recognizing that the Court has repeatedly declined to grant certiorari on this important issue—whether the right recognized in Johnson v. United States, 576 U. S. 591 (2015), applies to defendants sentenced under the mandatory Sentencing Guidelines—I will cease noting my dissent in future petitions presenting the question. I hope, however, that the Court will at some point reconsider its reluctance to answer it.
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In Cannon v. Seay (19-311), about double jeopardy, Justices Thomas, Alito, and Kavanaugh would grant cert.
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I'm not sure there's more to say right now about the order list. Moving on to opinions, then? As is almost always the case, the Court does not announce which opinions we're getting. There are still several cases left from the October sitting, all fairly significant ones: Ramos v. Louisiana (jury unanimity), the Title VII cases, and the Puerto Rico cases.
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As we get closer to opinions at 10 a.m., when we will all be hitting refresh on the court’s website, I thought I would share something I dug up while going through some old files over the weekend.
On April 10, 2000, almost 20 years ago, the court issued a news release that said:
SUPREME COURT TO IMPLEMENT WEBSITE
The Supreme Court of the United States today announced plans to implement an official World Wide Web (www) site to make Court information available via the Internet to the Bar, the public, and the news media. The Website will provide information free of charge and will be accessible on Monday, April 17, 2000.
[In case that seems unremarkable, 2000 was well after most federal agencies and entities had joined the Web revolution.]
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Now that the Court is going fully digital for its announcements, is there a reason for waiting after the 9:30 a.m. orders list drop until 10 a.m. to announce opinions? In other words, no need to get everyone settled to hear the Justices read their opinions, so why not just release everything at once? (Or are they concerned it would ruin the suspense for SCOTUSblog's live blog?! :))
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In the McGirt case, speculation on here was that the justices scheduled a new argument because they ran out of time to complete an opinion. Do we still think that was a reason? If so, why would they schedule the argument in April instead of earlier to give them more time than they had last year?
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Still waiting on majority opinions from Roberts, Ginsburg, Breyer, Gorsuch, and Kavanaugh in the October sitting. Cases remaining from that sitting are the sexual orientation and gender identity discrimination cases, the Puerto Rico financial board case, and incorporation of the Grand Jury clause.
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Because of the way Akamai's CDN works, even if the URL works for Amy, it may behave differently for different people across the Internet. (That's why the Court adds the 4-character code at the end of the opinion -- so it can pre-distribute the file throughout the content distribution network before releasing the link.)
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Thanks everyone for joining today. We'll continue doing these as long as the court keeps issuing opinions this term. Stay tuned for whether we expect opinions next Monday and regarding April arguments - no word yet, but we will update the blog and twitter as soon as we know. Please stay safe and healthy: Practice social distancing and wash your hands!