Scribble

Live blog of orders and opinions | June 11, 2018

We live-blogged as the Supreme Court released orders from the June 7 conference and opinions in argued cases. The justices called for the views of the solicitor general in three cases involving the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act: Sudan v. Owens, Opati v. Sudan and Sudan v. Opati. The justices also released their decisions in Husted v. A. Philip Randolph Institute, Sveen v. Melin, China Agritech Inc. v. Resh and Washington v. United States.

3rd & 7 37yd

The culverts case?

by Chris 6/11/2018 2:20:32 PM
Anticlimax.

by Col. Mustard 6/11/2018 2:20:33 PM
The last time we had an equally divided vote was in 2015 when the Court had 3 after the loss of Scalia. Before that was in 2010 when Kagan joined the Court. There were two that term.

by Adam Feldman 6/11/2018 2:21:24 PM
When they give you the last opinion of the day, do they say it's the last opinion? Or is it that you can see the box is empty?

by skc 6/11/2018 2:21:56 PM
I understand why the outcome of a case is kept secret, but why not let people know when opinions are going to be delivered?

by ayeayesur 6/11/2018 2:22:26 PM
Do we know which justices were on one side and which were on the other in the 4-4 case?

by bill 6/11/2018 2:23:10 PM
Did the marshall announce when they will hand down more opinions?

by ph 6/11/2018 2:23:36 PM
How does an equally divided Court impact the reverse seniority rule? Is an equally divided Court always considered "senior" and deliberately announced last, or is it just randomly placed by CJ?

by Ben Friedman 6/11/2018 2:24:11 PM
Why was Kennedy not a part of the Washington case?

by mgh 6/11/2018 2:24:31 PM
Do you have a projection from oral argument? Thanks!

by bill 6/11/2018 2:24:34 PM
In a 5-4 case is there any informal process for writing the "main" dissent (to the extent there is one), similar to the assignment of the majority opinion by senior justice in the majority?

by Glenn 6/11/2018 2:24:47 PM
Is there an audio feed from the Court to the press room? And if so, is it active during arguments?

by Richard Hoenes 6/11/2018 2:25:33 PM
I know that they have to decide a case within the term it's argued. When and how to they inform people that the case will be reargued in the next term if they can't decide it?

by ayeayesur 6/11/2018 2:26:19 PM
Any news on Ohio vs. American Express?

by SM 6/11/2018 2:28:25 PM
Do you sense any letdown that we did't get Carpenter, Janus or Gil opinions today?

by Matt Kilk 6/11/2018 2:29:16 PM
Is there a quick reference to find out how many opinions are outstanding?

by Bob 6/11/2018 2:30:06 PM
There's now a decent chance that Breyer is writing Benisek, in my view. If a "liberal" justice is writing, then Roberts or Kennedy would have assigned the opinion to them. Breyer and Kagan have most often written for the Court in gerrymandering cases, and her opinion today makes it unlikely she has another majority from March.

by RP 6/11/2018 2:30:13 PM
I'm going to get to work on my coverage of Husted and Sveen v. Melin. Hopefully others will be able to stick around and answer questions. I am also waiting for reporters to come down from the courtroom to fill us in on what was said, if anything, about possible decision days later this week. Thanks for joining us, and we will see you soon!

by Amy Howe 6/11/2018 2:30:22 PM
Is there any anti-Kennedy retirement tea leaf reading from the 4-4 affirmance? If they expected him to retire in a couple weeks, couldn't they order the case re-argued when they would have someone new?

by Richard 6/11/2018 2:31:00 PM
Okay, the buzzer just sounded to indicate that the justices are finished upstairs in the courtroom.

by Amy Howe 6/11/2018 2:31:02 PM
We will be back again for more opinions on Thursday! Hooray!

by Amy Howe 6/11/2018 2:31:56 PM
Does the SCOTUS tend to 'space out' big decisions to not fall on the same day to avoid overshadowing? Or they just announce whenever they are ready?

by DragonPup 6/11/2018 2:33:18 PM
My case Sturgeon v Frost 17-949 was listed in the June 7 conference but wasn't listed as denied this morning. Can anyone tell me what is going on?

by Sturgeon 6/11/2018 2:34:54 PM
Did they change their calendar at all to provide more non argument days? They still have many opinions and few calendered

by Shawn Posey 6/11/2018 2:35:18 PM
When a justice recuses from a case, do they participate in oral argument? Chooses not to ask questions but still sits to hear the case?

by Matthew Durst 6/11/2018 2:37:52 PM
When is the last day for Supreme Court to make decisions?

by Ed 6/11/2018 2:38:22 PM
@Bob Has the top chart on the statistics page been updated recently or am I reading it incorrectly? Masterpiece is still listed in red.

by Counts 6/11/2018 2:40:03 PM
How many opinions came down today? I'm aware of the Ohio one (got a notification on my phone), but any others?

by Paul 6/11/2018 2:42:42 PM
Will the identities of the Justices on each side of the 4-4 split in the Washington v. United States slip affirmance be disclosed? Or is the mere fact of a split all we get to know?

by Zack Att 6/11/2018 2:43:23 PM
Hi all, we're going to stop here for today's live blog. I'll post First Mondays in a moment. And our analyses of today's opinions (and Amy's report on the order list) will be forthcoming.

by Andrew Hamm 6/11/2018 2:46:56 PM
Back on Thursday!

by Andrew Hamm 6/11/2018 2:47:05 PM

Featured Posts

Academic highlight: Levitt on the collateral consequences of Department of Commerce v. New York – Amanda Frost

New rules mean tighter deadlines, fewer words – Amy Howe

Relist Watch: The Muller Report – John Elwood
Sponsored by Casetext
SCOTUStalk see all
Email Digest Sign-Up
Receive a daily email digest from Feedburner by entering your email.
Merits Case Pages and Archives

Archives

or

This Week at the Court
The Supreme Court released orders from the April 12 conference on Monday; the justices called for the views of the U.S. solicitor general in Rutledge v. Pharmaceutical Care Management Association.
On Monday, the justices heard oral argument in Iancu v. Brunetti and Emulex Corp. v. Varjabedian.
On Tuesday, the justices heard oral argument in Parker Drilling Management Services, Ltd. v. Newton and North Carolina Department of Revenue v. The Kimberley Rice Kaestner 1992 Family Trust.
On Wednesday, the justices heard oral argument in United States v. Davis and McDonough v. Smith.
On Thursday, the justices met for their April 18 conference; John Elwood's Relist Watch compiles the petitions that were relisted for this conference.
Major Cases
- Department of Commerce v. New York
  (1) Whether the district court erred in enjoining the secretary of the Department of Commerce from reinstating a question about citizenship to the 2020 decennial census on the ground that the secretary’s decision violated the Administrative Procedure Act, 5 U.S.C. 701 et seq; (2) whether, in an action seeking to set aside agency action under the APA, 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 -- without a strong showing that the decisionmaker disbelieved the objective reasons in the administrative record, irreversibly prejudged the issue, or acted on a legally forbidden basis; and (3) whether the secretary’s decision to add a citizenship question to the decennial census violated the enumeration clause of the U.S. Constitution.
- 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.
- 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 Decisions
- Biestek v. Berryhill A vocational expert’s refusal to provide private market-survey data during a Social Security disability benefits hearing upon the applicant’s request does not categorically preclude the testimony from counting as “substantial evidence” in federal court under 42 U. S. C. §405(g).
- Bucklew v. Precythe Baze v. Rees and Glossip v. Gross govern all Eighth Amendment challenges alleging that a method of execution inflicts unconstitutionally cruel pain; Russell Bucklew’s as-applied challenge to Missouri’s single-drug execution protocol -- that it would cause him severe pain because of his particular medical condition -- fails to satisfy the Baze-Glossip test.
- Lorenzo v. Securities and Exchange Commission Dissemination of false or misleading statements with intent to defraud can fall within the scope of Securities and Exchange Commission Rules 10b–5(a) and (c), as well as the relevant statutory provisions, even if the disseminator cannot be held liable under Rule 10b–5(b).
- Republic of Sudan v. Harrison When civil process is served on a foreign state under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act of 1976, 28 U. S. C. §1608(a)(3) requires a mailing to be sent directly to the foreign minister’s office in the foreign state.
- Sturgeon v. Frost Alaska’s Nation River is not public land; and like all non-public lands and navigable waters within Alaska’s national parks, it is exempt under the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act from the National Park Service’s ordinary regulatory authority.
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.
- Barton v. Barr Whether a lawfully admitted permanent resident who is not seeking admission to the United States can be “render[ed] ... inadmissible” for the purposes of the stop-time rule, 8 U.S.C. § 1229b(d)(1).
- 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.
More Petitions »
Recent Special Features
Statistical Snapshot

Cases argued 63

Cases decided 31

Summary reversals 4

Merits cases granted to date 74

see all »
Live Blog Archives
See all
Twitter Feed

Tweets by @SCOTUSblog

Full Calendar Submit Event

Apr. 2019

Su	Mo	Tu	We	Th	Fr	Sa
	1 Orders Opinions	2	3	4	5	6
7	8	9	10	11	12 Conference	13
14	15 Orders IANCU V. BRUNETTI (18-302) EMULEX CORP. V. VARJABEDIAN (18-459)	16 PARKER DRILLING MANAGEMENT SERVICES V. NEWTON (18-389) NORTH CAROLINA DEPARTMENT OF REVENUE V. KAESTNER FAMILY TRUST (18-457)	17 UNITED STATES V. DAVIS (18-431) MCDONOUGH V. SMITH (18-485)	18 Conference	19	20
21	22 Orders FOOD MARKETING INSTITUTE V. ARGUS LEADER MEDIA (18-481) FORT BEND COUNTY, TEXAS V. DAVIS (18-525)	23 MITCHELL V. WISCONSIN (18-6210) REHAIF V. UNITED STATES (17-9560) DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE V. NEW YORK (18-966) Opinions	24 QUARLES V. UNITED STATES (17-778) TAGGART V. LORENZEN (18-489)	25	26 Conference	27
28	29 Orders	30

Orders/Opinions
Arguments
Conferences

Events
Holidays
Multiple

Download our App in the Apple Store
Videos see all

Justice Thomas at Pepperdine Law School

On March 30, Justice Clarence Thomas spoke with former clerk Brittney Lane Kubisch and Pepperdine University President-elect James Gash at Pepperdine University School of Law. Thomas told the audience that he had no plans to retire from the Supreme Court.

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	63
Cases decided	31
Summary reversals	4
Merits cases granted to date	74

Editor's Note :

Scribble

Live blog of orders and opinions | June 11, 2018

Featured Posts

Academic highlight: Levitt on the collateral consequences of Department of Commerce v. New York – Amanda Frost

New rules mean tighter deadlines, fewer words – Amy Howe

Relist Watch: The Muller Report – John Elwood

Sponsored by Casetext

SCOTUStalk see all

Email Digest Sign-Up

Merits Case Pages and Archives

Major Cases

Recent Decisions

Current Relists

Conference of April 19, 2019

Recent Special Features

Live Blog Archives

Apr. 2019

Download our App in the Apple Store

Videos see all

Peabody Award

Sigma Delta Chi

National Press Club Award

Silver Gavel Award

American Gavel Award

Webby Award