Publications

Greetings, Court Fans!   The Court, with new Chief Justice Roberts at the helm, officially opened the October 2005 Term today, hearing oral arguments in two matters: the consolidated cases of IBP, Inc. v. Alvarez and Tum v. Barber Foods, Inc., which ask whether the Fair Labor Standards Act requires employers to pay workers for […]

Greetings, Court Fans!   The Court formally returns from the holiday recess today with oral argument in Hudson v. Michigan (04-1360), in which it will consider whether evidence seized under a valid warrant, but after a Fourth Amendment knock-and-announce violation, must be excluded at trial. The biggest Court-related news, however, will be happening across the […]

Greetings Court fans! Just when you think the Court must spend all its time on big, sexy issues like affirmative action, they come down with an ERISA preemption case. Speaking of the affirmative action cases, I hope you had a chance to catch at least part of the arguments yesterday. (I tried, but had a […]

Greetings Court fans! Getting back to Monday, below I summarize below two more opinions. . . . I’ll begin with Green Tree Financial Corp. v. Bazzle (02-634), a case decided without a majority opinion. A simplified version of the facts: Respondents filed suit against Green Tree, a commercial lender, in South Carolina state court alleging […]

Greetings, Court Fans! The biggest legal news of the day was the verdict in the Lewis Scooter Libby trial, where, after 10 days of deliberations, the jury found Libby guilty on 4 out of 5 counts of the indictment. While Libby is exposed to a sentence in the range of 30 years, most believe he […]

Greetings Court fans! In an unusual move, the Court issued two opinions today along with its usual Monday order list. In general, the Court releases opinions on Tuesdays or Wednesdays, but perhaps to avoid distractions before tomorrow’s affirmative action arguments, released opinions today. Before I get to the opinions, there’s not much to report from […]

Greetings Court fans! Before I get to today’s opinions, a few miscellaneous items: 1. The Court granted cert today in two cases. First, in Illinois v. Lidster (02-1060), the Court agreed to consider the lawfulness of a roadblock established by Illinois law enforcement officers to investigate a prior offense. The Illinois Supreme Court held the […]

Greetings Court fans! One decision today, and wouldn’t you know, it undermines my picks from yesterday! Although I predicted that the IOLTA case would be decided 5-4, I didn’t predict the opinion by Stevens. Sorry. Ok, on to the opinion. If the government “takes” property from an individual, but the taking results in no net […]

Greetings, Court Fans!   Today marked the final day of the Term, and with it came the Court’s much-awaited opinion in Hamdan v. Rumsfeld, which invalidated the military tribunals set up for the detainees at Guantanamo Bay. We’ll get that summary out as soon as we possibly can. To tide you over until then, here’s […]

Greetings, Court Fans!   The Court returned today from a two-week layoff for the final argument session of the Term, which runs through the 26th. There were no opinions in argued cases today.   The Court, however, did issue a per curiam opinion in Gonzales v. Thomas (05-552), in which it unanimously held that federal […]

Greetings Court fans!   One opinion and two cert grants this week. I’ll start with the grants, the first two grants for October Term 2004. 1. Koons Buick Pontiac GMC v. Nigh (03-377): In what promises to be a blockbuster for the Term (!), the Court will consider the applicability of a statutory damages cap […]

Greetings Court fans! Two new opinions today, thus reshuffling the rankings I reported yesterday: After today, O’Connor joins Ginsburg and Souter with 4 majority opinions (go SO’C!), and Thomas leaves Kennedy and Scalia in a tie for last place with only two majorities out so far. Why, might you ask, do I report such things? […]

Greetings, Court Fans! Expect things to speed up as the Court attempts to get all its opinions out by July 1. Yesterday brought us four opinions, so we’ll get right to it (only 31 left to go for the Term!). eBay Inc. v. MercExchange, LLC (05-130) is a biggie for intellectual property buffs. In a […]

Greetings Court fans!   Three opinions today, and some follow-up from yesterday’s order list. I’ll begin with the opinions First, in SEC v. Edwards (02-1196), a unanimous Court held that a moneymaking scheme that offers a fixed (rather than a variable) rate of return can be an investment contract and thus a “security” subject to […]

Greetings Court fans! The Court reconvened today for its March argument session — the big one of this Term. They hear the Texas sodomy case on Wednesday and the University of Michigan affirmative action cases next Tuesday. Nevertheless, since today’s news isn’t the most exciting in the world (see below), I thought I would start […]

Greetings Court fans! The Court issued 2 opinions and an order list today. Before I discuss the day’s events, though, one point of follow-up on yesterday’s update. Apparently, my reference to the soon-to-be-famous footnote 4 in the Moseley (Victoria’s Secret) case suggested to some of you that the footnote in question would appeal to your […]

Greetings, Court Fans!   The Court issued only one decision this week, but it was an important one. In Crawford v. Marion County Election Board (07-21), the Court voted 6-3 to uphold Indiana’s voter ID law. The law, purportedly one of the most restrictive in the country, requires a voter to show a photo ID […]

Greetings Court fans!   As of today, the Court has handed down all of its opinions for the Term, so I have a lot of work to do. I’ll break up your reading (and my writing!) into a few emails over the next few days, but will in any event, have you up to date […]

Greetings Court fans!   As predicted, the Court issued its first opinion of the Term today, a unanimous decision, authored by Scalia, in Barnhart v. Thomas (02-763). This is a bad day for the O’Connor clerks. She likes to issue the first opinion, and I can assure you that she is not happy that she […]

Greetings Court fans! The Court issued four opinions today, including one summary reversal, thus leaving 19 opinions to be issued before the end of the month. If you’re waiting for one of the Term’s blockbusters, it wasn’t issued today. For those curious about what is left to be decided (beyond the affirmative action cases), I […]

Greetings Court fans! I know what you’re thinking: Why am I getting a “Supreme Court update” over the summer? Aren’t the Justices all off on vacation? Yes, but they’re still making news. Remember Blakely v. Washington? In that case, decided at the end of the Term, the Court extended its Apprendi/Sixth Amendment case law to […]

Greetings Court fans! Sorry for the delay in the update, but the computer ate my homework. Honest. (I’m told by reliable sources that my technological woes will be solved sometime in June. I can only hope.) Ok, enough complaining. The Court issued five opinions — four from argued cases, and one per curiam summary reversal. […]

Greetings, Court fans!   In today’s order list, the Court surprised us by granting the petition for cert in Hamdan v. Rumsfeld (05-184), where the Court will consider the constitutionality of the special military tribunals established by President Bush to try foreign nationals suspected of terrorist acts. Apparently, the fourth time was a charm for […]

Greetings, Court Fans!   You’ll be happy to hear that today’s update is a lot shorter than our summary of the Booker/Fanfan decision – we’ve got just a few cert grants and summary dispositions to report.   On Friday, the Court announced that it will hear two trucking cases. In American Trucking Associations v. Michigan […]

Greetings Court fans! I write not with news on the Court, but rather to say farewell. In October, I will return to government service as an appellate lawyer for the US Attorney’s Office here in Connecticut, and so tomorrow is my last day at Wiggin and Dana. After my departure, these updates will continue under […]

Greetings, Court fans!   Yesterday, the Court twice dealt with issues relating to the extraterritorial application of US criminal law. The result: two split decisions, bitter dissents, and clear indications of unrest in this area of the law.   In Small v. United States (03-750), the Court held that an individual convicted of a crime […]

Greetings Court fans! A lot of news today, as will probably be the case for the rest of the Term, so let’s get to it: First, from the order list: 1. The Court granted cert in 3 cases: a. Jones v. R.R. Donnelley & Sons Co. (02-1205): This is a case about the applicability of […]

Greetings, Court fans!   It came as no surprise that the Court reserved what might be its most important and controversial decision of the year, Hamdan v. Rumsfeld (05-184), for its last day of the Term. Composed of six opinions, the decision nears 200 pages, so forgive (if you can) the length of this Update […]

Greetings, Court fans! The Court returned from recess with a flurry of activity, issuing three decisions Tuesday, an additional two decisions Wednesday, and an extensive order list. (If you watched the President’s address Tuesday, you know that Justice Ginsburg returned as well, looking amazingly well just weeks after surgery.) I’ll break things up, bringing you […]

Greetings, Court Fans!   It was a pretty slow Monday for late May – the Court issued only one opinion, meaning that we may have some heavy opinion days as the Term draws to a close.   In Brigham City, Utah v. Stuart (05-502), the Court held, unanimously and to no one’s surprise, that police […]