Today the Supreme Court released the calendar for its April argument session, the final argument session scheduled for this term. During the April session, which begins on April 20 and ends on April 29, the justices will hear eight hours of oral argument over six days. The session will include several high-profile cases, including a return to the dispute over the status of land set up as a reservation in eastern Oklahoma for the Creek Nation in the 19th century, two challenges to “faithless elector” laws and a challenge to the Trump administration’s expansion of the conscience exemption from the Affordable Care Act’s birth-control mandate.
A full list of the cases scheduled for oral argument in April, along with a brief summary of the issues presented in each case, follows below the jump.
City of Chicago v. Fulton (April 20): Whether the Bankruptcy Code’s automatic stay requires creditors to turn over repossessed property as soon as a debtor files for bankruptcy.
McGirt v. Oklahoma (April 21): Whether land that was set up in the 19th century as a reservation in eastern Oklahoma for the Creek Nation remains a reservation for purposes of a federal law that requires some major crimes committed on a reservation by or against Indians to be prosecuted as federal crimes.
Texas v. New Mexico (April 21): Dispute between New Mexico and Texas over the waters of the Pecos River.
Barr v. American Association of Political Consultants (April 22): Whether an exception for government-debt collection to a federal law that prohibits calls to cellphones using auto-dial systems or an artificial or prerecorded voice is constitutional.
Ford Motor Co. v. Montana Eighth Judicial District Court and Ford Motor Co. v. Bandemer (consolidated for one hour of oral argument on April 27): Whether a state court has personal jurisdiction over a defendant when the defendant’s contacts with the state did not cause the plaintiff’s claims.
Rutledge v. Pharmaceutical Care Management Association (April 27): Whether federal employee-benefits laws supersede state regulation of rates at which prescription-drug middlemen reimburse pharmacies.
Chiafalo v. Washington and Colorado Department of State v. Baca (consolidated for one hour of oral argument on April 28): Whether state “faithless elector” laws, which require presidential electors to vote the way that state law directs, are constitutional.
Little Sisters of the Poor v. Pennsylvania and Trump v. Pennsylvania (consolidated for one hour of oral argument on April 29): Whether the expansion of the conscience exemption from the Affordable Care Act’s birth-control mandate violated the Affordable Care Act and the laws governing federal administrative agencies.
This post is also published on SCOTUSblog.
