The Court has released the hearing list for the November sitting, which begins on Monday, November 2. As seems to increasingly be the case, several titans of the Supreme Court bar will be appearing: Andrew Pincus (24 arguments), Neal Katyal (25), Carter Phillips (81!), and David Frederick (40+, according to his firm bio). It is… Read More
Oct 13 2015
Argument analysis: Not the argument that most of us expected (but perhaps the one that Richard Bernstein had hoped for)
Going into today’s oral arguments in Montgomery v. Louisiana, many Court watchers would have said that there were two main things to look for. First, did the Court seem likely to rule that its 2012 decision in Miller v. Alabama – prohibiting mandatory sentences of life in prison, without the possibility of parole, for juveniles… Read More
Oct 13 2015
Today at the Court
I’ll have my Plain English recap of today’s oral arguments in Montgomery v. Louisiana soon, as soon as I figure out what to say. A few random thoughts until then: Justice Kagan once again proved that she is the hippest Justice, twice referring to “life without parole” sentences as “L-WOP.” It wasn’t a good day… Read More
Oct 12 2015
Justices to consider whether new sentencing decision applies to decades-old murder case: In Plain English
Since 1963, Henry Montgomery (now sixty-nine years old) has been in a Louisiana prison, serving a mandatory sentence of life without parole for the murder of Charles Hurt, a deputy sheriff in East Baton Rouge. A newspaper article published shortly after Hurt’s death suggested that Montgomery, who had turned seventeen just a few weeks before… Read More
Oct 7 2015
Today at the Court
Fun fact: A female lawyer showed up to sit in the bar section wearing a stylish black sleeveless dress. It was lovely, but the bar section requires jackets, so she had to borrow one from a male friend in the public gallery. Not-so-fun fact: Assistant to the Solicitor General Rachel Kovner wasn’t simply the only… Read More
Sep 21 2015
Book review: Linda Hirshman’s Sisters in Law
Much has been written about Sandra Day O’Connor, the first woman on the Supreme Court and a pivotal Justice on hot-button issues – including by O’Connor herself in not one but two memoirs. Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who in 1993 became the second woman on the Court, isn’t far behind her: although she has said that… Read More
