Covering the Supreme Court and the Judiciary in (mostly) Plain English

The Supreme Court has been parsimonious in granting review recently, adding only a handful of new cases to its merits docket for next term since the beginning of March. Last year the justices closed out June with a flurry, adding 13 new cases (for a total of 11 hours of argument) to their docket for… Read More

This morning the Supreme Court issued just one opinion, in the prisoner litigation case Lomax v. Ortiz-Marquez. At this point in the year, we would normally expect the court to issue all of its remaining decisions over the next three-and-a-half weeks. But because the COVID-19 pandemic prompted the court to cancel its March and April… Read More

This morning the Supreme Court issued orders from the justices’ private conference last week. The court added one new case to its merits docket for the term that begins in October. The justices once again did not act on two groups of high-profile petitions – one involving gun rights and the other involving qualified immunity… Read More

Last week the Supreme Court rejected a request by the federal government to temporarily block an order that could have required the release or transfer of over 800 inmates from a federal prison in Ohio where nine inmates have died from COVID-19. But the court’s ruling suggested that it was largely based on procedural grounds,… Read More

Under normal circumstances, we would expect that there would be less than a month remaining before the Supreme Court starts its summer recess. Because the COVID-19 pandemic prompted the court to cancel its March and April argument sessions and hold a rare May argument session, it’s not clear whether the justices will issue all of… Read More

This morning the Supreme Court issued orders from the justices’ private conference last Thursday. The justices did not add any new cases to their merits docket for the fall. They did not act on the group of cases challenging federal and state gun restrictions or the group of cases asking the justices to reconsider immunity… Read More

In 2016, Congress passed the Puerto Rico Oversight, Management, and Economic Stability Act (PROMESA). The law created a seven-member board tasked with bringing financial stability back to the island. But when the board began proceedings in federal court to restructure Puerto Rico’s massive debt, a hedge fund that had invested in distressed Puerto Rico bonds… Read More

Last night the Supreme Court declined to intervene in challenges by churches in southern California and the Chicago area to stay-at-home orders issued as a result of the COVID-19 crisis. The churches had asked the justices earlier this week to lift restrictions on crowds in time for them to hold services on Sunday, when Christians… Read More

Update: Justice Elena Kagan has called for a response in the case; it is due on Thursday, May 28, by 8 p.m. On Wednesday, two Chicago-area churches asked the justices to allow them to hold services on Pentecost as well. The Elim Romanian Pentecostal Church and Logos Baptist Ministries, which are both Romanian-American Christian churches,… Read More

Today the Supreme Court denied a request by the federal government to put a temporary hold on an order by a federal court that could lead to the release or transfer of over 800 inmates from a federal prison where nine inmates have died from COVID-19. The inmates’ victory, however, appeared to be mostly procedural… Read More