John Elwood reviews Monday’s relisted cases. As the world gathers at One First Street to watch the Term’s remaining blockbusters indelibly change life as we know it, life in the Relist Watch tidal eddy continues at its normal unrushed pace. Two of this week’s grants paid their dues in the Relist Watch bush leagues before [...]... Read More »»»

The petition of the day is:... Read More »»»

The National Labor Relations Board will seek to go on to the Supreme Court in a major constitutional test of the President’s power to make appointments to government offices when the Senate is out of town, the Board announced Tuesday.  With the Justice Department’s agreement, the Board has opted not to ask the D.C. Circuit Court [...]... Read More »»»

Analysis For more than forty-six years, the Supreme Court’s brief rulings in the Virginia death row case of Melvin Davis Rees, Jr., have remained in the Supreme Court’s records, but few have paid attention to them since and their meaning was never clarified.  The Justices finally did so on Tuesday, ruling that the actions it took in Rees [...]... Read More »»»

Debra Lyn Bassett is the Justice Marshall F. McComb Professor of Law at Southwestern Law School. Neither side had an easy time in yesterday’s oral argument in Standard Fire Insurance Co. v. Knowles, a case addressing whether a class action can avoid removal to federal court by stipulating to limit damages below the jurisdictional amount.  [...]... Read More »»»

The exasperation that the Supreme Court’s deep familiarity with the Armed Career Criminal Act (“ACCA”) has bred was on full display in Monday’s argument in Descamps v. United States. The challenge posed by the ACCA, as noted in my preview, is how to reconcile a congressional mandate to classify diversely labeled and structured prior convictions [...]... Read More »»»

With the help of our reporter, Lyle Denniston, we will be live blogging as opinions are issued today. The Live Blog window is below the jump. Once you see the window and our initial welcome, we ask that you do not refresh your browser. Updates will appear without the need for refreshing.   Live Blog [...]... Read More »»»

Yesterday the Court issued additional orders from its January 4 Conference, and coverage of the Court focused on the denial of review in several notable cases.  Writing for this blog, Lyle discusses the Court’s announcement that it would not hear Sherley v. Sebelius, a lawsuit seeking to prohibit stem cell research; Trinidad y Garcia v. [...]... Read More »»»

Today’s argument in Delia v. E.M.A. presents a straightforward dispute about federal preemption in the Medicaid context. The federal Medicaid program advances funds to the states to defray the medical expenses of the poor.  As a condition of that funding, the program imposes numerous requirements on the state.  One set of requirements involves Medicaid funding [...]... Read More »»»

Jonathan Macey is the Sam Harris Professor of Corporate Law, Securities Law and Corporate Finance at Yale Law School. Reading the facts of Gabelli v. SEC, scheduled for oral argument tomorrow, is like watching a Civil War reenactment. Market timing cases such as this are from the Eliot Spitzer era – and I don’t mean [...]... Read More »»»

At 10 a.m. Wednesday, the Supreme Court will hold one hour of oral argument on whether police need a court order to get a blood sample from an individual suspected of drunk driving.  The case is Missouri v. McNeely (docket 11-1425).  Arguing for the state of Missouri will be John N. Koester, Jr., an assistant [...]... Read More »»»

The transcript in Descamps v. United States is here. The transcript in The Standard Fire Insurance Co. v. Knowles is here.... Read More »»»

The Supreme Court on Monday released the schedule of oral arguments for the sitting that begins March 18, showing that the two cases on same-sex marriage will be heard — one on each day — on Tuesday, March 26, and Wednesday, March 27.  The case on California’s “Proposition 8″ will come first, followed by the [...]... Read More »»»

The petition of the day is:... Read More »»»

Analysis People who work for the federal government are protected, as are other employees, from discrimination in the workplace.  But, depending on where they live and work, federal employees have faced a circuitous path to a court where they might pursue their claims.  On Monday, the Supreme Court said there is a simple route to [...]... Read More »»»