The Supreme Court on Monday released the calendar for oral arguments for the opening session of the 2010 Term, starting on Monday, Oct. 4.  The Court will hold afternoon arguments on two of the five argument days in that sitting.  The morning sessions run from 10 a.m. to noon; the afternoon sessions begin at 1 [...]... Read More »»»

The nineteen members of the Senate Judiciary Committee — twelve Democrats and seven Republicans — will meet this morning at 10 a.m. ET to vote on whether or not to send the nomination of Elena Kagan to the Senate floor for a vote by the entire body.  The Committee vote will likely be prefaced by [...]... Read More »»»

Four weeks after winning a broad interpretation by the Supreme Court of one of the government’s main legal weapons in the “war on terrorism,” the Obama Administration has asked the Court to give officials wide-ranging legal immunity for enforcing another such law.  At issue in the just-appealed case of Ashcroft v. Al-Kidd (10-98) is a [...]... Read More »»»

A local chapter of the Federal Bar Association is sponsoring a review panel of October Term 2009 on Wednesday, July 21 in San Francisco.  The panel will discuss all of the big issues raised in cases during the Term, as well as “inside baseball” views of the Court and docket.  The panelists are:Hon. Marsha Berzon, [...]... Read More »»»

Three days after the Supreme Court cleared the way for the government to send an Algerian national to his home country, over his protest, the Defense Department announced  the transfer Monday.  The transfer involved Abdul Aziz Naji, one of six Algerian detainees at Guantanamo who have indicated they fear torture or death if sent to their [...]... Read More »»»

SCOTUSblog is currently accepting applications for unpaid student internships with the blog during October Term 2010.  Details about these positions’ qualifications and responsibilities and how to apply follow the jump.The students selected will have the opportunity to write, edit, and post blog content; to work closely with our team, including veteran reporter Lyle Denniston, who [...]... Read More »»»

As the Senate Judiciary Committee prepares to vote on Elena Kagan’s nomination tomorrow, Nina Totenberg reports for NPR on Republican efforts to maximize the number of votes against the nominee.  Meanwhile, the editorial board of the Milwaukee Jounal Sentinel urges the Senate to confirm Kagan, arguing that at her confirmation hearing she demonstrated a respect [...]... Read More »»»

Although the Court did not grant any new cases or issue any opinions last week, we have updated our sister site, SCOTUSwiki, to include a number of new filings in OT10 cases.  A new petitioners’ brief has been added to the case page for Schwarzenegger v. Entertainment Merchants Association, while a petitioner’s reply has been [...]... Read More »»»

The Court is in recess for the summer, and is expected to return on October 4 for the first oral argument of October Term 2010.On Thursday, July 22, the petitioner’s merits brief is due in Skinner v. Switzer (09-9000).  The respondents’ merits brief is due Friday, July 23 in Bruesewitz v. Wyeth (09-152).... Read More »»»

In the first indication that the Supreme Court will not allow federal judges to interfere with government controls on who leaves or stays at Guantanamo Bay, the Court Friday evening cleared the way for the transfer of an Algerian detainee to his home country over his protest.  The action divided the Court 5-3; the dissenters noted that the case [...]... Read More »»»

The twelfth brief in our series on nominee on Elena Kagan, about her views regarding whether nominees should give detailed answers to Senators’ questions during confirmation hearings, is available here.We have previously released eleven other briefs in our nomination series, on abortion, “don’t ask, don’t tell,” working with the right, gender diversity on the Court, Citizens United, diversity [...]... Read More »»»

The “Notable Petitions” feature lists petitions that likely will later appear on our “Petitions to Watch” list when they are ready for consideration by the Justices.  ”Notable Petitions” are those that Tom has identified as raising one or more questions that has a reasonable chance of being granted in an appropriate case.  We generally do [...]... Read More »»»

The D.C. Circuit Court on Friday refused to block the government from transferring a second Algerian national from Guantanamo Bay to his home county, where he fears torture or death, and said it was acting swiftly to allow the prisoner’s lawyers to take the issue on to the Supreme Court.   The Circuit Court acted in [...]... Read More »»»

As the Judiciary Committee gears up to vote on Elena Kagan’s nomination next week, court-watchers continue to closely track the projected votes of individual Senators.  As we reported on Wednesday, Pennsylvania Senator Arlen Specter announced that he intended to vote for Kagan had done “just enough” during her confirmation hearings to earn his vote.  At [...]... Read More »»»

The “Notable Petitions” feature lists petitions that likely will later appear on our “Petitions to Watch” list when they are ready for consideration by the Justices.  ”Notable Petitions” are those that Tom has identified as raising one or more questions that has a reasonable chance of being granted in an appropriate case.  We generally do [...]... Read More »»»