So predicts key Court watcher John Elwood: My instinct is Court won't act before 1/4 conference. I suspect they'll reschedule until late January, so argument would come next fall. I doubt John Roberts wants to revisit an issue that flummoxed … Continue reading
Category Archives: Supreme Court
With no noted dissent, the Supreme Court has turned down a cert. petition in the Zimmerman campaign finance case from Austin Texas. I flagged this case (along with a Montana case that the Court will consider taking up in January) … Continue reading
Ariane de Vogue for CNN. … Continue reading
Lyle Denniston: Arguing that a state should not have to re-draw its congressional districts twice in a short time span, Maryland officials asked the Supreme Court on Monday to rule that the existing map can be used again in 2020 … Continue reading
According to the docket. It could also be when the Court considers whether to take the Austin campaign finance case. As I wrote in Slate back in September: As Common Cause’s Steve Spaulding notes, “Kavanaugh himself acknowledges in the docs that he’s … Continue reading
NLJ: When asked if, in the wake of the huge influx of money into elections, he had any regrets about his majority opinion in Citizens United v. FEC, he said the decision “stands for itself.” “It’s true there’s a problem with … Continue reading
In interview with Adam Liptak: The court’s “second-biggest error,” Justice Stevens said, was the Citizens United campaign finance decision. “Money in politics — it’s hard to believe the extent of it,” he said. The third-biggest mistake, he said, was Bush v. Gore, … Continue reading
Here is the minor party brief. Here is the Lee/Cruz brief. My earlier coverage is here, where I suggest this would be a very interesting case for the Court to hear. … Continue reading
Amanda Frost at SCOTUSBlog: Common sense tells us that increased political polarization affects the U.S. Supreme Court as well as the political branches, and now legal scholars have the data to prove it. In a forthcoming paper, “Polarization and the … Continue reading
From today’s order list: APPEAL — JURISDICTION POSTPONED 18-281 VA HOUSE OF DELEGATES, ET AL. V. GOLDEN BETHUNE-HILL, ET AL. Further consideration of the question of jurisdiction is postponed to the hearing of the case on the merits. In addition … Continue reading
Interesting read. … Continue reading
The judges considered two First Amendment-based theories: all three joined in one of the theories, and two in the other. This will go on direct appeal to the Supreme Court, in a case with an opinion written by a well … Continue reading
Read it here. … Continue reading
You can find the document here. I believe it is almost certain the Court will set the case for argument (and I think chances of an affirmance are low with Justice Kavanaugh now on the Court, but we will see). … Continue reading
I have written this piece for Slate. It begins: Faced with the latest flurry of hardball Republican tactics on voting issues this election cycle, Democrats are grappling with the reality of an opposition that now seems determined to cement long-term minority rule. … Continue reading
SCOTUS declines this a.m. to hear Pennsylvania Republicans’ appeal of state court ruling ordering new congressional map. https://t.co/6txxfNrGvz #fairmaps 1/ pic.twitter.com/Nd8gOAZKZx — Michael Li (@mcpli) October 29, 2018 I expect this issue to be back before the Supreme Court soon … Continue reading
SCOTUSBlog: The Supreme Court gave the federal government a partial victory tonight in a dispute over discovery in the challenge to the government’s decision to reinstate a question about citizenship on the 2020 census. Without any publicly recorded objections, the … Continue reading
I have written this piece for the Harvard Law Review Blog. It begins: These are perilous times even for those who think that federal courts have no business messing with how state legislatures draw lines for legislative and congressional districts … Continue reading
Kimberly Robinson for Bloomberg Law. … Continue reading
I have written this piece for Slate. It begins: It’s a great time for liberals to brush up on their knowledge of originalism and textualism. These judicial theories, which say that judges should interpret constitutional provisions or statutes by looking solely … Continue reading
Updated version of the paper out in May in the Annual Review of Political Science. Abstract: The period of increased polarization in the United States among the political branches and citizenry affects the selection, work, perception, and relative power of state … Continue reading
Princeton Program in Law and Public Affairs: The Justice of Contradictions: Antonin Scalia and the Politics of Disruption Rick Hasen, University of California, Irvine School of Law Facebook Twitter Date: Fri, 11/09/2018 – 12:00pm Location: Robertson Hall, Bowl 16 Audience: Princeton … Continue reading
Adam Liptak captures the peril for the Court: For President Trump and for Senate Republicans, confirming Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh as a Supreme Court justice was a hard-won political victory. But for the conservative legal movement, it is a signal … Continue reading
Politico: The Supreme Court is passing up, for now, the Trump administration’s request to block Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross from having to give testimony in lawsuits challenging the addition of a question on citizenship to the 2020 U.S. census. Justice … Continue reading
Roll Call: Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh denounced the “millions of dollars in money from outside left-wing opposition groups” during his testimony Thursday about sexual assault allegations, but he didn’t mention the millions spent by groups backing him. The Judicial … Continue reading
George Thomas WaPo oped: As the FBI conducts its investigations into the sexual assault allegations against Supreme Court nominee Brett M. Kavanaugh, just about everyone has been distracted from questions about his legal philosophy. But let’s not forget, as Justice Neil M. … Continue reading
Adam Liptak for the NYT: The current docket may appear a little sleepy. But additional cases could change that. Before the new term ends next June, the court may hear cases on partisan gerrymandering, whether a federal employment discrimination law … Continue reading
Release: On September 27, the Native American Rights Fund(NARF), on behalf of its clients, a group of Native American voters in North Dakota, filed an emergency appeal to the United States Supreme Court. They are asking the court to stay a … Continue reading
Pema Levy for Mother Jones. … Continue reading
Adam in the NYT: His performance on Thursday, responding to accusations of sexual misconduct at a hearing of the same Senate committee, sent a different message. Judge Kavanaugh was angry and emotional, embracing the language of slashing partisanship. His demeanor … Continue reading
In my post about the Supreme Court’s denial of a stay in the Crossroads campaign disclosure case, I wrote that it “does not solve all of the current disclosure problems, but this is a victory for transparency.” I stand by … Continue reading
Gannett: Sen. Claire McCaskill said Wednesday she will vote against federal appellate judge Brett Kavanaugh, President Donald Trump’s nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court. Citing “dark money” in politics as the main reason for her opposition, McCaskill released a lengthy statement through her office Wednesday … Continue reading
With no noted dissents, the Supreme Court has turned down Crossroad GPS’s request for emergency relief from an order that will require disclosure of more of its donors who are contributing money to influence federal elections. As I wrote last … Continue reading
Ken Doyle for Bloomberg: The continued secrecy of donors to campaign spending groups may depend on whether and how quickly the Senate can confirm Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. Chief Justice John Roberts reinstated in a brief order issued over the weekend a … Continue reading
The stay looks to be an administrative one, pending further action of the Court. Witht 4 Justices strongly in favor of disclosure on the Court, I would guess that this results in an eventual denial of the stay, either by … Continue reading
Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel: Democrats are renewing their lawsuit over election maps that have helped Republicans maintain big margins in the state Assembly. An expanded group of Democratic voters filed a new version of their long-running lawsuit on Friday, three months after … Continue reading
Paul Waldman for the Plum Line. … Continue reading
Brendan Fischer blogs. … Continue reading
Jonathan Macey and Leo Strine have posted this draft on SSRN. Here is the abstract: In this Article we show that Citizens United v. FEC, arguably the most important First Amendment case of the new millennium, is predicated on a … Continue reading
Guy-Uriel Charles and Luis Fuentes-Rohwer have a new piece forthcoming in the Harvard Law Review, on partisan gerrymandering and justiciability: This paper examines the Court’s decision in Gil v. Whitford. It advances two claims. First, it provides a comprehensive account … Continue reading
The water cooler conversation around the DC Circuit these days must be fascinating. The Democratic Coalition says it's filing an ethics complaint against #SCOTUS nominee Brett Kavanaugh re: his answers about whether he received stolen docs: https://t.co/wLKZvu5vc5 These are typically … Continue reading
AP: The U.S. Supreme Court won’t intervene in a dispute over Michigan‘s ban on straight-party voting. The court turned down an appeal Friday, which means the ban will go into effect in the November election. Voters can’t use a single mark … Continue reading
Eliza Newlin Carney for TAP. … Continue reading
Think Progress: Kavanaugh, for his part, tried to downplay the significance of Shelby County. “There is still, of course, Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act,” the nominee explained. That provision “allows litigation brought by plaintiffs to challenge voter restrictions that … Continue reading
Stephen Weissman for Slate. … Continue reading
You can find the leaked document here (via the NYT). He also correctly predicted that the case would come down the votes of CJ Rehnquist and Justice O’Connor (both in the end switched sides from their earrlier positions on this … Continue reading
In an earlier post, and in pieces in Politico and Slate, I explained how Judge Kavanaugh’s opinion for a three-judge court in Bluman v. FEC opens a huge gaping hole in campaign finance law allowing for foreign governments, entities, and individuals … Continue reading
Justin here, with my own take on Kavanaugh and the election process, also cross-posted over at the Take Care blog: In the 2016 elections, we were hacked. I don’t mean the breach of the DNC systems, serious as that was. … Continue reading
I have written this piece for Slate. It begins: By the time President Donald Trump runs for reelection in 2020, he might be able to accept unlimited campaign contributions to support his bid, thanks to his nomination of Judge Brett … Continue reading
Adam Liptak curtain-raiser for the NYT. … Continue reading