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Merits Cases

By on Jan 21, 2010 at 3:59 pm
Below, Stanford law student Martine Cicconi recaps oral argument in Conkright v. Frommert (08-810); her analysis is now also available on the case's SCOTUSwiki page. On Wednesday, the Court heard argument in Conkright v. Frommert. Arguing for the petitioners (Xerox’s ERISA plan administrators), Robert Long contended that Second Circuit “got it backwards” when it afforded deference to the district court’s – but not the Plan Administrator’s – interpretation of the company’s ERISA plan. Almost immediately, Justice Scalia challenged Long, asking whether the law required the district court to send a plan back to the administrator no matter how many times he offered an incorrect interpretation. Long cited the principles of trust law to support his position, but Justice Scalia remained unconvinced:  “I can’t believe that’s what the law is.”

By on Jan 21, 2010 at 1:19 pm
Analysis After more than a year of study and writing, the Supreme Court on Thursday produced a ruling that may make the hundreds of millions spent in past presidential and congressional elections look like a pittance.  By removing existing restraints on what and when profit-making and non-profit corporations may say during federal election campaigns, the Court has significantly raised the financial stakes for all such elections, beginning with the primaries this year -- the first of which occurs in 12 days, in Illinois.  But the Court did not directly settle everything with its release of 176 pages of opinions at 10:01 a.m. Thursday. Some of the questions that linger are truly open questions after the ruling, some may have been partly settled, and some may actually have been settled, if only by implication.   Justice Anthony M. Kennedy's controlling, 57-page opinion sweeps broadly, but it does not reach every issue that the highly complex mechanism of federal campaign finance regulation has raised. Perhaps the most important question that one might ask in the wake of Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission is: are labor unions as free as corporations to spend as much as they wish -- independently of candidates -- to influence elections to Congress and the White House?  The likely answer is: Probably, but check back later.

By on Jan 21, 2010 at 10:35 am

The Supreme Court's ruling on campaign finance upheld these requirements: ** Disclosure requirement: Any corporation that spends more than $10,000 in a year to produce or air the kind of election season ad covered by federal restrictions must file a  report with the Federal Election Commission...

By on Jan 21, 2010 at 10:22 am
The Citizens United opinion is here.  The judgment of the D.C. Circuit is reversed, in an opinion of the Court written by Justice Kennedy. Justice Stevens filed a partial dissent, which was read from the bench, joined by Justices Ginsburg, Breyer, and Sotomayor. Justice Thomas dissents in part and concurs in part. The full text of the opinion is below the jump.

By on Jan 21, 2010 at 9:48 am

UPDATE: 10:18 a.m., the LiveBlog is closed. All future updates will appear in new posts. Beginning at 10 a.m. Eastern, we will provide “live” coverage of the Court’s release of one or more opinions. In the “LiveBlog” below, we will relay all developments as...

By on Jan 20, 2010 at 2:53 pm
A provision in the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act (IIRIRA), 8 U.S.C. § 1252(a)(2)(B), precludes judicial review of any action of the Attorney General “the authority for which is specified under this subchapter to be in the discretion of the Attorney General.”  In No. 08-911, Kucana v. Holder, the Court considered whether Section 1252(a)(2)(B) stripped the Seventh Circuit of jurisdiction to review a decision by the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) denying a motion by petitioner Agron Kucana to reopen his removal pleadings to present new evidence on his asylum claim.  The Seventh Circuit held that it lacked jurisdiction because Section 1252(a)(2)(B)(ii)’s bar extends not only to decisions made discretionary by statute, but also to cases in which – as here – the agency’s discretion is specified by its own regulation.  Today the Supreme Court reversed, in an opinion by Justice Ginsburg that was joined by all of the justices except Justice Alito, who concurred in the judgment.

By on Jan 20, 2010 at 2:46 pm

Transcripts for today's arguments in Berghuis v. Smith (08-1402) and Conkright v. Frommert (08-810) are here and here, respectively....

By on Jan 20, 2010 at 10:30 am

Continuing our series of five-minute podcasts on oral argument days, we have two new podcasts below with counsel on each side of a case being argued today, Berghuis v. Smith (08-1402).  At issue in the case is the proper test to use in deciding whether...

By on Jan 20, 2010 at 10:29 am
Thanks to Scribd technology, we can now publish the full texts of opinions on the blog. The opinions just released in South Carolina v. North Carolina (132 Original), Wood v. Allen (08-9156), and Kucana v. Holder (08-911) are now available below the jump.

By on Jan 20, 2010 at 9:51 am
Beginning at 10 a.m. Eastern, we will provide “live” coverage of the Court’s release of one or more opinions.  In the “LiveBlog” below, we will relay all developments as quickly as possible from our reporter at the Court, Lyle Denniston. Because the LiveBlog automatically updates, users do not need to refresh their browsers to receive the latest news. We will post the text of any slip opinions released below the LiveBlog window as soon as they are available. <a href="http://www.coveritlive.com/mobile.php?option=com_mobile&#038;task=viewaltcast&#038;altcast_code=39613f1e47" mce_href="http://www.coveritlive.com/mobile.php?option=com_mobile&amp;task=viewaltcast&amp;altcast_code=39613f1e47" >Supreme Court Opinions, January 20</a> The texts of the opinions released this morning, South Carolina v. North Carolina, Wood v. Allen, and Kucana v. Holder are now available below the jump.