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Orders and Opinions Tag

By on Jun 28, 2010 at 6:25 pm
(NOTE TO READERS:  The Supreme Court will issue the final orders of the Term at 10 a.m. Tuesday.  The most significant case awaiting the Court's action is a test of the constitutionality of a federal ban on so-called "soft money" to political parties.  The blog will provide full coverage of the orders.) ----------------- Analysis Almost eleven years after it began, with billions of dollars at stake, the federal government's sweeping anti-racketeering case against the tobacco industry suddenly halted Monday, in a simple order from the Supreme Court: review denied.  All seven pleas for review by the Court -- five from tobacco companies, one from the federal government, and one from anti-smoking advocacy groups -- were turned aside and, as usual, there was no explanation.  There also was no indication of any dissenting votes among the Justices. The government and the anti-smoking groups were the bigger losers.

By on Jun 28, 2010 at 5:09 pm
Analysis Five members of the Supreme Court on Monday assured state, county and city officials not to worry: the new decision protecting a "right to keep and bear arms" against government action at any level -- local, state or national -- "does not imperil every law regulating firearms."  But the Court majority did not have any assurances for judges at every level, that they will be spared the duty of ruling on many forms of gun regulation that a legislature, county board, or city council has chosen to enact.  And the Court gave those judges very little guidance, in its ruling in McDonald, et al., v. Chicago, on how they are to analyze those laws. The Court did not even rule on the constitutionality of the one law that was at issue -- a handgun ban in Chicago -- nor did it tell the Seventh Circuit Court what constitutional standard to apply in judging that law when the case returns there.  That particular law's fate, like that of so many others around the nation, now must await a new round in court.

By on Jun 28, 2010 at 11:55 am
This morning the Court, as expected, released the opinions in the remaining four cases this Term:  Bilski v. Kappos (patents), Free Enterprise Fund v. Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (separation of powers), McDonald v. Chicago (guns), and Christian Legal Society v. Martinez (right of association).  It also granted cert. in six cases, while denying the tobacco petitions. In McDonald v. Chicago (08-1571), the Court reverses and remands in an opinion by Justice Alito.  The vote is 5-4.  Justice Stevens writes a dissenting opinion, and Justice Breyer writes a separate one, joined by Justices Ginsburg and Sotomayor. In Christian Legal Society v. Martinez (08-1371), the Court affirms and remands, in an opinion by Ginsburg.  The vote is 5-4. Justice Alito dissents, joined by the Chief Justice and Justices Scalia and Thomas.  Justices Stevens and Kennedy each concur. In Bilski v. Kappos (08-964), the Court affirms, in an opinion by Justice Kennedy.   The opinion for the majority is not supported in all respects by those who join in part.  Justice Breyer concurs in the judgment, joined by Scalia.  Stevens concurs in the judgment, joined by Justices Ginsburg, Breyer, and Sotomayor. In Free Enterprise Fund v. Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (08-861), the Court reverses in part, affirms in part, and remands, in an opinion by the Chief Justice.  The vote is 5-4.  Justice Breyer dissents, joined by Justices Stevens, Ginsburg, and Sotomayor. The Court granted cert. in U.S. Chamber of Commerce v. Candelaria (09-115), Janus Capital v. First Derivative Traders (09-525), Henderson v. Shinseki (09-1036), Milner v. Dept. of Navy (09-1163), CIGNA Corp. v. Amara (09-804), and Pepper v. United States (09-6822). The full texts of the opinions soon, as well as the briefs in the granted cases, follow the jump.

By on Jun 28, 2010 at 9:35 am
This morning, beginning at 10 a.m. Eastern, the Court will issue orders from last Thursday's conference and then the final opinions of the Term.  We will relay both in the Live Blog below, with the assistance of our reporter at the Court, Lyle Denniston. THE LIVE BLOG APPEARS BELOW THE JUMP. The final four opinions are Bilski v. Kappos (patents), Free Enterprise Fund v. Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (separation of powers), McDonald v. Chicago (guns), and Christian Legal Society v. Martinez (right of association).  More information about each can be found at its SCOTUSwiki page by clicking its title.

By on Jun 27, 2010 at 6:53 am
(NOTE TO READERS:  SCOTUSblog's Tom Goldstein, in a post yesterday, discussed the likely outcomes Monday for the Supreme Court's final decisions of the Term.  The following post is a reader's guide to the Court's actions, and to the blog's planned coverage.  Also note that the blog's live coverage of the Kagan nomination hearings will begin at about noon Monday.) --------------------- The Supreme Court will assemble promptly at 10 a.m. on Monday, for the closing public session of the October 2009 Term.   It will also be Justice John Paul Stevens' last public appearance as a member of the Court, since he specified in April that his retirement would take effect "the next day after the Court rises for the summer recess."  In a gesture of respect, a number of the lawyers in the courtroom for the session will be wearing bow ties -- imitating Stevens' preference. The day is likely to produce some blockbusters -- both in the orders the Court will issue, and in the final rulings it will hand down.  But not all of the major actions will emerge out of the public session; some may be delayed until later in the day, or, perhaps, even until Tuesday morning.  The Court has not yet announced when the final orders of the Term will emerge.

By on Jun 24, 2010 at 5:43 pm
Analysis Dismantling a legal edifice built up by lower courts over nearly a half-century, the Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that America's main law against securities fraud does not apply to investment deals that occur outside of this country, even if they have some domestic impact or effect.  For the first time, the Court declared that the most-used U.S. stock fraud law cannot be used in American courts to challenge a "transnational" securities deal involving a company whose stock is not traded in the U.S., and when the trade does not occur inside the U.S.  With evident sarcasm, Justice Antonin Scalia's opinion for the Court rapped Circuit Courts for having created, by judicial invention, the authority to decide such lawsuits when filed by private investors.  This, Scalia said, is "judicial-speculation-made-law." Section 10-b of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the law at issue, does not "focus...upon the place where the deception originated, but upon purchases and sales of securities in the United States," the Court ruled in a case involving an Australian bank and Australian investors, whose complaint has a link to faulty financial information generated in Florida..  "Only transactions in securities listed on domestic exchanges, and domestic transactions in other securities" are covered by this provision, it stressed.

By on Jun 24, 2010 at 3:46 pm
Analysis For nearly a quarter of a century, federal prosecutors pursuing corruption cases -- involving public officials and those in private life -- have had a broadly worded criminal law available, and they have used it both creatively and expansively.  On Thursday, the Supreme Court, while refusing to strike down the law under the Constitution, pared it down to what the majority called its "solid core": the law may be used only to prosecute bribery or kickbacks.  The Court suggested that Congress may want to try to expand the law's reach, but warned the lawmakers to approach that prospect with constitutional hesitation. In a separate ruling, also quite significant, the Court made it far harder for defense lawyers in high-profile criminal cases to try to undo guilty verdicts that were reached in a community that was saturated, for months on end, with highly inflammatory publicity and detectable local hostility.   The Court indicated it would find verdicts impaired by those conditions only in "the extreme case."

By on Jun 24, 2010 at 12:57 pm

A federal judge in New Orleans on Thursday rejected the Obama Administration's plea to delay his ruling that the government wrongly imposed a six-month moratorium on deepwater oil well drilling in the Gulf of Mexico.  District Judge Martin L.C. Feldman, in a two-page order (found...

By on Jun 24, 2010 at 11:01 am
The Court released seven opinions this morning: in the three honest services fraud cases, Skilling, Black, and Weyhrauch; in Granite Rock v. International Brotherhood of Teamsters; in Magwood v. Patterson; in Morrison v. National Australia Bank; and in Doe v. Reed. In Skilling v. United States (08-1394), the Court affirms in part, reverses in part, and remands in a main opinion by Justice Ginsburg.  The vote is unanimous on the "honest services" question in this case, but three Justices would have ruled that the honest services statute is unconstitutional:  Scalia, Thomas, and Kennedy.  There are an array of other concurrences in the case, including a partial dissent by Justice Sotomayor, joined by Justices Breyer and Stevens.
  • Holding: (1) Pre-trial publicity and community prejudice did not prevent Skilling from having a fair trial. (2) The "honest services" statue covers only bribery and kickback schemes.  Part of the opinion vacates the Fifth Circuit's ruling on Skilling's conspiracy conviction.  In her dissent, Justice Sotomayor disagrees with the Court's conclusion that Skilling had a fair trial before an impartial jury.
In Black v. United States (08-876), the Court unanimously vacates and remands, again in an opinion by Justice Ginsburg.  Justice Scalia concurs in part and in the judgment, joined by Justice Thomas.  Justice Kennedy separately concurs in part and in the judgment.
  • Holding: The Court's opinion in Skilling on the scope of the honest services law renders the jury instructions in this case on that law incorrect.
In Weyhrauch v. United States (08-1196), the Court vacates and remands under Skilling, in a one-paragraph per curiam opinion.

By on Jun 24, 2010 at 9:42 am

This morning starting at 10 a.m. Eastern, the Court is expected to issue one or more opinions.  We will relay them in the Live Blog below, with the assistance of our reporter at the Court, Lyle Denniston. We will publish the full texts of any slip...