DailyWrit

The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear its first case of the new term on Monday, October 6. The first case of the day will be Altria Group and Phillip Morris v. Good, a case that centers around whether a suit filed by the state of Maine against Phillip Morris and others for deceptive advertising […]

The Supreme Court released an orders list today (here) and they accepted three new cases.
Carcieri v. Kempthorne - Whether or not the federal government must afford Indian Tribes that are not officially recognized the same protections they offer officially recognized tribes. (Petition for Cert.)
Arizona v. Gant - The Court accepted review on this questions […]

There is a common consensus among students of the Court that the 2006 Term was one of the most controversial and breathtaking in recent memory. Not since Bush v. Gore have Supreme Court Justices disagreed with each other so sharply.
At this point last year (one week before the term begins), the Court had already […]

After being invited by the Court, the Solicitor General has filed an amicus brief in Quanta Computers v. LG Electronics. The Court requested the opinion of the US in the cert. stage of this case on April 16, 2007 and the Solictor General filed his brief on August 24, 2007. Also of note, Dell, Inc. […]

The Petitioner’s Briefs have been submitted in Al-Odah v. US and Boumediene v. Bush, the two high-profile detainee cases that the court has accepted for review. Thanks to SCOTUSblog, everyone can access the Al-Odah briefs here (Al-Odah) and here (El-Banna) and the Boumediene brief here. I’ll use Al-Odah for the majority of my analysis but […]

On October 9, 2007, the Court will hear oral arguments in Watson v. US.
Watson revolves around the question of whether or not the presence of a firearm in a drug exchange consitutes ‘use’ as it applies to sentencing provisions. If an individual is convicted of using a firearm within the context of a drug deal, […]

On October 3, 2007, the Court will hear oral arguments in US v. Santos.
From the 1970’s through the 1990’s, Efrain Santos operated an illegal lottery in north-west Indiana. He was convicted of running an illegal gambling ring and laundering that money through his payment of runners and money collectors who were involved in his […]

On October 2, 2007, the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in Kimbrough v. US. Kimbrough centers around the 1986 federal law that imposes a “100:1 crack/powder ratio.” Under the law, a defendant caught with one amount of crack (rock) should receive a sentence similar to that of a defendant who was caught with a […]

[ October 2, 2007; ] On October 2, 2007, the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in Gall v. US. Brian Gall sold ecstasy at the University of Iowa for a few months in 2000. After cleaning up his act, he graduated, moved to Arizona, and started a job in the construction industry. Law enforcement officers came to him three-years […]

On October 3rd of this year, the Supreme Court will entertain arguments is New York State Board of Elections v. López Torres, which centers on the method by which the state of New York selects its trial judges. Margarita López Torres, an aspiring candidate, argued in the US District Court for the Eastern District of […]

[ October 1, 2007; 10:00 am to 11:00 am. ] On October 1, 2007, the Court will hear the first case of the October 2007 term. Washington State Grange v. Washington Republican Party and its sister case, Washington v. Washington Republican Party, centers around the Washington state law that allows candidates to state their ‘party preference’ as opposed to an all-out party affiliation and its […]

[ April 17, 2007; 12:00 am; ] On April 17, 2007, the Court will hear oral arguments in the consolidated cases of National Association of Home Builders v. Defenders of Wildlife and EPA v. Defenders of Wildlife.

The Clean Water Act requires the EPA to approve state programs designed coordinate with the National Pollutatant Discharge Ellimination System that adhere to nine criterea. Arizona’s […]

[ April 16, 2007; 11:00 am; ] On April 16, 2007, the Court will hear oral arguments in Long Island Care at Home v. Evelyn Coke.

Congress in 1974 amended the Fair Labor Standards Act to guarantee “employees in domestic service” minimum wage and overtime protection but provided a specific exemption for workers who provided “companionship for the elderly and infirm.” Congress […]

[ April 16, 2007; 10:00 am; ] I’m going to start summarizing cases that are going to be appearing before the Court in near future. Hopefully this will help everyone stay one step ahead of the mainstream media’s reporting of these cases. You can access these briefs from the ‘Upcoming Events’ calender.

On April 16th, the Court will hear oral arguments in PowerEx […]