SCOTUS BACK IN FULL FORCE | Three Cases To Kick Off Gorsuch’s SCOTUS Tenure
April 17, 2017
READY OR NOT...HERE HE COMES!
|It took only 15 minutes for JUSTICE NEIL GORSUCH to ask his first questions from the Supreme Court bench. This morning, the new justice and his colleagues heard a case involving a federal worker’s employment discrimination claim. It’s the first of three cases before the high court today, and it is the first time in more than 14 months that the Supreme Court has had a full bench.
WORK WORK WORK WORK WORK
|Greg Stohr with Bloomberg reports on the new justice’s first week on the job over at 1 First. “Only a week after being sworn in, GORSUCH took the bench for the first time Monday, filling the space next to JUSTICE SONIA SOTOMAYOR to hear arguments in three cases, with another four scheduled to follow later in the week. They include a clash Tuesday over the power of the Securities and Exchange Commission to recoup illegal profits and arguments Wednesday in a closely watched church-state dispute. The flurry of arguments will offer Gorsuch a fast introduction to his new responsibilities and give the public its first glimpse at how he will conduct himself on the court.”
THE RUNDOWN
|Lawrence Hurley with Reuters takes us through the first three cases JUSTICE GORSUCH will hear this week and he notes, “One of the lawyers due to argue the second case before the justices on Monday will be a familiar face to Gorsuch. NEAL KATYAL, who served as acting solicitor general in PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA’S Justice Department, heartily endorsed Gorsuch’s nomination, even testifying at his Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing.”
NO CHURCH IN THE WILD
|Among the cases justices will hear this week is an important case about the separation of church and state. The case has the potential to make it easier to use state money to pay for private, religious schooling in many states. The case is Trinity Lutheran Church of Columbia v. Comer and justices are scheduled to hear arguments in the case on Wednesday.
GENTEEL GORSUCH
|Adam Liptak with The New York Times reports on a new study that suggests conservatives interrupt liberals at significantly higher rates than liberals, and male justices interrupt female justices far more often than the other way around. Looks like Gorsuch is poised to join the ranks of supreme interrupters at SCOTUS
OTHER NEWS
Supreme Court Rejects Bid By Detained Asylum Seekers
The Associated Press“The Supreme Court has rejected an appeal from detained immigrant mothers and their children who claim they will be persecuted if they are returned to their Latin American homelands. The justices on Monday left in place a lower court ruling that said the families did not have a right to contest their deportation in federal court.”