SCOTUS BACK IN ACTION | Justices Riding Into Danger Zone with Stock Holdings | SCOTUS At Golden Globes
January 9, 2017
WE BACK, BOYS
|The Supreme Court went back to work today, hearing arguments in two cases: Nelson v. Colorado and Lewis v. Clarke. In The Atlantic, Garrett Epps previews the Nelson case which considers whether states can force people to pay up even if their conviction gets overturned. The case comes out of Colorado, and Epps writes, “Colorado is the only state with the gall to demand money from defendants whose convictions are reversed. The Court can easily reverse this grotesque decision without disruption of the system nationwide—and we can all go back to our shining dream of justice.”
GONE WANDERING
|Sadly, Lewis v. Clarke doesn’t have much in common with the famous duo whose names adorn the case. There are no tales of exploration, or considerations of new territory. Think tribal sovereignty, limousine rides and casinos, instead. For SCOTUSblog, Todd Henderson previewed the case last week.
HIGHWAY TO THE DANGER ZONE
|Adam Liptak with The New York Times addresses the announcement last week that CHIEF JUSTICE JOHN ROBERTS would recuse himself from a case involving a company of which he owns 1,212 shares. Liptak weighs the risks of Supreme Court justices owning individual stocks, the tone it sets for the judicial branch as a whole, and the future of this case now that Roberts says he’s out.
GETTING TO KNOW YOU, GETTING TO KNOW ALL ABOUT YOU
|For Newsweek, Michele Gorman profiles THOMAS HARDIMAN, a potential Supreme Court nominee currently sitting on the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals. Gorman offers quicktakes on where Hardiman stands on First and Second Amendment issues, and she looks at what folks on both sides of the aisle are saying about this potential pick.
PODCAST DU JOUR
|In her latest edition of Amicus, Slate’s Dahlia Lithwick chats with WILLIAM JAY, a former clerk to JUSTICE ANTONIN SCALIA, about Scalia’s possible successors. She also previews Endrew F. v. Douglas City School District, speaking with JACK ROBINSON, lawyer for the special-needs student at the center of the case scheduled for oral argument this Wednesday, January 11.
ICYMI
|The Golden Globes were last night in not-so sunny Los Angeles, and Kenneth Jost delivered us our tweet of the day. @jostonjustice – “#SCOTUS press corps watch–Jeff Toobin in back row as People versus OJ Simpson: American Crime Story gets Golden Globe for limited TV series.”
OTHER NEWS
How Big a Deal Are Four 9th Circuit Vacancies That Await Trump?
The Recorder“Change is coming to the nation’s largest, and arguably its most liberal, appeals court. We parse the possibilities.”
Supreme Court rejects Dow over $1 billion tax deduction claim
Reuters“The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear Dow Chemical Co’s (DOW.N) bid to revive its claim to more than $1 billion in tax deductions based on partnerships the company entered into that lower courts said were created primarily to avoid tax liability and had no legitimate business purpose.”