SCOTUS PREPARES FOR A NEW TERM, AND ANOTHER OPPORTUNITY FOR A RIGHTWARD TURN
October 3, 2019
TO THE RIGHT, THE RIGHT
|On Monday, the Supreme Court will return for a new term, and Lawrence Hurley with Reuters writes that the conservative majority will be “in a position to take a more aggressive rightward turn on divisive issues including abortion, gay rights and gun control while also refereeing legal brawls involving PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP.”
A LAWYER'S GUIDE
|Kimberly Robinson with Bloomberg Law previews the upcoming term and notes that while it’s likely to be an “explosive” one, there are also a number of sleeper cases worth keeping an eye on. She says these “sleepers” could have some big consequences on the ways in which lawyers practice — from pleading standards to preclusion rules to the availability of statutory resources.
HOW YOU LIKE THEM APPLES
|CEO of Apple TIM COOK, and senior vice president of retail DEIRDRE O’BRIEN, are showing some serious support for Dreamers ahead of a Supreme Court showdown over DACA. They signed a Supreme Court filing made public on Wednesday afternoon saying Apple disagrees with PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP’S decision to terminate the program. In the brief they wrote, “Our interest in this case is simple: We are distressed at the prospect of ripping our DACA colleagues from the fabric of our company.”
BURNIN' UP
|Yesterday, a fight out of Baltimore over global warming reached the Supreme Court. Energy giants asked SCOTUS to halt all proceedings in the case where Baltimore is looking to hold dozens of oil and gas companies responsible for the consequences of global warming. Kevin Rector with The Baltimore Sun reports.
GOING GREEN?
|Will the environment get a big year at SCOTUS? Ellen M. Gilmer with Bloomberg Environment says it’s too soon to tell. “The Supreme Court’s environmental docket is still in flux just days from the launch of its new term, which begins Oct. 7. One of two high-stakes pollution cases on the calendar might not happen at all, and the court hasn’t yet decided whether to add more.”
CHEAT SHEET
|“Harvard beat an effort to end its use of race as a factor in admissions. But what will the Supreme Court do?” That’s the question Valerie Strauss with The Washington Post seeks to answer in her piece today. She points out, “The Supreme Court over the years has affirmed the practice by colleges and universities — most recently in 2016 in a case involving the University of Texas at Austin — but it has narrowed its focus. The court has banned racial quotas and ruled that schools can take race into account as one of many factors for the sole purpose of assembling a diverse class of students, not to provide educational opportunities for historically marginalized populations.”
WONDER BREAD AMERICA
|Ian Millhiser with Vox explains America was making real progress in diversifying its courts — but then DONALD TRUMP became president. He covers a new report on the diversity of the federal bench from the Center for American Progress, which says that under Trump, the trend toward diversification has halted — and gone in reverse.
SCOTUS VIEWS
My Partner Was Fired For Being Gay. The Supreme Court Can't Set A Pro-Bigotry Precedent.
USA Today“LGBTQ people in America have been fighting for our rights my entire life. Each step of the way, opponents of equality have pushed back on our struggle to be respected and treated with dignity. Don’s case is a continuation of that struggle. Too many of my friends still have to live in fear in their workplace, hiding who they are from their colleagues and superiors, changing their pronouns at work, their livelihood dependent on how well they wear masks that they should have been able to discard years ago.”
Why ‘Peterson’ Could Strike a Blow for Workplace Equality
The National Law Journal“An important race discrimination case, Peterson v. Linear Controls, No. 18-1401, is sleeping on the U.S. Supreme Court’s cert docket. The high court should take the case and strike a blow for workplace equality, correcting a longstanding injustice permeating the lower courts.”
OTHER NEWS
All Of The 6-Week Abortion Bans Passed This Year Have Now Been Blocked In Court
Vox“Five states this year passed laws banning abortion when a fetal heartbeat can be detected, which is as early as six weeks into pregnancy. The laws inspired protests across the country and comparisons with Margaret Atwood’s dystopian The Handmaid’s Tale: by banning abortion before many people know they are pregnant, the new laws would have made the procedure nearly impossible to get. But one by one, those laws have been blocked by courts.”
Inside The Supreme Court Ruling That Made Nixon Turn Over His Watergate Tapes
The Washington Post“The Supreme Court case hinged on to what extent a president could withhold information from other government branches in the name of privacy, and the stakes for then-President Richard M. Nixon were high. Seven of Nixon’s closest confidants had been indicted in the Watergate scandal, and the special prosecutor investigating the matter wanted audio recordings of some of the president’s phone conversations from the Oval Office. Nixon claimed executive privilege protected him, and he refused to release the tapes.”