www.scotusblog.com
SCOTUStoday for Wednesday, March 11
You’ve likely heard of AI bots being used improperly by lawyers, but what about lawsuits over AI bots practicing law without a license? Reuters reported on one such case last week.
At the Court
The interim docket case on the Trump administration’s effort to remove protected status from Syrian nationals is now fully briefed, and the court’s decision could come at any time.
The court will next hear arguments on Monday, March 23, the first day of its March sitting.
Morning Reads
Two Supreme Court Justices Debate Handling of Trump Emergency Cases
Abbie VanSickle, The New York Times
Justices Brett Kavanaugh and Ketanji Brown Jackson “publicly sparred on Monday evening over how the court is handling a barrage of emergency requests to clear the way for Trump administration policies” while participating together in an annual lecture series in Washington, D.C., according to The New York Times. “The polite but forceful back-and-forth … gave a rare glimpse into the justices’ sharply differing viewpoints about how to navigate repeated emergency requests by the Trump administration to greenlight its policies.” Kavanaugh said that such requests are “not a new phenomenon” and have become more common “because gridlock in Congress has led presidents to do more through executive orders, which have then been challenged in court.” Jackson, on the other hand, suggested that the court is treating requests from the Trump administration differently and “signing off on new policies” rather than “maintain[ing] the status quo.” “I think it is not serving the court or our country well at this point,” Jackson said.
Somalis sue over TPS revocation as Trump seeks Supreme Court help
Jack Birle, Washington Examiner
As it awaits the Supreme Court’s decision in an interim docket case on Syrian nationals’ participation in the Temporary Protected Status program, the Trump administration is facing a new lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts over its effort to remove TPS status from Somalians. “The lawsuit claims the conditions in Somalia are a humanitarian crisis, which supports extending the temporary status that has been in place since 1991, and that DHS’s process of ending the status was a reflection of the administration’s ‘preordained, pretextual, politically influenced agendas,’” according to the Washington Examiner. “The current TPS designation for Somalia is set to expire on March 17.”
Group that defeated Trump’s tariffs at Supreme Court challenges latest round
Zach Schonfeld, The Hill
On Monday, the Liberty Justice Center, “[a] libertarian public-interest firm that helped topple President Trump’s emergency tariffs at the Supreme Court,” filed a lawsuit over tariffs imposed after the court issued its ruling, according to The Hill. The firm is representing “a new group of businesses who say they shouldn’t have to pay Trump’s latest tariffs,” including Burlap & Barrel and Basic Fun!. The businesses contend that Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974, which allows for tariffs “addressing balance-of-payments deficits,” cannot be used to impose tariffs “now that the U.S. has moved to a floating exchange rate.”
Oklahoma board again rejects Jewish charter school but vows to support it in court
Nuria Martinez-Keel, Oklahoma Voice
The Oklahoma Statewide Charter School Board on Monday again rejected a group’s application to open a Jewish charter school in the state, with board members saying “they had no choice but to comply with a 2024 decision from the Oklahoma Supreme Court that prohibited the concept of taxpayer-funded religious schools,” according to Oklahoma Voice. However, Brian Shellem, the chair of the board, said “most of the board members disagree” with that 2024 ruling and “plan to fight against it” alongside the Jewish school. The U.S. Supreme Court left the Oklahoma ruling in place last year after the justices deadlocked 4-4 in a case on a Catholic charter school. (The tie was possible because Justice Amy Coney Barrett recused herself from the case.)
Alabama governor grants clemency to death row inmate who was accomplice to murder, sparing him from execution this week
Elise Hammond, CNN
On Tuesday, Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey granted clemency to Charles Burton, who had been scheduled to be executed on Thursday. Burton was sentenced to death for his role in the 1991 murder of Douglas Battle during a robbery, although “he was not the shooter and was not in the store at the time of the killing,” according to CNN. Ivey said “she could not ‘proceed in good conscience’ with the execution because he was not the shooter” and commuted Burton’s sentence to life without parole. Ivey’s announcement came as the Supreme Court was considering Burton’s request for a stay of execution.
On Site
Contributor Corner
The how and why of gun control
In her A Second Opinion column, Haley Proctor revisited last week’s oral argument in United States v. Hemani and explored what it means for a modern gun control law to fit within a historical tradition of firearm regulation.
Contributor Corner
Birthright citizenship: legal takeaways of mice and men and elephants and dogs
In their Brothers in Law column, Akhil and Vikram Amar explored the “many factual and legal data points” that cut against the Trump administration’s effort to limit access to birthright citizenship. “If law and facts mean anything at all – anything! – then surely the [birthright citizenship] case is easy-peasy,” they wrote.
Podcasts
Advisory Opinions
What are the Liberties Not in the Constitution?
Members of the SCOTUSblog/Advisory Opinions Extended Universe – Sarah Isgur and David French, along with Akhil Amar and Andy Lipka from “Amarica’s Constitution” and Will Baude and Dan Epps from “Divided Argument” – discussed the current term and the future of originalism.
A Closer Look:
Exhibitions at the Court
If you live in the Washington, D.C. area or plan on visiting for cherry blossom season, we’d recommend stopping by the Supreme Court to see its latest exhibitions.
Exhibitions are one of the four core programs put on by the Curator’s Office. This also includes collections (such as caring for historic objects), court photography, and visitor programs. Exhibitions began with the very first curator, Cathy Skefos, who “started the Curator’s Office pretty much from scratch” in 1973. Chief Justice Warren Burger summed up the concept in this way: “[The Court’s exhibit program] communicates to all Americans a sense of the story of the Supreme Court as a living institution, and in that process to add warmth and humanity to the building itself.”
Current exhibitions include: Harlan Fiske Stone: A Man for All Seats, From Petition to Opinion: How the Supreme Court Works, Integration Must Proceed Forthwith, The Triumph of Justice: Adolph Weinman’s Courtroom Frieze, and In Re Lady Lawyers: The Rise of Women Attorneys and the Supreme Court. The Stone and Lady Lawyers exhibitions are viewable online, while the others (besides the images shown on the exhibition website) can only be seen at the court itself.
The Harlan Fiske Stone exhibit, which commemorates the court’s 12th chief justice, lands on “the 100th Anniversary of Stone joining the Court,” and looks “back at Stone’s life and service.” Fun fact: Stone was the first and, to date, only justice to sit in every seat on the bench, going from the most junior justice to chief throughout his tenure on the court.
As for the other exhibitions:
The From Petition to Opinion exhibit allows viewers to “[f]ollow the process of how a case comes before the Supreme Court, the procedures the Justices use to complete their work, and some of the constitutional questions the Court has faced over time.” (While admittedly nerdy, it’s also fascinating to see the old petitions with their respective filing colors.)
Integration Must Proceed Forthwith involves the legal story behind the post-Brown 1957 integration of Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas. The temporary exhibit has the judge’s bench in which Judge Ronald Davies ordered the high school’s desegregation – and in doing so changed American history.
The Triumph of Justice: Adolph Weinman’s Courtroom Frieze exhibit explores how Weinman developed and designed the four sculptural panels inside the courtroom (which feature “historical lawgivers and allegories of law and justice”).
And to learn about the women who “carved a path for future female advocates, judges, and Supreme Court Justices,” you can visit the exhibit In Re Lady Lawyers: The Rise of Women Attorneys and the Supreme Court. “Notable objects include a judicial robe and jabot worn by Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, historic photographs, as well as memorabilia and personal effects from Justices Sandra Day O’Connor, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, Amy Coney Barrett, and Ketanji Brown Jackson.”
Is much of this for Supreme Court obsessives? Sure. But if you’re reading this newsletter (and thanks for doing so!) you might just qualify as such.
SCOTUS Quote
JUSTICE KAGAN: “Right. And I completely understand that, Mr. Gannon, but even your own interpretation doesn’t get you the information –”
(Laughter.)
(Lights out.)
CHIEF JUSTICE ROBERTS: “I knew we should have paid that bill.”
(Laughter.)
JUSTICE KAGAN: “My red light on the bench is still working.”
— Nichols v. United States
The post SCOTUStoday for Wednesday, March 11 appeared first on SCOTUSblog.
New Posts (Home)
ChatBox
Popular Posts 
Game Zone
Top PodCasts
