Supreme Court Starts October Sitting - What Cases Are On the Docket?

What’s the story?

• The Supreme Court convenes for its October sitting on Monday, when it will hear oral arguments for the first time since the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Arguments will continue to be conducted by teleconference due to the ongoing coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, but the late justice will be commemorated at the Court nonetheless. 
• A black cloth will be draped across RBG’s chair and bench, a traditional sign of respect for a deceased sitting justice that dates back to the death of Chief Justice Salmon Chase in 1873 and was most recently observed in remembrance of Ginsburg’s friend, the late Justice Antonin Scalia. 
• The vacancy created by Ginsburg’s death leaves the Supreme Court with eight sitting justices, raising the possibility of a 4-4 tie that results in the referring circuit court’s decision being affirmed and the issue potentially being raised again in a suit that makes its way up to the Supreme Court. 
• President Donald Trump has nominated Judge Amy Coney Barrett to fill the vacancy, and while the Senate is expected to move quickly on her nomination, she won’t be confirmed in time to be seated on the bench for October’s currently scheduled arguments.

What’s on the docket?

Monday, October 5th

• Carney v. Adams concerns whether a Delaware law that limits the number of judges affiliated with either the Democratic Party or Republican Party to a bare majority is constitutional.
• Texas v. New Mexico involves a dispute between New Mexico and Texas about the waters of the Pecos River.

Tuesday, October 6th

• Rutledge v. Pharmaceutical Care takes up the question of whether federal laws involving employee benefits supersede state regulations governing the reimbursement rates paid by prescription-drug middlemen to pharmacies.
• FNI Tanzin v. Tanvir considers whether individual federal employees can be sued for monetary damages under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act.

Wednesday, October 7th

• Google v. Oracle America concerns whether copyright protections apply to software interfaces.
• Ford Motor Company v. Montana Eighth Judicial District Court deals with whether a state court is allowed by the Due Process Clause to exercise personal jurisdiction over a non-resident defendant when the defendant’s contact with the state didn’t cause the plaintiff’s claims.

Tuesday, October 13th

• U.S. v. Briggs (consolidated with U.S. v. Collins) considers what the statute of limitations is for old rape charges against members of the Armed Forces.
• Chicago v. Fulton concerns whether creditors are required by the Bankruptcy Code to turn over repossessed property to a creditor as soon as a debtor files for bankruptcy.

Wednesday, October 14th

• Torres v. Madrid seeks to resolve a circuit split regarding whether the use of physical force in an attempt to apprehend a suspect must be successful to be a “seizure” under the Fourth Amendment.
• Pereida v. Barr involves whether a non-citizen who is convicted of a state crime can seek relief from deportation when it’s unclear whether the crime they’re convicted of is considered a deportable offense under the Immigration and Nationality Act.

Late Additions

• The Supreme Court may hear emergency challenges in cases involving the administration of election laws after decisions in such cases are issued by district and circuit courts and appealed to the nation’s highest court.

— Eric Revell

(Photo Credit: iStock.com / tomwachs)