Featured Articles

Court Hands Down Cigarette Advertising Ruling

Kedar Bhatia
December 15, 2008 15:11

The Supreme Court handed down an opinion today in Altria Group v. Good (opinion here) which will likely open the door for state-level suits against false advertising by cigarette companies. Justice Stevens penned the majority opinion and was joined by Justices Kennedy, Souter, Ginsburg, and Breyer....

Recent Articles

Cert. Petition Filed Yesterday by the Emory Supreme Court Advocacy Project

Kedar Bhatia
March 20, 2012 15:36

ELSSCAP, the Emory Law School Supreme Court Advocacy Project, filed a cert. petition yesterday in Kasonso v. Holder. You can find the petition here. Last month we filed a merits-stage amicus brief in Christopher v. SmithKline Beecham Corp., which you can find here. In December we filed a...

The Case of the Missing Kennedy

Kedar Bhatia
January 23, 2012 20:20

Today was another big day at the Supreme Court. Among the four merits opinions released, we got a very interesting summary reversal in Ryburn v. Huff and a landmark opinion in U.S. v. Jones, the GPS-tracking case. Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to plow through the latter yet, but I hope...

Predicting the April Sitting

Kedar Bhatia
January 17, 2012 15:15

I run into the exact same debate every year around mid-January: which cases will be heard during the current term and which will be pushed over to the next? For example, the Court granted three cases on Friday but should I categorize them as OT11 cases or OT12 cases? Predicting which cases the...

Four 8-1 Decisions in One Day

Kedar Bhatia
January 10, 2012 16:16

The Supreme Court released four opinions today, and each was 8-1. You can find all of the opinions here. CompuCredit v. Greenwood, a case centering around arbitration clauses, is especially interested. In an opinion written by Justice Scalia, the Supreme Court somewhat predictably upheld an...

January Hearing List Released

Kedar Bhatia
January 09, 2012 20:07

The Supreme Court has released the Hearing List for the January sitting and you can find it here. Several high-profile advocates are back in action during the January sitting. Gregory Garre leads all attorneys in private practice with his fourth argument of the term in United States v. Home...

Westlaw Flag Colors for OT10 Cases

Kedar Bhatia
January 05, 2012 15:00

I’ve always thought it was funny that WestLaw handed out yellow flags like they were candy. I’m referring, of course, to “KeyCite Status Flags,” the shorthand notation given to each case to signal whether it has some negative history, is bad law, or has direct history. Red...

Vintage SCOTUS: William Rehnquist’s Memo to Justice Jackson Regarding Brown v. Board of Education

Kedar Bhatia
January 04, 2012 15:00

Much has been made of the memo that William Rehnquist wrote as a clerk to Justice Robert Jackson advising him to uphold Plessy v. Ferguson in Brown v. Board of Education. Rehnquist always maintained that he was only writing what his boss wanted to read, but Rehnquist’s detractors saw that as...

Five Granted Cases Remaining for April

Kedar Bhatia
December 20, 2011 15:58

The Supreme Court released the oral argument calendars for the February and March sittings yesterday, leaving five granted cases unscheduled. Those cases are Christopher v. SmithKline Beecham Corp., Dorsey v. U.S., RadLAX Gateway Hotel v. Amalgamated Bank, Arizona v. U.S., and...

A Big Little Case

Kedar Bhatia
December 01, 2011 12:00

Next Wednesday, the Supreme Court will hear arguments in an interesting case about water law in Montana, PPL Montana v. Montana. The case will be a difficult one for a variety of reasons and the Court is going to need all the help it can get with the case. Luckily, the Court will have five-star...