Featured Articles

The bill for Heller: $3.5 million

Jason Harrow
August 25, 2008 22:06

Lawyers who won the historic Second Amendment gun rights case in the Supreme Court — District of Columbia v. Heller (07-290) — on Monday asked a federal judge to award them more than $3.5 million for attorneys’ fees, plus $13,215.30 for expenses and court costs.  In a motion and...

The Week Ahead

Jason Harrow
July 13, 2008 18:28

The Court is in recess for the summer. The opening conference for next term will take place September 29. Oral arguments will resume October 6. In Guantanamo habeas litigation, the Justice Department is scheduled to file on Monday a brief in the case of Hamdan v. Gates (District Court docket...

Court grants two cases

Jason Harrow
November 03, 2008 16:46

The Supreme Court agreed on Monday to decide whether a state prison inmate may seek access to DNA evidence for use in pursuing a claim of innocence, by filing a civil rights claim after his trial is over.  In a second grant, the Court said it would decide whether a seaman may sue for punitive...

Ohio seeks to block voter challenge ruling

Jason Harrow
October 17, 2008 02:08

NOTE: Updated 9:40 p.m. with link to one more brief Ohio’s top election official has asked the Supreme Court to put on hold a federal judge’s order requiring steps to verify the voter registration rolls across the state, arguing that the order had “destabilized” the election...

Court clears way for Davis execution

Jason Harrow
October 15, 2008 01:46

UPDATED 12:42 p.m. Refusing to decide whether the death penalty is barred for an individual with a strong claim of innocence, the Supreme Court on Tuesday turned aside the appeal of Georgia death-row inmate Troy Anthony Davis.  The order clears the way for the state to set a new execution date; a...

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Thursday round-up

Jason Harrow
March 22, 2012 13:51

The Court heard oral arguments in two cases yesterday. In Reichle v. Howards, a case arising from the Secret Service’s arrest of a man who touched former Vice President Dick Cheney and made an anti-war comment in a Colorado shopping mall, the Court considered whether the existence of probable cause...

Argument preview: Health care, Part III — Beyond the mandate

Jason Harrow
March 22, 2012 04:04

On Wednesday, March 28, the Supreme Court holds its third day of hearings on constitutional issues surrounding the new federal health care law.  This is the third of four articles that will appear on the blog this week, previewing the issues that the Court has agreed to review.  These articles...

Petition of the day

Jason Harrow
March 22, 2012 02:18

The petition of the day is:The petition of the day is: Attard v. City of New YorkDocket: 11-1055Issue(s): Does the Second Circuit’s requirement of new, “strong evidence” that an arbitral decision is factually wrong comport with Alexander v. Gardner-Denver Co., which leaves the weight accorded to an...

Court’s biotech case sends stern warning to Federal Circuit and software designers

Jason Harrow
March 21, 2012 22:00

Though most of the attention to yesterday’s decision in Mayo Collaborative Services v. Prometheus Laboratories Inc. has focused on its immediate implications for medical providers[link to LD’s entry, etc.], the broader effect of the case probably will be on the software industry.  Less than two...

Health care advocacy posts

Jason Harrow
March 21, 2012 21:30

In anticipation of next week’s oral arguments, several longer advocacy pieces have been written about the Affordable Care Act. Earlier this month, Randy Barnett wrote a post at the Volokh Conspiracy in which he distinguished the challenge to the individual mandate from Gonzales v. Raich and...