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Details on today’s orders

The Court issued both orders and opinions this morning; we will cover opinions in a separate post shortly.

The Court granted two cases from the February 17 Conference, both of which will be argued in the October 2012 Term. Those two cases are:   Fisher v. University of Texas, in which the Court will consider the constitutionality of the affirmative action policy used by the University of Texas at Austin in its undergraduate admissions decisions, and Lozman v. City of Riviera Beach, Florida, in which concerns the Court will weigh in on the definition of a “vessel” for the purposes of triggering maritime jurisdiction.  Justice Kagan is recused from Fisher.

The Solicitor General has been invited to file briefs expressing the views of the United States in two cases: Rubin v. Islamic Republic of Iran, a case involving which concerns the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act of 1976 and the attachment of property; and Vance v. Ball State University, a case involving the application and limits of the supervisor liability rule.

The Court took no action on Association for Molecular Pathology v. Myriad Genetics, a case involving whether human genes may be patented.

The Court also issued orders concerning the allotment of argument time in the health care cases.  The Court has divided time as follows:

  • On the Anti-Injunction Act issue, the court-appointed amicus will have forty minutes, the Solicitor General will have thirty minutes, and the states and National Federation of Independent Business will have twenty minutes.
  • On the minimum coverage provision (also known as the individual mandate), the Solicitor General will have sixty minutes, while the states and the National Federation of Independent Business will each have thirty minutes.
  • On the severability issue, the states and the National Federation of Independent Business will have thirty minutes, the Solicitor General will have thirty minutes, and the court-appointed amicus will have thirty minutes.
  • On the Medicaid issue, the states and the Solicitor General will each have thirty minutes.

Recommended Citation: Kali Borkoski, Details on today’s orders, SCOTUSblog (Feb. 21, 2012, 10:50 AM), https://www.scotusblog.com/2012/02/details-on-todays-orders-6/