SCOTUSblog's list of petitions with a "reasonable" chance of being granted
    
                                         This list only includes petitions to be discussed for the first time on the Conference of 9/25/06


The following petitions are docketed 05- except as indicated at the bottom of the table

Name
Counsel of Record
Certiorari To
DN
Summary of QP
Status
King et al. v. Grand River Enterprises (Note: this case was mistakenly omitted from the first version of this list.)
Gary Feinerman
SG of Illinois
CA2
1343
Whether a court in one State may exercise personal jurisdiction over the Attorney General of another State in certain circumstances. Denied
United Hauler's Assoc v. Oneida-Herkimer Solid Waste Management
Evan Tager
Mayer Brown
CA2
1345 Whether local ordinances mandating the transfer and sale of solid waste to public entities are invalid under the dormant Commerce Clause. Granted, 9/26
Educational Credit Management v. Reynolds
Curtis Zaun
Edu. Credit Man.
CA8
1361 Whether discharging student-loan debt requires, as a threshold, an inability to repay that debt. Denied
Alabama v. Collins
Kevin Newsom
SG of Alabama
Ct. of Crim. App.of Ala.
1378
Whether Davis' clear-invocation rule applies when the suspect ambiguously references a lawyer during an initial Miranda colloquy. Denied
Oregon v. ASW
Mary Williams
SG of Oregon
CA9
1385
Whether Congress intended to create private rights to adoption assistance benefits when it enacted the Adoption Assistance Program. Denied
Warch v. Ohio Casualty Insurance Co.
Lee Boothby
Int'l Acad. for Freedom of Religion and Belief
CA4
1387
Whether a terminated employee must show that he continues to meet his employer's legitimate job expectations in the prima facie stage of an age discrimination case. Denied
Gonzales v. Tchoukhrova
Paul Clement
Solicitor General
CA9 1401
Whether a parent may qualify for asylum and withholding of removal based solely on alleged persecution of her child. Gr., Vacated
Moore v. Maryland
Albert Turkus
Skadden Arps
Ct. of App. of Md.
1411
Whether an indigent criminal defendant's right to due process of law was violated when he was denied state funds for expert assistance because he was represented by private counsel, rather than a Public Defender. Denied
Dillard's v. AZPB
Lloyd Palans
Bryan Cave
CA Ariz., Div. 1
1422

Whether, under federal principles of claim preclusion and issue preclusion, an unsecured creditor of a debtor in bankruptcy is in privity with the Chapter 7 bankruptcy

Trustee.
Denied
Travelers v. Pacific Gas and Electric [Consol. below with DeRoche]
Eric Brunstad
Bingham McCutchen
CA9
1429
Whether a litigant may recover attorneys' fees under a contract or state statute where the issues litigated involve matters of federal bankruptcy law. [Disclosure: Tom Goldstein represents the respondent in this case.] Granted, 10/6
DeRoche v. Arizona Industrial Comm. [Consol. below with Travelers]
Eric Brunstad
Bingham McCutchen
CA9
1439
Whether a litigant may recover attorneys' fees under a contract or state statute where the issues litigated involve matters of federal bankruptcy law. Held
Beck v. Pace Int'l Union
Miller Baker
McDermott Will & Emery
CA9
1448 Whether a pension plan sponsor's decision to terminate a plan by purchasing an annuity is a plan sponsor decision not subject to ERISA's fiduciary obligations. CVSG
AT&T v. RLH
Michael Kellogg
KHHTEF
CA Calif., 4th App. Dist, Div. 3
1493 Whether a State's direct regulation of commercial conduct that occurs wholly outside that State and that has no effect on consumers or markets within that State is a per se violation of the Commerce Clause. Denied
Allred v. Sup. Ct. of Calif.
Erwin Chemerinsky
Duke University
CA Calif., 1st App. Dist.
1505
Whether it violates the First Amendment for a trial court to issue an order in a criminal case preventing an attorney representing a non-party witness from making public statements about a pending case. Denied
Alvarado v. US
Lawrence Robbins
Robbins Russell
CA4
1512 Whether "dual sovereignty" principles apply in the Sixth amendment context in circumstances where a person is charged with overlapping state and federal drug offenses. Denied
Quarterman v. Graves
Gena Bunn
Texas AG's office
CA5
1568
Whether a criminal defendant's rights are violated when prosecutors fail to disclose certain statements by a co-defendant. Denied
Acosta v. Texas
Roger Jon Diamond

Ct. of App. of Tex., 8th Dist.
1574
Whether a Texas prohibition on the sale of sex toys is unconstituional on Due Process grounds, especially in light of the holding in Lawrence v. Texas.
Denied
Schriro v. Landrigan
Kent Cattani
Ariz. AG's Office
CA9
1575

Whether defense counsel has an obligation to develop and present mitigating evidence in a capital case when the defendant actively thwarts counsel's efforts.

Granted, 9/26
US Bank Corp. v. Kroske
Beth Brinkmann
Morrison & Foerster
CA9
1607
Whether a presumption against preemption permits state laws to apply to national banks despite the preemptive force of the National Bank Act. Denied
Newell v. Mass. Dept. of Mental Retardation
Norman Pattis
Law Offices of Norm Pattis
S. Jud. Ct. of Mass.
1622

Whether a judgment on the merits and a court-ordered consent decree are the only form of relief that meet the "judicial imprimatur" requirement for the award of attorney's fees.

Denied
Gonzales v. Duenas-Alvarez
Paul Clement
Solicitor General
CA9
1629 Whether a "theft offense," which is an "aggravated felony" under the Immigration and Nationality Act, includes aiding and abetting. Granted, 9/26
Corzine v. Amer. Trucking Assoc.
Patrick DeAlmeida
NJ AG's Office
CA3
1638
Whether highway safety regulations that have an incidental effect on interstate commerce are subject to strict scrutiny under the dormant Commerce Clause. Denied
Wallace v. Calogero [Consol. below with Leclerc]
William Livingston
Covington & Burling
CA5
1645
Whether a state law that discriminates against nonpermanent visaholding resident aliens ought to be analyzed under strict scrutiny for the purposes of an Equal Protection challenge. CVSG
Washington v. Washington Edu. Assoc.
William Collins
Dep. SG of Wash.
S. Ct. of Wash.
1657
Whether a requirement that nonmembers of a union must affirmatively consent before their fees may be used to support the union's political agenda violate the union's First Amendment rights. Granted, 9/26

Petitions Below are
Docketed 06-



Leclerc v. Webb [Concol. below with Wallace]
Jeffrey Sarles
Mayer Brown
CA5
11 Whether a state law that discriminates against nonpermanent visaholding resident aliens ought to be analyzed under strict scrutiny for the purposes of an Equal Protection challenge. CVSG
Tomic v. Catholic Diocese of Peoria
Paul Wolfson
Wilmer Hale
CA7
15 Whether the "ministerial exception" to federal employment discrimination laws bars the courts from adjudicating an age-discrimination complaint brought by a lay employee of a religious organization. Denied
Detroit Entertainment v. Romanski
Tom Goldstein
Akin Gump
CA6
38
Whether private conduct that is contrary to state policy does not constitute "state action" for purposes of 42 U.S.C. 1983. Denied
Hartford Fire Insurance Co. v. Reynolds [Consol. below with Safeco and Geico]
Carter Philips
Sidley Austin
CA9
82

Whether a defendant may "willfully" violate Section 616 of the Fair Credit

Reporting Act (FCRA) by acting merely in "reckless disregard" of statutory obligations, rather than by acting with knowledge that its conduct violates FCRA.
Held
Safeco Insurance v. Burr [Consol. below with Hartford and Geico] Michael Kellogg
KHHTEF
CA9
84

Whether a defendant may "willfully" violate Section 616 of the Fair Credit

Reporting Act (FCRA) by acting merely in "reckless disregard" of statutory obligations, rather than by acting with knowledge that its conduct violates FCRA.
Granted, 9/26
Geico v. Edo [Consol. below with Safeco and Hartford] Robert Allen
Baker & McKenzie
CA9
100

Whether a defendant may "willfully" violate Section 616 of the Fair Credit

Reporting Act (FCRA) by acting merely in "reckless disregard" of statutory obligations, rather than by acting with knowledge that its conduct violates FCRA.
Granted, 9/26
Sinochem Int'l v. Malaysia Int'l Shipping
Gregory Castanias
Jones Day
CA3
102 Whether a district court must first conclusively establish jurisdiction before dismissing a suit on the ground of forum non conveniens. Granted, 9/26
Perm. Miss. of India to the UN v. NY
John Howley
Kaye Scholer
CA2
134 Whether a tax lien on a foreign sovereign's real property is valid when the municipality seeking the taxes does not claim any right to own, use, enter, control, or possess the property at issue. CVSG
Granted

Note: Varner v. Thomas, 06-130, was initailly on this list.  However, the docket now reflects that Court requested a response on 9/13, due 10/13,
so we should expect that this case will no longer be considered at the Conference of 9/25.  In addition, three other cases that originally appeared
were removed since no response has been requested by the Court (05-1413, 05-1433, 05-1515).  Thanks to Norma Chase for pointing this out in the comments.