Groups urge Supreme Court to leave order in place reinstating Department of Education employees

Yesterday, June 12, the court issued opinions in Rivers v. Guerrero, Commissioner of Internal Revenue v. Zuch, Martin v. United States, Parrish v. United States, Soto v. United States, and A.J.T. v. Osseo Area Schools, Independent School District No. 279.  

Each weekday, we select a short list of news articles and commentary related to the Supreme Court. Here’s the Friday morning read:

• A Supreme Court Win for Special-Needs Kids’ Lawsuits Against Schools (Dan McLaughlin, National Review)
• Gorsuch warns Supreme Court decision gives IRS ‘powerful new tool to avoid accountability’ (Stephen Sorace, Fox News)
• The Supreme Court’s Inconsistency Is Very Revealing (Paul Rosenzweig, The Atlantic)
• The Supreme Court Could Cut Off Classroom Internet Connections (Peter Greene, Forbes)
• Peak absurdity on campaign finance reform heads to the Supreme Court (George F. Will, The Washington Post)

On Thursday, June 12, the Supreme Court also released the following opinions:

— In Commissioner of Internal Revenue v. Zuch, the court considered whether a tax court has jurisdiction to hear a taxpayer’s appeal of a proposed levy to collect unpaid taxes once imposing a levy is no longer an option because the taxes have been paid in full.

In an 8-1 decision by Justice Amy Coney Barrett, the court held that tax courts no longer have jurisdiction under these circumstances. Specifically, Barrett wrote that “[b]ecause there was no longer a proposed levy, the Tax Court properly concluded that it lacked jurisdiction to resolve questions about Zuch’s disputed tax liability.”

The Supreme Court on Thursday turned down an effort by a Texas inmate to invalidate his convictions using new evidence that he says could clear him. In a unanimous decision by Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, the court ruled that a filing by Danny Rivers raising claims relating to that new evidence was a prohibited “second or successive” petition even though it was made while the district court’s decision denying his first petition was still pending on appeal.

Rivers was convicted in Texas in 2012 of child sex abuse, indecency with a child, and possession of child pornography. After his efforts to overturn his convictions in state court were unsuccessful, Rivers filed a petition for federal post-conviction relief in 2017 in which he alleged (among other things) that his lawyers had been deficient and that prosecutors had engaged in misconduct.

We’re expecting one or more opinions from the court at 10 a.m. EDT. Join us for the live blog, beginning at 9:30 a.m.

Each weekday, we select a short list of news articles and commentary related to the Supreme Court. Here’s the Thursday morning read:

• Supreme Court asked to permit pregame prayer on loudspeaker (Alex Swoyer, The Washington Times)
• Trump Fights to Move Appeal of Hush-Money Conviction to Federal Court (Jonah E. Bromwich, The New York Times)
• Supreme Court Pauses Auto Notifications After Software Glitch (Lydia Wheeler, Bloomberg)
• Map Shows Where Gay Marriage Would Be Banned if Supreme Court Overturns Law (Sophie Clark, Newsweek)
• The enormous stakes in a new Supreme Court case about Trump’s mass firings (Ian Millhiser, Vox)

On June 7, 2024, a large group of reporters covering the Supreme Court (including this reporter) sent a letter to Chief Justice John Roberts, asking him to consider live-streaming the audio of the court’s opinion announcements. They have not received a response to the letter, which they are now publicly releasing. The letter appears below. (In an article we ran on June 3, Kit Beyer of Fix the Court also urged the justices to livestream opinion announcements.)