WHAT WE'RE READING

The morning read for Tuesday, September 26

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

• Texas death row inmate at mercy of supreme court – and junk science (Ed Pilkington, The Guardian) 
• Why Thousands Of Prisoners Could Be Spared Because Of A Supreme Court Case Over The Word ‘And’ (Alison Durkee, Forbes)
• Civil rights groups’ power to sue undermined by appellate ruling (Hassan Kanu, Reuters) 
• Supreme Court to consider taking case tied to NC ‘ag-gag’ law (CJ Staff, The Carolina Journal)
• The Supreme Court’s Blindness to Gender Violence (Victoria F. Nourse, Ms. Magazine) 

WHAT WE'RE READING

The morning read for Monday, September 25

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

• The Supreme Court will hear a case with a lot of ‘buts’ & ‘ifs’ over the meaning of ‘and’ (Mark Sherman, The Associated Press)
• Justice Kagan Calls for the Supreme Court to Adopt an Ethics Code (Adam Liptak, The New York Times)
• US Supreme Court extends pause on order curbing Biden social media contacts (Nate Raymond and Andrew Chung, Reuters) 
• Revelations of Clarence Thomas’s Koch links stoke supreme court reform calls (Martin Pengelly, The Guardian) 
• ProPublica Buries Its Clarence Thomas News (Ira Stoll, The Wall Street Journal)

WHAT WE'RE READING

The morning read for Friday, September 22

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

• Clarence Thomas secretly participated in Koch network donor events (Joshua Kaplan, Justin Elliott, and Alex Mierjeski, ProPublica)
• Sports betting fight heading to Supreme Court (Dara Kam, News Service of Florida)
• Coerced, censored, shut down: How will Supreme Court manage social media’s toxic sludge? (John Fritze & Jessica Guynn, USA Today)
• Supreme Court ruling could decide Hunter Biden’s fate (Aleks Phillips, Newsweek)
• Justice Barrett on originalism and why she doesn’t write so many opinions (Jimmy Hoover, National Law Journal)

Petitions of the week

Florida man subject to lifetime sex-offender registration requirements argues that he is “in custody” for purposes of federal post-conviction laws

The Petitions of the Week column highlights a selection of cert petitions recently filed in the Supreme Court. A list of all petitions we’re watching is available here.

A person held in state prison can challenge the constitutionality of their criminal conviction in federal court through a legal tool known as a writ of habeas corpus. Habeas relief is available to anyone “in custody,” which the Supreme Court has interpreted to mean not only physical confinement but also other restrictions such as parole and release pending trial. This week, we highlight petitions that ask the court to consider, among other things, whether someone who is subject to sex-offender registration requirements for the rest of his life can be considered “in custody” and therefore eligible to seek federal habeas relief.

WHAT WE'RE READING

The morning read for Thursday, September 21

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

• Supreme Court can let West Point keep affirmative action (Noah Feldman, Washington Post)
• I teach constitutional law. Supreme Court arguments have gotten way too long. (Chad Flanders, Baltimore Sun)
• Resolving Carpenter‘s third-party paradox (Michael Dreeben, Elizabeth Hadley, Conor O’Shea, & Johanna Seale, Just Security)
• Oklahoma man executed after Supreme Court denies new lawyer more time (Kelsey Reichmann, Courthouse News Service)
• Utah woman hopes to challenge firearms restrictions for felons at US Supreme Court (Jim Spiewak, KUTV)