A guide to Thursday’s session
on Jun 27, 2007 at 12:55 pm
The Supreme Court is scheduled to issue decisions on Thursday, and the chances are, this will be the final public sitting of the current Term. If it is the last day, and if the Court is in fact going to decide the three final decisions (four cases) that remain for the Term, then the session is likely to unfold in this way:
10:00 a.m. sharp — The gavel raps, the audience rises, the Justices enter, and the Marshal announces that the Court is in session with the traditional, “Oyez, oyez” cry. The Justices take their seats.
10:01 — Since no Orders List is expected, the Chief Justice will begin immediately to announce decisions on the merits. He probably will recite the docket number(s) of the first ruling, and hand it off to one of the Associate Justices if the Chief Justice is not the author.
10:02 — If predictions hold true that Justice Anthony M. Kennedy is writing the Panetti decision on the execution of a mentally delusional death-row inmate, he will describe the case, the issues and the result. (The most junior Justice with a decision that day goes first.)
About 10:10 — The Chief Justice will give the docket number(s) of the second decision of the day. If predictions hold true that Justice John Paul Stevens is writing the Leegin Creative decision on antitrust and retail store prices, he will lay out that case and the result.
About 10:20 — The Chief Justice will give the docket number(s) of the final ruling of the day. If, as predicted, he is writing the Seattle and Louisville school integration decisions, the Chief Justice will describe them. There probably will be an oral recitation also from one or more of the likely dissenters.
At the conclusion of the session, the Chief Justice will announce that the Term is ending, that concluding orders will be issued on the following day, and that the new Term will begin on Oct. 1.
Here are the concluding remarks that the Chief Justice made last June 29, when the 2005-2006 Term ended:
“I am authorized to announce that the Court has acted on all cases submitted for decision this Term. Disposition of items scheduled for Conference will be reflected on the Order List that will be released at 10 o’clock tomorrow morning. The Court will be in recess from today until the first Monday in October, 2006, at which time the October 2005 Term of the Court will be adjourned and the October 2006 Term of the Court will begin as provided by law.
“On behalf of the Court, I would like to thank the Court staff for their hard work, professionalism, and dedication to duty over the past term….The superb work done by all members of the Court staff contributes significantly to the accomplishment of the Court’s mission.”
The entire session Thursday may last 30 minutes or longer.
(NOTE: If Thursday’s session is not the final one, any remaining decisions are expected to be announced on Friday, with concluding orders issued next Monday.)
