The Week Ahead

On Monday, the Court will release the remaining orders from the Justices’ private conference last Friday. Following the release of orders, the Court will hear argument in:

• Peake. v. Sanders (07-1209), involving who bears the burden of showing the failure of the Department of Veterans Affairs to give statutorily required notice to benefits claimants was or was not prejudicial.
• Pacific Bell v. linkLine Communications (07-512), on whether the Section 2 of the Sherman Act recognizes a “price squeeze” claim against a company with no anitrust duty to deal with retail competitors.

On Tuesday, the Court will hear argument in:

• Arizona v. Johnson (07-1122), on whether police may frisk car passengers they believe may be armed but have no reason to suspect have committed any crime.
• Cone v. Bell (07-1114), on whether a death row prisoner is entitled to federal habeas review of his claim that the state suppressed evidence of drug use at the time of the murder for which he was convicted.

On Wednesday, the Court will hear argument in:

• Ashcroft v. Iqbal (07-1015), involving a suit against former Attorney General John Ashcroft and FBI Director Robert Mueller over allegations of racial and religious discrimination against post-9/11 Muslim detainees.
• AT&T Corp. v. Hulteen (07-543), involving the use of service credits from before enactment of the Pregnancy Discrimination Act in making current calculations of pension and other benefits.

Also on Wednesday, Federal District Judge Thomas F. Hogan will hold a hearing to consider the government’s objections to the procedures he established to govern the adjudication of habeas petitions of detainees at Guantanamo Bay.

On Friday, the Justices will hold a private confernece, from which any grants of certiorari could be announced the same afternoon. To view our list of petitions to watch at the conference, click here.

No merits briefs are due this week. (Case links above direct to pages on SCOTUSwiki.)