Monday round-up

On Friday, the Court granted cert.in six new cases. The weekend’s clippings focus on these new grants, the release of Justice Sonia Sotomayor’s memoir, and the cases that are scheduled for oral arguments this week.

Asthis blogs Lyle Denniston reported on Friday, the Justices have agreed to hear six new cases, includingAgency for International Development v. Alliance for Open Society International,Salinas v. Texas,American Trucking Associations v. City of Los Angeles, andUnited States v. Kebodeaux.In the first of these cases,Agency for International Development v. Alliance for Open Society International,the Court will consider whether the First Amendment allowsthe government to deny funding for an international anti-AIDS program to organizations that do not actively oppose prostitution. Coverage of this cert. grant comes fromGreg Stohr ofBloomberg News,Mark Sherman of theAssociated Press,Jonathan Stempel ofReuters,Robert Barnes of TheWashington Post, David Savage of theLos Angeles Times, Adam Liptak of TheNew York Times, and theWall Street Journals Jess Bravin (subscription required). Several of those stories also include coverage of Salinas v. Texas, in which the Justices will consider whether theFifth Amendments Self-Incrimination Clause protects pre-arrest, pre-Mirandasilence; both Warren Richey of TheChristian Science MonitorandJonathan StempelandTerry BaynesofReutersalso have coverage. [Disclosure: Goldstein & Russell, P.C., whose attorneys work for or contribute to this blog in various capacities, is among the co-counsel to the petitioner in Salinas.] David Savage of theLos Angeles Timesreports onAmerican Trucking Associations v. City of Los Angeles,in which the Court will consider whethercertain port regulations are preempted by federal law. And theAssociated PresscoversUnited States v. Kebodeaux,in which the Court will consider whether sex offenders who were released unconditionally before new sex offender registration rules were passed can be prosecuted for not registering.

With Justice Sotomayors memoir,My Beloved World, set for release on Tuesday, this weekends coverage includes reviews of the book by Dahlia Lithwick (writing for TheWashington Post) and Jay Wexler (writing for theBoston Globe). Other coverage of the book comes from Nina Totenberg at NPR (which has also published the first part of an interview with the Justice), Robert Barnes of The Washington Post, Adam Liptak of TheNew York Times,Richard Wolf ofUSA Today, and Andrew Cohen of TheAtlantic.

Finally, atthis blog, Lyle previews todays oral argument inAlleyne v. United States, in which the Justices will reconsider whether the Sixth Amendment requires facts thatincrease a mandatory minimum sentence to be determined by a jury. The editorial board of TheNew York Timesurges the Court to hold that it does, arguing that such a decision would bolster Sixth Amendment rights and restore a role that the Constitution gives the jury.Writing forthis blog, Rory Little previews todays argument inBoyer v. Louisiana, in which the Court will consider whether a states failure to fund counsel for an indigent defendant for five years as a direct result of the prosecutions choice to seek the death penalty should be weighed against the state for speedy trial purposes. Also atthis blog, Kevin Amer previews Tuesdays arguments inLevin v. United States, which focuses on whether a civilians battery claim against the United States for injuries allegedly caused by military medical personnel during the performance of their duties is barred by sovereign immunity. And atWritten Description, Lisa Larrimore Oullettepreviews Wednesdays argument inGunn v. Minton, a case that asks the Court to determine whether federal courts have exclusive jurisdiction over state law malpractice claims in which the underlying question involves patent law.

Briefly:

• At this blog,Ronald Mannreports on last weeks oral argument inDelia v. E.M.A., whileKevin Russellcovers the argument inMaracich v. Spears.The former asks the Court to determine whether a North Carolina statute is preempted bythe Medicaid Acts anti-lien provision; the latter concerns the application of theDrivers Privacy Protection Act, a law that prohibits the use of data from a department of motor vehicles for solicitation without the drivers prior consent.
• Michael Doyle ofMcClatchy Newspaperspreviews this weeks oral argument Koontz v. St. John River Water Management District, a land-use case that may determine the power of government to impose certain monetary conditions before granting land-use permits. AtGreenwire, Lawrence Hurley reports on the wetlands regulation that underlies the dispute.
• TheSan Francisco Chronicles Bob Egelko reports on thechallenges to the Affordable Care Acts requirement that workplace health insurance plans cover birth-control pills and other female contraceptives, as well as the likelihood that one of these cases may reach the Court as soon as next year.
• Michael Kirkland ofUPIdiscusses the recent retirement of the Court’s clerk, William Suter, after twenty-two years, commenting that, “[m]ore than any other official, Suter brought the Supreme Court into the 21st century, bringing logic and organization to the process of taking a case to the court.”
• Also atUPI, Kirkland has coverage of the Court’s decision to schedule argument on the Proposition 8 case and the federal Defense of Marriage Act on consecutive days.