Monday round-up

By Marissa Miller
on Mar 18, 2013 at 8:43 am

This morning, the Court will hear oral arguments in Arizona v. The Inter Tribal Council of Arizona, Inc., which concerns the validity of an Arizona law that requires all state residents to show documents proving their U.S. citizenship before they can register to vote in national elections. This weekend’s coverage of the Court focuses on this case, with previews of the arguments coming from Lyle at this blog, Jesse Holland and Jacques Billeaud of the Associated Press, Ariane de Vogue of ABC News, and Tim Gaynor of Reuters. At the Election Law Blog, Rick Hasen argues that if the Court upholds the law, “it would mark a major change in U.S. election law,” and “would alter the state-federal balance over federal elections and give states a greater ability to manipulate election rules for partisan reason.” The Washington Post’s editorial board urges the Justices to overturn the law, on the ground that citizens should not “be discouraged from the exercise of their most essential right—even citizens who don’t have identification deemed suitable by Arizona.”

This weekend’s coverage also highlighted the same-sex marriage cases, which will be heard by the Court next week. At this blog, Lyle reports that on Friday the Court granted the government’s request for divided argument in Hollingsworth v. Perry (the constitutional challenge to California Proposition 8). The Associated Press’s Mark Sherman covers the “continuing distinct partisan divide is present in the gay marriage cases,” which is “most apparent in legal briefs filed with the court by state attorneys general.” Finally, in the context of the same-sex marriage cases, the Washington Post’s Robert Barnes explores how the Justices themselves reflect the diversity of modern marriage.

Briefly:

• Politico’s Brett Norman previews Tuesday’s oral arguments in Mutual Pharmaceutical Co. v. Bartlett, in which the Justices will consider whether federal law does not preempt state law design-defect claims that target generic pharmaceutical products because the conflict between such them might be avoided if the makers of generic pharmaceuticals simply stop making their products. At The Hill, Sam Baker reports that key Democratic lawmakers are at odds with the Obama Administration’s position in the case.
• In an op-ed in The National Law Journal, Leon Friedman and Joanna Grossman congratulate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on her 80th birthday—which she celebrated on Friday—and honor her for the countless contributions she has made to women’s rights in her life.
• Michael Doyle of McClatchy Newspapers previews Wednesday’s oral arguments in Horne v. Department of Agriculture, in which the Court will decide whether the federal government can be challenged in a regular federal court for taking over a part of an annual raisin crop from packers and processors, under a marketing program. Lyle also previews the case for this blog.
• The Washington Post’s Ron Charles reports that for the first time in history, two female Justices have books on the bestseller list—Justice Sonia Sotomayor’s “My Beloved World,” and retired Justice Sandra Day O’Connor’s “Out of Order: Stories from the History of the Supreme Court.”