Announcement of opinions for Wednesday, April 30

The court will issue one or more opinions again this morning at 10 a.m. EDT. Join us for the live blog. The justices will then hear oral argument in a major dispute over attempts to open the nation’s first religious charter school. The court will consider whether a virtual Catholic charter school that would “fully embrace” the Catholic Church’s teachings can be established in Oklahoma.

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

• Supreme Court to Hear Challenge to Religious Charter School in Oklahoma (Adam Liptak, The New York Times)
• Can charter schools be religious? If so, what does that mean for public education? (Nina Totenberg, NPR)
• Four questions in the Supreme Court arguments in birthright citizenship cases (Steve Vladeck, CNN)
• With Barrett recused, Supreme Court considers appeal over first religious charter school (Jordan Rubin, MSNBC)
• Supreme Court Should Allow Religious School In Charter Program (Kristen Waggoner, Bloomberg Law)

We’re expecting one or more opinions from the court this morning at 10 a.m. EDT. Join us for the live blog. The court will then hear oral argument in Martin v. U.S., the case of an Atlanta couple whose home was mistakenly raided by an FBI SWAT team. They now ask the justices to decide whether they can sue the federal government for the error. In Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings v. Davis, the court will consider whether it is appropriate for a federal court to certify a class action for a class that includes plaintiffs who did not suffer any cognizable injury.

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

• Supreme Court asks: Can FBI be held liable for raiding the wrong house? (Ann E. Marimow, The Washington Post)
• Supreme Court considers lawsuit arising from ‘wrong house’ FBI raid (Lawrence Hurley, NBC News)
• Supreme Court weighs whether law enforcement can be held accountable for raid on wrong house (Christina Gatti, NPR)
• US Supreme Court fight may shape Trump’s ability to fire Fed chair (John Kruzel, Reuters)
• The Bench Barometer: Ranking the Supreme Court’s Best Oral Advocates from the 2024 Term’s First Sitting (Adam Feldman, Legalytics)

Coming up: On Wednesday, April 30, the court expects to issue one or more opinions from the current term. Well be live at 9:45 a.m. EDT.

The Supreme Court on Monday added one new case, involving procedural issues that arose in a lawsuit claiming that an organic baby food caused a child’s case of autism spectrum disorder, to its docket for the 2025-26 term. The justices also called for the federal government’s views in a case involving the commercial-activity exception to the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act, which generally shields foreign governments from lawsuits in U.S. courts. The announcements came on a list of orders from the justices’ private conference on Friday, April 25. 

The justices granted a petition for review filed by Hain Celestial Group, the makers of Earth’s Best organic baby food, which is sold at (among other stores) Whole Foods. In 2021, Sarah and Grant Palmquist sued both Hain and Whole Foods in a Texas state court, alleging that heavy metals in Earth’s Best baby food had caused their son’s autism spectrum disorder. 

The court will hear oral argument in two cases this morning. The justices will hear A.J.T. v. Osseo Area Schools, a dispute over the standard for awarding damages when a school district fails to provide an adequate education to a child with a disability. And in Soto v. U.S., the court will consider a technical question relating to compensation for veterans.

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

• Disabled child’s fight for fair treatment could help others – or raise bar for discrimination claims (Maureen Groppe, USA Today)
• The FBI mistakenly raided their Atlanta home. Now the Supreme Court will hear their lawsuit (Sudhin Thanawala & Lindsay Whitehurst, The Associated Press)
• I Wrote the Book on Charter Schools. This Supreme Court Case Could Inadvertently Destroy Them. (Richard D. Kahlenberg, Slate)
• Trump says he’s ‘not defying the Supreme Court’ amid standoff over wrongly deported man (Amanda Friedman, Politico)
• Amy Coney Barrett Recuses Herself as Supreme Court to Hear Religious Charter School Case (Brody Carter, The Christian Broadcasting Network)

Coming up: On Tuesday, April 29, the court expects to issue one or more opinions from the current term. Well be live at 9:45 a.m. EDT.

Monday’s argument in A.J.T. v. Osseo Area Schools is the latest in a long series of Supreme Court cases involving the statutory rights Congress has granted to schoolchildren with disabilities. Two sets of statutes are important: the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and a pair of overlapping anti-discrimination statutes, the Americans with Disability Act and the Rehabilitation Act. The IDEA obligates all school districts to provide a “free appropriate public education” to children with disabilities. Because Congress does not provide enough funds for local schools to provide that education, there has been constant tension between parents – seeking a better outcome for their children – and school districts – trying to limit the expenditure of local tax dollars. The discrimination statutes bar any “discrimination” by a public entity (such as a school district) “by reason of [any] disability.”