Every post published in March 2009, most recent first.
At 10 a.m., the Court may release the opinion in one or more pending cases. Following the release of any opinions, the Court will hear argument in Gross v. FBL Financial Services (08-441), on the level of proof required in a “mixed motive” job bias case.
The Supreme Court chose on Tuesday, after examining the issue for the third time, not to disturb a punitive damages verdict now totaling more than $150 million, won by the widow of a heavy smoker who died of lung cancer.
The transcript of oral argument in Gross v. FBL Financial Services, Inc. (08-441) is available here.
Stanford student Beverly Moore previews Polar Tankers v. City of Valdez, which is to be heard tomorrow morning at 10am. Additional information and filings are available from SCOTUSwiki, here. Please note that the Stanford clinic wrote the cert. stage brief in opposition.
Acting on the basis of secret documents and a closed-door hearing, a federal judge on Wednesday ruled that a Yemeni detainee at Guantanamo Bay — identified in news accounts as the government’s “star witness” against other detainees — is legally entitled to be released from captivity.
At 10 a.m., following the announcement of any orders, the Court will hear one hour of argument in the consolidated cases Travelers Indemnity v. Bailey (08-295) and Common Law Settlement Counsel v. Bailey (08-307), on a bankruptcy court’s power to bar related lawsuits.
The Court granted certiorari in no cases today. The orders list is available here.
The Supreme Court granted no new cases on Monday as it issued its latest orders. The Court said it would hear oral argument, presumably at its next Term, on a report by a Special Master on the pending dispute between the two Carolina states (South Carolina v. North Carolina, 138 Original) over water flows in the Catawba River.
The Supreme Court on Monday stepped into the middle of a basic constitutional controversy involving the Court’s occasional role as a trial court: When one state sues another directly in the Court rather than starting the case in a lower trial court — a maneuver the Constitution allows in a special category of so-called “Original” cases — who else can join in?
The transcript of oral argument in Travelers Indemnity v. Bailey (08-295) is available here.