Every post published in March 2020, most recent first.
In a 7-2 decision announced today, the Supreme Court held that a safe berth clause in a particular maritime charter party agreement constituted a warranty of safety, making the charterer, who designated the unloading berth, liable for costs to clean up an oil spill.
Yesterday, for the second time since its building closed to the public, the Supreme Court issued opinions via its website rather than from the bench, along with orders from last week’s conference.
SCOTUSblog is looking for a new editor, to start work in July 2020. The editor’s responsibilities will include editing every post that is published on the blog, writing a daily round-up of news and commentary related to the Supreme Court, organizing and supervising special projects, and working with the blog manager to identify authors for case coverage and symposia, as well as topics for symposia and other features.
They are the legal version of Willy Wonka’s golden ticket: the cards (in colors that change from day to day) distributed in front of the Supreme Court that give the people holding them access to one of the seats set aside for the public at that morning’s oral arguments.
Ariane de Vogue reports at CNN that “[u]ndocumented immigrants who work as health care providers are asking for their efforts fighting the coronavirus to be taken into consideration as the Supreme Court considers the Trump administration’s bid to phase out the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program,” in Department of Homeland Security v. Regents of the University of California.
This morning the Supreme Court continued its virtual operations, releasing orders from the justices’ private conference last week. Following the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s guidelines for COVID-19, and in a departure from tradition, only Chief Justice John Roberts was in the justices’ conference room again last week, with the rest of the justices participating remotely by telephone.
On Monday, the court released orders from the March 27 conference, adding one new case, Brownback v. King, to next term’s merits docket. The justices released their opinion in CITGO Asphalt Refining Co. v. Frescati Shipping Co. On Friday, the justices held their April 3 conference.
Briefly: At Bloomberg Environment (subscription required), Ellen Gilmer reports that “[e]nvironmentalists and tribal advocates are pushing the Supreme Court to get involved in a long-running dispute over a New Mexico power plant and adjacent coal mine.” [Disclosure: Goldstein & Russell, P.C., whose attorneys contribute to this blog in various capacities, is among counsel to the petitioners in this case.]
This week we highlight petitions pending before the Supreme Court that address, among other things, whether the First Amendment prohibits a state from criminalizing threats to commit violence communicated in reckless disregard of the risk of placing another in fear, whether a guilty plea waives a
At the NCSL Blog, Lisa Soronen looks at Comcast v. National Association of African American-Owned Media, in which the court ruled unanimously that a plaintiff who sues for racial discrimination in contracting under federal law has to plead and prove that race was a but-for cause of his injury.