Weyerhaeuser Company v. United States Fish and Wildlife Service

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Weyerhaeuser Company v. United States Fish and Wildlife Service

Opinion analysis: Court gives broad meaning to “confidential” in FOIA exemption for commercial and financial information – Mark Fenster

Opinion analysis: Punitive damages not available under general maritime law in personal-injury unseaworthiness action – Joel Goldstein

Opinion analysis: Long-time prohibition on registration of scandalous and immoral trademarks is struck down – Megan Carpenter

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Docket No.	Op. Below	Argument	Opinion	Vote	Author	Term
17-71	5th Cir.	Oct 1, 2018 Tr.Aud.	Nov 27, 2018	8-0	Roberts	OT 2018

Holding: An area is eligible for designation as “critical habitat” under the Endangered Species Act of 1973 only if it is habitat for the listed species; and the decision by the secretary of the U.S. Department of the Interior not to exclude an area from critical habitat under 16 U. S. C. §1533(b)(2) is subject to judicial review.

Judgment: Vacated and remanded, 8-0, in an opinion by Chief Justice Roberts on November 27, 2018. Justice Kavanaugh took no part in the consideration or decision of the case.

Opinion analysis: Frogs and humans live to fight another day (Lisa Heinzerling)
First Mondays, OT2018 #4: “This Is About Frogs” (First Mondays)
Argument analysis: Justices jostle over endangered frog’s critical habitat (Lisa Heinzerling)
A "view" from the courtroom: Opening with an empty spot on the bench (Mark Walsh)
Argument preview: Justices to consider critical-habitat designation for endangered frog (Lisa Heinzerling)
Justices add frog case to merits docket (Amy Howe)

Date	Proceedings and Orders (key to color coding)
Mar 21 2017	Application (16A916) to extend the time to file a petition for a writ of certiorari from May 14, 2017 to June 29, 2017, submitted to Justice Thomas.
Mar 27 2017	Application (16A916) granted by Justice Thomas extending the time to file until June 29, 2017.
Jun 06 2017	Application (16A916) to extend further the time from June 29, 2017 to July 13, 2017, submitted to Justice Thomas.
Jun 09 2017	Application (16A916) granted by Justice Thomas extending the time to file until July 13, 2017.
Jul 11 2017	Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due August 14, 2017)
Jul 18 2017	Consent to the filing of amicus curiae briefs, in support either party or of neither party, received from counsel for petitioner.
Jul 20 2017	Consent to the filing of amicus curiae briefs, in support of either party or of neither party, received from counsel for respondent Markle Interests, LLC.
Jul 26 2017	Waiver of right of respondents Markle Interests, LLC; P & F Lumber Co., 2000, LLC; & PF Monroe Properties, LLC to respond filed.
Aug 04 2017	Blanket Consent filed by respondent- intervenors, Center for Biological Diversity and Gulf Restoration Network on 08/10/2017 VIDED
Aug 09 2017	Order extending time to file response to petition to and including September 13, 2017, for all respondents
Aug 09 2017	Brief amicus curiae of St. Tammany Parish filed. VIDED.
Aug 11 2017	Brief amicus curiae of Mountain States Legal Foundation filed. VIDED.
Aug 14 2017	Brief amici curiae of Washington Legal Foundation, et al. filed. VIDED.
Aug 14 2017	Brief amicus curiae of Center for Constitutional Jurisprudence filed. VIDED.
Aug 14 2017	Brief amicus curiae of Chamber of Commerce of the United States of America filed. VIDED.
Aug 14 2017	Brief amicus curiae of Energy and Wildlife Action Coalition filed.
Aug 14 2017	Brief amici curiae of The American Farm Bureau Federation, et al. filed.
Aug 14 2017	Brief amicus curiae of San Jaun County, Utah filed. VIDED.
Aug 14 2017	Brief amicus curiae of Southeastern Legal Foundation filed. VIDED.
Aug 14 2017	Brief amici curiae of The National Association of Home Builders, et al. filed. VIDED.
Aug 14 2017	Brief amicus curiae of The Cato Institute filed. VIDED.
Aug 14 2017	Brief amici curiae of Alabama and 17 Additional States filed. VIDED.
Sep 07 2017	Order further extending time to file response to petition to and including October 13, 2017.
Oct 06 2017	Order further extending time to file response to petition to and including November 13, 2017, for all respondents.
Nov 13 2017	Brief of intervenor-respondents Center for Biological Diversity and Gulf Restoration Network in opposition filed. VIDED
Nov 13 2017	Brief of respondents Fish and Wildlife Service, et al. in opposition filed. VIDED.
Nov 29 2017	DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 1/5/2018.
Nov 29 2017	Reply of petitioner Weyerhaeuser Co. filed. (Distributed)
Jan 08 2018	DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 1/12/2018.
Jan 16 2018	DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 1/19/2018.
Jan 22 2018	Petition GRANTED.
Jan 29 2018	Motion for an extension of time filed.
Jan 29 2018	Blanket Consent filed by Respondent, United States Fish and Wildlife Service, et al.
Jan 30 2018	Blanket Consent filed by Petitioner, Weyerhaeuser Company.
Jan 30 2018	Blanket Consent filed by Respondent, Intervenor-respondents Center for Biological Diversity and Gulf Restoration Network
Feb 01 2018	Blanket Consent filed by Respondents, Markle Interests, LLC, et al..
Feb 02 2018	Motion to extend the time to file the joint appendix and petitioner's brief on the merits granted and the time is extended to and including April 23, 2018.
Apr 23 2018	Brief of respondents Markle Interests, LLC, et al. in support of petitioner filed.
Apr 23 2018	Brief of petitioner Weyerhaeuser Company filed.
Apr 23 2018	Joint appendix filed (statement of cost filed).
Apr 26 2018	Brief amici curiae of Coalition for a Sustainable Delta, et al. filed.
Apr 27 2018	Brief amicus curiae of Southeastern Legal Foundation filed.
Apr 27 2018	Brief amicus curiae of St. Tammany Parish Government filed.
Apr 27 2018	Brief amici curiae of Wyoming Stock Growers Association, et al. filed.
Apr 27 2018	Brief amicus curiae of Center for Constitutional Jurisprudence filed.
Apr 30 2018	Brief amicus curiae of Cause of Action Institute filed.
Apr 30 2018	Brief amici curiae of National Federation of Independent Business, et al. filed.
Apr 30 2018	Brief amicus curiae of San Jaun County, Utah filed.
Apr 30 2018	Brief amici curiae of The American Farm Bureau Federation, et al. filed.
Apr 30 2018	Brief amicus curiae of The Cato Institute filed.
Apr 30 2018	Brief amicus curiae of Energy and Wildlife Action Coalition filed.
Apr 30 2018	Brief amici curiae of American Exploration & Production Council, et al. filed.
Apr 30 2018	Brief amici curiae of Brief of Alabama and 19 Additional States filed.
Apr 30 2018	Brief amici curiae of Building Industry Legal Defense Foundation, et al. filed.
Apr 30 2018	Brief amici curiae of The National Association of Home Builders, et al. filed.
Apr 30 2018	Brief amicus curiae of Chamber of Commerce of the United States of America filed.
Apr 30 2018	Brief amici curiae of National Conference of State Legislatures, et al. filed.
Apr 30 2018	Brief amici curiae of Washington Legal Foundation, et al. filed.
May 02 2018	Motion for an extension of time to file respondents' briefs on the merits filed.
May 04 2018	Motion to extend the time to file respondents' briefs on the merits granted and the time is extended to and including June 29, 2018.
Jun 29 2018	Brief of Intervenor-respondents Center for Biological Diversity and Gulf Restoration Network filed.
Jun 29 2018	Brief of respondents United States Fish and Wildlife Service, et al. filed.
Jul 03 2018	Brief amici curiae of Landowners filed.
Jul 03 2018	Brief amici curiae of The Evangelical Environmental Network, et al. filed.
Jul 03 2018	Brief amici curiae of Environmental Law Professors filed.
Jul 05 2018	Brief amici curiae of Scientists filed.
Jul 05 2018	Brief amici curiae of Economists and Law Professors filed.
Jul 06 2018	Brief amici curiae of Defenders of Wildlife, et al. filed.
Jul 06 2018	Brief amici curiae of Former Department of the Interior Officials filed.
Jul 06 2018	Motion of respondents Markle Interests, LLC, et al. in support of petitioner for divided argument filed.
Jul 06 2018	Brief amici curiae of Gopher Frog Experts filed.
Jul 06 2018	Brief amicus curiae of Institute for Policy Integrity at New York University School of Law filed.
Jul 06 2018	Brief amici curiae of Small Business Owners filed.
Jul 09 2018	SET FOR ARGUMENT on Monday, October 1, 2018.
Jul 09 2018	Opposition of petitioner Weyerhaeuser Company to motion for divided argument of respondents Markle Interests, LLC, et al. in support of petitioner filed.
Jul 10 2018	Motion of Weyerhaeuser Company for an extension of time not accepted for filing. (July 13, 2018 - Resubmitted as an application.)
Jul 11 2018	Application (18A52) of petitioner to extend the time to file a reply brief on the merits from July 30, 2018 to August 13, 2018, submitted to Justice Alito.
Jul 13 2018	Application (18A52) granted by Justice Alito extending the time to file petitioner's reply brief on the merits until August 13, 2018.
Jul 16 2018	Motion of Markle Interests, LLC, et al. for an extension of time not accepted for filing. (July 16, 2018 - Resubmitted as an application)
Jul 16 2018	Application (18A58) of respondents Markle Interests, LLC, et al. to extend the time to file a reply brief on the merits from July 30, 2018 to August 13, 2018, submitted to Justice Alito.
Jul 17 2018	Application (18A58) granted by Justice Alito extending the time for respondents Markle Interests, LLC, et al. to a file reply brief on the merits until August 13, 2018.
Aug 03 2018	CIRCULATED
Aug 07 2018	Record requested from the U.S.C.A. 5th Circuit.
Aug 08 2018	Record for the U.S.C.A. 5th Circuit is electronic and located on PACER.
Aug 08 2018	Letter from the Solicitor General dated August 8, 2018 filed. (Circulated)
Aug 13 2018	Reply of respondent Markle Interests, LLC, et al. filed. (Distributed)
Aug 13 2018	Reply of petitioner Weyerhaeuser Company filed. (Distributed)
Aug 24 2018	Motion for divided argument filed by respondents Markle Interests, LLC, et al. DENIED.
Sep 07 2018	Record received from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the record is electric.
Sep 14 2018	Record received from the U.S.D.C. Eastern Dist. of Louisiana. The record contained 1 box of 6 volumes of records and one volume of transcripts. Also received is on CD of manual attachment to document #60, the contents of the CD is electronic.
Oct 01 2018	Argued. For petitioner: Timothy S. Bishop, Chicago, Ill. For respondents: Edwin S. Kneedler, Deputy Solicitor General, Department of Justice, Washington, D. C.
Oct 25 2018	Notice of Change of Address of Markle Interests, LLC, et al. not accepted for filing. (Document not of the type that is to be filed electronically -- October 31, 2018)
Nov 27 2018	Judgment VACATED and case REMANDED. Roberts, C. J., delivered the opinion of the Court, in which all other Members joined, except Kavanaugh, J., who took no part in the consideration or decision of the case.
Jan 02 2019	JUDGMENT ISSUED.

Featured Posts

Opinion analysis: Court gives broad meaning to “confidential” in FOIA exemption for commercial and financial information – Mark Fenster

Opinion analysis: Punitive damages not available under general maritime law in personal-injury unseaworthiness action – Joel Goldstein

Opinion analysis: Long-time prohibition on registration of scandalous and immoral trademarks is struck down – Megan Carpenter
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On Monday, the Supreme Court released orders from the June 20 conference; the justices granted eight new cases, for a total of five hours of oral argument next term: Guerrero-Lasprilla v. Barr, Ovalles v. Barr, Dex Media Inc. v. Click-To-Call Technologies, LP, Maine Community Health Options v. United States, Moda Health Plan Inc. v. United States, Land of Lincoln Mutual Health Insurance Co. v. United States, Georgia v. Public.Resource.Org Inc. and Banister v. Davis.
Also on Monday, the justices released their opinions in four argued cases: United States v. Davis, Food Marketing Institute v. Argus Leader Media, Iancu v. Brunetti and The Dutra Group v. Batterton.
The Supreme Court will release opinions in one or more argued cases on Wednesday at 10 a.m.
Major Cases
- Department of Commerce v. New York
  (1) Whether the district court erred in enjoining the secretary of the Department of Commerce from reinstating a question about citizenship to the 2020 decennial census on the ground that the secretary’s decision violated the Administrative Procedure Act, 5 U.S.C. 701 et seq; (2) whether, in an action seeking to set aside agency action under the APA, a district court may order discovery outside the administrative record to probe the mental processes of the agency decisionmaker -- including by compelling the testimony of high-ranking executive branch officials -- without a strong showing that the decisionmaker disbelieved the objective reasons in the administrative record, irreversibly prejudged the issue, or acted on a legally forbidden basis; and (3) whether the secretary’s decision to add a citizenship question to the decennial census violated the enumeration clause of the U.S. Constitution.
- Lamone v. Benisek
  In case in which the plaintiffs allege that a Maryland congressional district was gerrymandered to retaliate against them for their political views: (1) whether the various legal claims articulated by the three-judge district court are unmanageable; (2) whether the three-judge district court erred when, in granting plaintiffs’ motion for summary judgment, it resolved disputes of material fact as to multiple elements of plaintiffs’ claims, failed to view the evidence in the light most favorable to the non-moving party, and treated as “undisputed” evidence that is the subject of still-unresolved hearsay and other evidentiary objections; and (3) whether the three-judge district court abused its discretion in entering an injunction despite the plaintiffs’ years-long delay in seeking injunctive relief, rendering the remedy applicable to at most one election before the next decennial census necessitates another redistricting.
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  Whether the Supreme Court should overrule Auer v. Robbins and Bowles v. Seminole Rock & Sand Co., which direct courts to defer to an agency’s reasonable interpretation of its own ambiguous regulation.
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  (1) Whether plaintiffs have standing to press their partisan gerrymandering claims; (2) whether plaintiffs’ partisan gerrymandering claims are justiciable; and (3) whether North Carolina’s 2016 congressional map is, in fact, an unconstitutional partisan gerrymander.
- The American Legion v. American Humanist Association
- Gamble v. United States
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Recent Decisions
- Food Marketing Institute v. Argus Leader Media Where commercial or financial information is both customarily and actually treated as private by its owner and provided to the government under an assurance of privacy, the information is “confidential” within the meaning of 5 U. S. C. §552(b)(4), the Freedom of Information Act’s Exemption 4.
- Iancu v. Brunetti The Lanham Act prohibition on the registration of “immoral” or “scandalous” trademarks infringes the First Amendment.
- The Dutra Group v. Batterton A plaintiff may not recover punitive damages on a maritime claim of unseaworthiness.
- United States v. Davis Title 18 U. S. C. §924(c)(3)(B), which provides enhanced penalties for using a firearm during a “crime of violence,” is unconstitutionally vague.
see all this term’s cases »
Current Relists
- Atlanta Gas Light Co. v. Bennett Regulator Guards Inc. (1) Whether the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit erred in concluding that it had jurisdiction to review the Patent Trial and Appeal Board’s decision to institute inter partes review of respondent’s patent over respondent’s objection that it was time-barred; and (2) whether the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit erred when it rejected the longstanding principle that a dismissal without prejudice leaves the parties as if a suit had never been brought, splitting the circuits.
- Department of Homeland Security v. Regents of the University of California (1) Whether the Department of Homeland Security’s decision to wind down the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals policy is judicially reviewable; and (2) whether DHS’s decision to wind down the DACA policy is lawful.
- Kelly v. United States Whether a public official “defraud[s]” the government of its property by advancing a “public policy reason” for an official decision that is not her subjective “real reason” for making the decision.
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Cases argued	69
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Summary reversals	5
Merits cases granted to date	74

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