The Supreme Court will hear oral argument on Nov. 4 in Guerrero v. Johnson, a case about the limited circumstances in which a state prisoner can return to federal court for a second round of post-conviction review. But let’s back up a bit: If inmates want to challenge the grounds […]

[Newsletter ad — view on SCOTUSblog] It was a relatively quiet week at the court, as the justices – and the SCOTUSblog team – prepared for the November argument session to begin next week. On the interim docket, the court decided one immigration-related dispute and moved closer to being able […]

While all eyes are on what seem like inevitable Supreme Court election law “emergency” petitions, it may be comforting to realize that the regular business of the Supreme Court still goes on. Argument calendars released months ago show five criminal law and related cases set for argument in November. Below […]

The plaintiffs challenging the Trump administration’s efforts to build a border wall in the Big Bend region of southwestern Texas urged the Supreme Court on Thursday to leave in place an order by a federal trial judge in El Paso temporarily halting the construction. Eric Glitzenstein, a lawyer representing the […]

The Supreme Court will hear oral argument on Nov. 3 in a challenge brought by Catholic preschools in Colorado, which argue that their exclusion from Colorado’s universal preschool program is a form of religious discrimination in violation of the First Amendment, because Colorado will not provide them with an exemption […]

Just a reminder that you can send your burning questions about the Supreme Court to scotusblog@thedispatch.com for consideration for our “Ask Amy” series. In recent weeks, Amy has answered questions about litigants waiving their right to respond to a petition for review, how many justices are needed for a “quorum,” […]

Earlier this month, the concept of cruel and unusual punishment briefly captured the country’s attention after the state of Tennessee on Sept. 30 tried and failed to execute Christa Pike. Pike, who was sentenced to death for the 1995 murder of Colleen Slemmer, survived being injected with two lethal doses […]

In Maxwell v. Dinis, to be argued on Nov. 2, the Supreme Court will address a federal inmate’s ability to use a habeas statute, 28 U.S.C. § 2241, to contest the Federal Bureau of Prisons’ refusal to accelerate his transfer to a halfway house or home confinement. By way of background, […]

In his new book, Justice Samuel Alito takes aim at what he calls judicial “insecurity,” or a judge’s self-conscious worry that he might be advancing his own policy preferences under the guise of impartial adjudication. “Twenty-first century originalists,” he argues, “should shed this insecure mindset.” Alito’s suggestion is at odds […]

Younge v. Fulton Judicial Circuit District Attorney’s Office, Georgia, to be argued on Nov. 2, involves an issue that will quicken the pulse of civil procedure aficionados. No less than four different rules of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure are in play: affirmative defenses under Rule 8, amending a […]