Federal Judiciary

The Week Ahead

By Akin Gump Supreme Court Practice Group

On Monday, the Court will release orders from the Justices’ private conference last Friday. We will provide a link to the orders list as soon as it is available. Following the release of orders, the Court will hear argument in:

• Wyeth v. Levine (06-1249), on whether pharmaceutical companies can be sued under state law for ineffective drug labels the FDA had previously approved.
• Ysursa v. Pocatello Education Association (07-869), on whether the First Amendment bars states from prohibiting local governments from making payroll deductions for political contributions.
• Carcieri v. Kempthorne (07-526), on whether the Secretary of the Interior improperly took land into trust on behalf of the Narragansett Indian Tribe in Rhode Island.

On Tuesday, the Court will hear argument in:

• FCC v. Fox Television Stations (07-582), on whether the Federal Communications Commission provided adequate justification in changing its policy to permit fines for the broadcast of isolated expletives.
• United States v. Eurodif (07-1059), on whether contracts for uranium enrichment services are subject to federal anti-dumping laws.
• Jimenez v. Quarterman (07-6984), on whether the reinstatement of an appeal under Texas law tolls or restarts the one-year deadline to file a habeas petition under federal law.

On Wednesday, the Court will hear argument in:

• Negusie v. Mukasey (07-499), on whether federal immigration law prohibits granting asylum to, or witholding of removal of, refugees who also engaged in persecution but only due to threats of death or bodily harm.
• Van de Kamp v. Goldstein (07-854), on whether supervising district attorneys possess absolute immunity against claims they failed to ensure line prosecutors disclosed constitutionally required information to criminal defendants.

On Friday, the Justices will hold a private conference, orders from which are expected to be released the following Monday. To view our list of petitions to watch at Friday’s conference, click here.

Also on Friday, the final brief is due in the D.C. Circuit Court on the question of a federal judge’s power to order release into the U.S. of Guantanamo Bay detainees no longer considered to be “enemy combatants.”  The last brief is the Justice Department reply.  A three-judge panel is to hold a hearing on this dispute on Nov. 24.  The lead case among a group of government appeals is Bush v. Kiyemba (08-5424).

No petitioners’ merits briefs are due this week.  Responents’ merits briefs are due Friday in AT&T Corp. v. Hulteen (07-543) and Coeur Alaska, Inc. v. Southeast Alaska Conservation Council, et al. and Alaska v. Southeast Alaska Conservation Council, et al. (07-984/07-990). (Links direct to case pages on SCOTUSwiki.)

Full post as published by SCOTUSBLOG on November 02, 2008 (boomark / email).