Order Watch
Alito recently put an "administrative stay" on a bankruptcy case. That is, he held it up temporarily to examine it. He removed it this week.
There were Hail Mary death penalty-related orders in the usual "no dice, no comment" -- which I dealt separately in the execution entry.
Order List on Monday.
Opinion Announcements
Some reporters, after Roberts did not respond, posted their letter requesting live streaming of opinion announcements. I have long held that SCOTUS should provide them. It's not asking for much.
One comment on the letter: the justices don't let the opinions "speak for themselves." They have the opinion announcements in open court. They think they have some value. There is no good reason for the Court not to include them.
Opinions
Thursday brought more opinions. SCOTUSblog has more coverage, but I will briefly summarize.
There were six opinions with only two dissents (both solos by Gorsuch). They are continuing to clear the brush. Yes, many of these cases are mundane.
Jackson wrote an opinion explaining how federal law in such and such a case makes it difficult to raise a second habeas claim.
Barrett explained how a taxpayer's right to appeal was blocked. Gorsuch, dissenting, appeals to the rights of the ordinary person.
OTOH, litigants had better luck in lawsuits arising from a prison dispute (rare Jackson/Thomas concurrence), disability claims (Roberts had a nod to the needs of parents and disabled children, perhaps with a silent nod to Barrett, who has one), and a family whose home was wrongly raided. Gorsuch would dismiss the first case as improvidently granted.
Thomas has another unanimous case in a dull-sounding matter (often his métier when writing for the Court) about whether a law providing combat-related special compensation to qualifying veterans confers authority to settle such claims. He concurred in the disability case (with Kavanaugh) to do what he often does when writing separately -- going for bigger game.
Juneteenth is a federal holiday, so the next conference will be next Wednesday. Expect opinions then, too. There are twenty-one cases left. So, one opinion day for the next two weeks won't cut it.
I expect about four.