SCOTUS Watch

Orders

We already discussed the order paving the way to another execution. It was handed down without comment. The other order did have an explanation, after Justice Sotomayor provided a (temporary) administrative stay:

The Court has already granted certiorari in this case on the sovereign immunity issue decided below, and the pending damages trial before the Supreme Court of the State of New York would be barred if New Jersey Transit Corporation were entitled to sovereign immunity from suit. Respondents, on the other hand, identify no tangible irreparable harm they would face if the trial were delayed until after this Court decides the pending case.

Steve Vladeck noted earlier that there was a good argument to reject the request. So, arguably, this say-so analysis is somewhat lacking. 

OTOH, for them, it is a descriptive discussion for the shadow docket. Baby steps. On Bluesky today, he added this Calvinball-esque comment:

It continues to be ... revealing ... how much the Court's orders on emergency applications in *non*-Trump-related cases are playing up the balance of the equities (and the presence/absence of irreparable harm) versus the Court's orders in Trump cases, which ... aren't.

Odds and Ends

I have repeatedly noted that the "Online Sources Cited in Opinions" (saves pages to avoid dead links) for 2024 was empty. It continued to be empty into the summer. It is now filled. 

There are two media advisories dated September 8th regarding seating in cases of particular interest.  These are specially provided when there is a concern about seating. One case is a major Voting Rights Case, and the other involves a ban on licensed conversion therapy for minors. 

There is also an updated November argument schedule, which will include the Trump tariff cases. The advocates expecting to argue a death penalty case in November are now in a wait-and-see mode. (They were displaced to fit in the tariff case.)  

Judicial Security Becomes Politicized

Lower court judges have had to deal with a lot more than strong dissent from Trump on down. They have received harassing phone calls, swatting attacks, and, in some cases, had serious threats of violence. A judge’s child was murdered. 

So, more security funds are a good thing. But so far, only justices have been given some in the new budget bill. If you read between the lines, the House is getting its marching orders from the Trump Administration, whose attacks on lower court judges who have repeatedly voted against its lawlessness are well known.

Hopefully, this will be addressed by the time the final bill is voted upon.