SCOTUS Watch

Order List

SCOTUSBlog has multiple entries about Monday's Order List. The justices are on a short break now. But, of course, things still pop up.

Sotomayor (with Gorsuch) again flags a problematic situation. This time it involves a car seizure policy.

Four justices did not take part in a dispute. They don't say why, but it is likely because of their involvement with a publisher. I say something about it here. 

The Supreme Court also granted two petitions, including one involving a home brewing ban passed in the 1860s. The other involves race discrimination and education. One amounts to a law school hypo, while the other is conservative cotton candy.

I just hope for minimal damage. 

William Reaves Execution 

Vietnam Veteran Whose Jury Did Not Learn Critical Mitigation Evidence about His Service-Related Injury, is Set for Execution in Florida

The murder of a sheriff's deputy is the type of thing that might warrant a death sentence. Nonetheless, forty years have passed. See Breyer's dissent.

We also have more complications. The final appeal somewhat poetically addressed that:

Whether the Florida Supreme Court’s repeated failure to take into account the diverse frailties of humankind in capital sentencing by consistently denigrating the force of proffered mitigating evidence, including significant mitigation of a combat veteran, violates the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition of arbitrary, capricious and excessive punishment. 

Maybe, but the Supreme Court didn't think it cert-worthy. Executed. 

Trans News

The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday morning denied the Trump administration’s request to allow it to immediately implement a plan to end gender-affirming medical care and social accommodations for transgender people in prison.

Chris Geidner has more. Alito and Thomas dissented without an opinion. 

26th Amendment

The "Purcell Principle" has been subject to confusion over the years. As far as it goes, an order applying it this week seems acceptable.

Justice Jackson's solo dissent also sounds reasonable. The 26th Amendment is at issue, and the lower court ruling kept that in mind. 

(The order has the term's first correction.) 

Inside Baseball

Justice Kagan calls out the conservatives (giving them one overly generous pat on the head for not being too pro-Trump) while politely criticizing originalism. Did she read Alito’s book?

This bit of inside baseball is interesting. It also suggests that criticism has some effect. 

I have noticed how they put extended "opinions" that would logically be put on the Orders Page on the Opinions page. It is somewhat confusing. 

Court Expansion

I am not the biggest supporter. 

But I continue to find that the liberal opposition leaves something to be desired. Let's press the point.

The Democrats can win Congress. They can even win a trifecta. And we can see what court reform truly will entail. The debate starts now. 

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The justices will be back in November. 

Televising Executions vs. Originalism

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth announced that military personnel would execute Nidal Hasan, who killed 13 people in the 2009 Fort Hood shooting, by firing squad on December 3, 2026. 

Biden's commutation left open those on military death row. Hegseth said it would be livestreamed for public viewing. 

Trump decided public opposition (even Vance didn't want to watch) was strong enough not to agree. It is an example of the public applying constitutional norms. An important check.

Yes, it would probably have been upheld in court. Maybe correctly.

Trump v. Trees

A snapshot of Trump abuse of the justice system. 

SCOTUS Watch

The post-holiday Order List included some "grants," including one case involving obtaining information about DOGE. A "miscellaneous order" seems not noteworthy. 

A long-time prisoner allegedly murdered specifically to be put to death. Talk about hard cases. The whole system is problematic. Plus, places without the death penalty handle such situations. 

It took around seventeen years, but Florida did so today. No final appeal. Florida cancelled a more iffy execution involving an older prisoner with health problems. 

White Sox Blows It

White Sox lost their divisional lead. They had a shot at a bye. They had to play an extra round in another ballpark. 

But that was against the Astros. Who were .500. White Sox won two and advanced. Win a game and effectively they had home field advantage once more. They won two.

Had two shots in front of their home fans. Lost both games. One more shot in Cleveland. Lost it. What a crappy way to end a great season. Win four in a row. Lose three in a row and be eliminated. 

ICE Shooting in the Bronx

ICE shot someone through a car window while his five-year-old son was in the car. It took place in the Bronx. I know the area.

We were later assured that the agents on the scene, who were in plainclothes (some wore masks), did not know about the child! 

Democrats and opponents of strict immigration policy were criticized, as was the person who was shot. The mayor strongly pushed back. As well, he should. Reckless assholes. More here.

SCOTUS Begins Once More

The Supreme Court has a "long conference" at the end of the term to dispose of a bunch of pending cases left over from the summer. They welcomed the beginning of the new 2026 term with a long Order List,  disposing of most of them.

(The start of the term changed over time.) 

Some conservatives and Kagan, including Alito (who didn't take part in the first argument of the term), didn't take part in various decisions. Kagan and Jackson are the only justices who consistently (referencing the voluntary ethics rules) say why. 

If you skim the Order List, you will notice some odds and ends. Kavanaugh, without saying why, would have granted cert. (argument) in one case. The case involves class actions. You have to go to the docket page since the Order List is just a screenshot without links, as would be the case on a more useful website.

The Supreme Court, since the 1990s, has a policy of blocking in forma pauperis appeals when it believes a person has overused the privilege. Jackson eventually decided not to go along when the person is incarcerated, and it was a noncriminal appeal. 

Sotomayor issued a statement. She was concerned about a judge whose criminal sanction of a juror led other jurors to feel they could not be totally open about their concerns. She explained it was procedurally not a good challenge. But, as she has done before (often involving criminal issues), she emphasized that it is a serious issue. 

Justice Alito is promoting a book. It is a collection of essays. The book's title promotes him as a supporter of originalism. His bona fides there are mixed, but the term is plastic enough that it likely works.

I commented on multiple posts on the website at the link. The conservative-leaning law professor is a tad too enthusiastic. One stupid bit involves him asserting that same-sex marriage cases had many concrete effects, while Roe v. Wade was more about women's position in society. 

As one person noted, there is nothing much more "concrete" than pregnancy. Likewise, it is not like same-sex marriage cases don't have ideological implications. Alito, for instance, has joined Thomas in alleging the cases somehow threaten the liberty of religious believers who disagree with the practice.

The Supreme Court and the courts should be something people keep in mind for the November elections. They, like Congress, are too pro-Trump.

ETA: I will add updates on Jamaal Howard's execution, scheduled for 10/7 in Texas.

He murdered a woman in 2000 during an attempted robbery. Twenty-five years is too long to wait, as Justice Breyer argued, to execute him.

His lawyers are using the recent botched execution to argue Texas -- which has a much better record -- cannot be trusted. Good luck with that. 

Also, a final appeal tries to obtain another bite of the apple to claim he is too intellectually disabled to be executed. Jackson dissented without opinion. 

Meanwhile, Christa Pike is conscious after surviving an execution attempt and is, let's say, out of sorts.