SCOTUS Watch: Opinion Day #1

Orders: The usual standard stuff, if a few odds and ends that might confuse a tad. Two notables. One, a "relisted" (per the SCOTUSBlog column) case in which a lower court found a limited exception to the troubling state secrets privilege was granted.

Second, the relisted case involving a challenge to the male only draft registration was rejected. Sotomayor (with Breyer and Kavanaugh) flagged it is a serious matter but that Congress was studying it. A sort of cushioning the blow judicial restraint sentiment in various ways is not surprisingly joined by those two. Sotomayor is more likely to show her hand a bit while also saying (spinning?) why restraint is reasonable.

Opinion: More backloading with ONE unanimous case, another brief opinion in a case argued in April, in which Kagan to my eyes blandly explained how a federal statute warranted immigrants losing in the specific way at hand. Meanwhile, Biden flagged that though a policy involving Puerto Rico was unfair, and should be changed, the Administration would defend it per policy to defend federal laws. The limited "except when it simply isn't defendable" exception not addressed, which bothered a few people.