SCOTUS Watch: Order Day

SCOTUS often releases a mini-order list on Friday before their scheduled Order Day. The Friday release often grants one or more cases for full review. The Order List on Monday is a vanilla one.

So it went this time. The Friday orders had a bit of a gun theme. The issue of "bump stocks" (which the Trump Administration regulated) now gets full Supreme Court attention. A bit from the Washington Post:

The Biden administration had asked the Supreme Court to reverse a lower-court ruling against the ban on the devices, which speed up how quickly bullets can be fired when attached to rifles.

Americans bought 520,000 bump stocks during the period in which the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives allowed them. The rule requires owners to either surrender or destroy devices they lawfully obtained.

The challenge is on statutory grounds. If the Second Amendment comes up, it would not be surprising. For instance, constitutional avoidance is a principle that you avoid certain interpretations if reasonably possible to stop unconstitutional results. The regulation in its own limited way is notably broad. The "surrender or destroy" rule is something gun regulators usually only dream about.   

The NRA also accuses the head of New York’s Department of Financial Services of coercion. She urged banks and insurance companies that did business in New York to consider the “reputational risks” from doing business with gun-rights groups like the NRA, and she encouraged them to cut their ties with the group. Triggered much?

The third case involves an arbitration dispute. Arbitration, which results in fewer rights to go to court, has come up in multiple cases for some time now.

===

As expected, the Monday Order List was short and basic. 

Likewise, as usual, I think they should provide more clarity (including a FAQ) to help describe such terms as "certificate of appealability" (habeas term). Also, it would be helpful if we knew why Barrett and Gorsuch did not take part in the decision regarding two cert. denials.   

There is an execution scheduled this week. The Supreme Court also might address various petitions on the "shadow docket" (did you read Steve Vladeck's book yet?). So, there might be one or more orders dropped during the week. There is a conference on Thursday (Friday is a holiday). 

The big news this week (so far) is an important case involving keeping guns away from some people found guilty of domestic violence. Two other oral arguments (Monday and Wednesday) also will take place. 

The gun case is on Election Day, which in 2016 was a major reason why we have as much of a corrupt tainted Court as we have now. Ohio also will vote on a ballot measure to protect reproductive liberty, again much more greatly at risk because of the Supreme Court. Other elections have court flavor as well.