SCOTUS Watch: Welcome to 2024

2023 to me seemed to have gone rather quickly. This might be a reflection of my own life. Still, it does seem that things somewhat sped along. Maybe, it is a reflection of how 2024 with the presidential election and Trump's legal stuff was "in the future." We all were in a waiting game.

Let's see how 2024 goes. Meanwhile, the end of the year at the Supreme Court means the "Year-End Report of the Judiciary." A standard thing for the Chief Justice is to include some cutesy historical snapshot that links up with the year's theme. 

For instance, this time there is a bit that takes place during the New Deal that highlights the still novel efforts to bring electricity to rural homes. BTW, (to flag a term new to me): "A declamation competition is a public speaking event in which participants deliver a memorized speech with emotion, conviction, and rhetorical flair."  

The discussion (tied to artificial intelligence or AI) appears a bit longer than usual with three photos (two of justices on typewriters and computers). It's fairly interesting. Also, as usual, the last section is a summary of the federal  courts' workload, including "unusually large number of filings were associated with an earplug product liability multidistrict litigation."

Notable also is a drop in the Supreme Court and court of appeals (smaller number) overall workload. There was an increase in district and bankruptcy courts though there was a slight decrease in criminal cases. ("Civil cases filed in the U.S. district courts increased 24 percent and cases filed in the U.S. bankruptcy courts increased 13 percent.") A chunk of the workload only changed by a small number. The numbers are not divided by circuit.

The thing that stood out in 2023 for SCOTUS was ethics. The poster child of bad ethics was Clarence Thomas. It was such that Samuel Alito (who people assumed leaked the Dobbs decision) was at best a dishonorable mention. They released their ethics code. (I hear and concur with your snide remarks.)  They remain tainted. If (as assumed though it is not totally assured) they find a way to overturn the Colorado Supreme Court's ruling on Trump's disqualification, who really should give them credibility?  

And, abortion rights are still in crisis, with an important abortion pill case being heard this term. Fuck you, Supreme Court for taking away reproductive liberty. You are such assholes. 

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There will be a conference and non-argument session (perhaps related to swearing in people to the SCOTUS bar) this Friday. An order list is scheduled for the following Monday. And, then we will be back to oral arguments. The next execution is scheduled for the end of the month. The notable thing there is that it might be the first nitrogen gas execution.  

Time marches on.