We will have the first scheduled (of three) summer Order List on Monday. First, some odds and ends.
[ETA: The Order List was just a page of rehearing requests denied -- as they basically always are.]
Death Penalty
Kagan and Sotomayor (without comment) would have taken a case to stop the execution earlier this week. The execution was significant. We won't know short-term how much.
With Bell’s death, the number of executions in the US surpasses last year’s total. The number of executions has largely trended downward nationally this century after peaking with 98 in 1999. From 1995 to 2006, there was an average of about 67 executions a year.
Bell is the eighth person put to death in Florida this year, with a ninth scheduled for later this month. The state executed six people in 2023 but only one last year.
We are still a significant amount away from even sixty-seven, which is a fraction of the people on death row, which is a fraction of the death-eligible population. COVID and some problems with execution procedures help to explain some of the delay. There was a drop-off after 2006.
The Trump Administration encourages an increase in death sentences and executions. We shall see how consistent this uptick will be long-term.
Voting Rights
The Voting Rights Act has not done great in recent years. Shelby County v. Holder defanged preclearance. Other cases made it harder to win. And, now Trump.
The Trump Justice Department will not be too reliable in defense of voting rights. Thus, private lawsuits are that much more important. Long-term practice says they are acceptable. An outlier position, backed by the Eighth Circuit, calls them into question. As Steve Vladeck noted on Bluesky:
Justice Kavanaugh, acting alone, has issued an "administrative" stay of the Eighth Circuit's decision that private plaintiffs can't enforce Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act—temporarily freezing that ruling while the full Court decides whether to freeze it pending appeal.
The Supreme Court decided to use a (rare) reargument to further examine voting rights. Many think the whole Court will also eventually take this case. Voting rights advocates are worried.
Odds and Ends
Sotomayor's dissent in the Department of Education case had a typo that was corrected.
The website still had not added any saved URL pages on that page, though there are multiple links found in the opinions this term. Who, even at the Court, is aware of this? Well, I am.
A good summary of some troublesome lower court nominees from a religious liberty angle.
Venezuela Prison Swap
A prison swap raises issues that were handled by the Supreme Court on the emergency docket involving the Alien Enemies Act. I provide some discussion with links in the comments here.
Lots of people were deported without due process. The conservatives provided minimal checks while enabling the Trump Administration in other cases.
This swap -- dropped as a Friday news dump -- is a big story on its own. It also has a SCOTUS angle.