SCOTUS: More Opinions

Opinions

Two opinions dropped on Tuesday. 

[1]

Sotomayor handled a civil procedure case relatively quickly. Thomas added a concurrence to flag yet another issue he is concerned about. 

[2]

Thomas had the majority in the second case regarding the limits of sovereign immunity in a case alleging race discrimination by the post office. 

Sotomayor, for the liberals, and Gorsuch (a limit on federal agencies of any type is his thing) dissented. She felt the woman had a right to sue. 

The facts make this a sympathetic case. The split shows the limits of textualism. On that general subject, Eric Segall has a good blog post. 

Congress can pass a new statute to clarify matters. This is often the case. Many cases involve statutory matters for which the legislature can tweak things. Congress might fail to do this (see tariffs), and in response, the courts increase in power.  

[3]

Kagan and Jackson wrote the Wednesday opinions. So, readers can expect things to go pretty well. Each was unanimous in result, with a few conservatives adding comments. A brief summary below.

Justice Jackson affirms the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals on the scope of the right to counsel during breaks in trials. Accepts some limits on counsel engaging with the defendant (as a witness), adding some clarifying details about the rules.  

[4]

Kagan has an opinion on whether a government contractor can immediately appeal an order rejecting its claim to sovereign immunity derived from its work for the government. They can't.

One of the many technical cases they take. Kagan often can write these opinions in at least a halfway understandable way.  

The case also has a topical connection. Appeals take a long time. The facts are now around ten years old. They involve facts alleging a contractor's work policies for detainees violate a federal bar on forced labor and Colorado’s prohibition on unjust enrichment.

Melvin Trotter Execution 

A crack addict named Melvin Trotter fatally stabbed 70-year-old Virgie Langford in the corner grocery store she ran for 50 years. Trotter has been on death row for nearly 40 years for the murder.

Colorful summary. His lawyers argued that the claim of "premeditation" is dubious when he seized a knife at the scene. That is a big reason why he got the death penalty. Even bad crimes might not warrant it. 

An organization against the death penalty argued:

Melvin’s death sentence was handed down by a non-unanimous jury on two separate occasions. Florida is one of the only states that allows a death sentence to be given without the full confidence of the jury, making it widely recognized as unreliable. Melvin’s life was shaped by severe trauma, instability, and intellectual limitations that were never meaningfully addressed in court.

The final appeal alleged problems with the Florida execution protocol. Sotomayor (for herself) dropped a statement "to express concern about Florida’s implementation of its execution protocol and the secrecy surrounding it." 

Sotomayor has been the justice most concerned about lethal injection protocols. She noted the claim alleged flagged problems like "incorrect drug doses, the use of nonprotocol drugs, and recordkeeping lapses that could mask yet additional failing."

She joined the "no comment" denial because there wasn't (in her view) enough evidence in this case. It is rare to see any discussion in these final appeals. 

I continue, like apparently no justice is left on the Court, to find it problematic to only execute someone decades after the conviction. Forty years on death row is punishment enough.

Florida executed him a few hours later. 

Opinion Announcements

We also have good news: Fix the Court managed to access last term's opinion announcements. They are (for now) in a harder-to-access form, but the effort is appreciated. It would be simpler if SCOTUS posted it themselves. They think it is worthwhile to have them.

Upcoming

More orders and oral arguments next week/month.