SCOTUS Watch

Justices Amy Coney Barrett and Elena Kagan will appear July 14 before the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government, which has jurisdiction over the annual spending measure that funds the Supreme Court, according to a scheduling announcement from House Appropriations Chair Tom Cole (R-Okla.).

The Supreme Court might be in recess, but it is still in session. Odds and ends still occur.* 

The most notable news, however, is that two justices will (for the first time since COVID) appear before Congress. Thomas, for some reason, stopped by recently. Not in an official capacity. 

The usual procedure was to have a liberal and a conservative justice, as we have here. The appearance provides members to ask justices non-budget related questions. 

“the right to have rights—to freely participate in our political community”

We will also have many term round-ups. 

Prof. Dorf discusses a controversial reference in the birthright citizenship opinion. I don't think he quite salvages the reference. Yes, noncitizenship is "less secure." Noncitizens still have rights.

Prof. Segall talks about Kavanaugh's de facto acceptance of living constitutionalism. Brett has to bow down to the originalist god, including talking about how constitutional "meanings" hold firm. 

As with the English language generally, however, meanings change over time, too. Sorry dude. 

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Note: The summer is sometimes so lacking in SCOTUS news that I am left to cite the website providing a typo correction to one of its opinions. 

The Court used to fix typos silently as if there were editing elves doing so out of public view. Now, they openly cite even the smallest edits. 

They also provide the final "bound" version of the opinion, which in the past took years but now starts during the term itself, including any changes at the bottom of the page.  

Check out here. There are "revisions" with the date provided. You can also look down the page and see the first twenty or so opinions now have exact page locations. 

The changes, like the different versions of biblical verses (h/t Bart Ehrman), are often trivial. Nonetheless, it is a good bit of open government. 

ETA: Graham Platner finally formally removed himself from the Senate race. The new replacement of Senator "Kavanaugh Won't Overturn Roe!" will hopefully be picked later this month.