Petitions to Watch | Conference of 12.7.07
on Nov 21, 2007 at 12:03 pm
The latest edition of “Petitions to Watch” features cases up for consideration at the Justices’ private conference of December 7. As always, the list reflects the petitions on the Court’s ‘paid’ docket that Tom has deemed to have a reasonable chance of being granted.
Questions raised in petitions on our current list include whether federal courts have habeas jurisdiction over U.S. citizens detained by coalition forces in Iraq, whether bills must pass both houses of Congress in identical form, whether a schizophrenic defendant has a right to proceed pro se at trial, and whether a Wal-Mart employee was entitled to job reassignment under the Americans with Disabilities Act. For the full list of petitions on our watch list, continue reading after the jump.
Conference of December 7, 2007
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Docket: 06-1666
Case name: Munaf v. Geren
Issue: Whether federal courts have jurisdiction to consider a habeas petition of a U.S. citizen detained by U.S.-led coalition forces in Iraq pending a transfer to Iraqi authorities following a conviction in an Iraqi criminal court.
- Opinion below (D.C. Circuit)
- Petition for certiorari
- Brief in opposition
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Docket: 07-141
Case name: Public Citizen v. U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia
Issue: Whether, under Marshall Field & Co. v.Clark (1892), federal courts may consider challenges to laws alleged not to have passed both Houses of Congress in identical form.
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Docket: 07-159
Case name: City of Newport News, Va., v. Sciolino
Issue: Whether an allegedly false cause of termination is “made public,” thus entitling a government employee to a name-clearing hearing under the Due Process Clause, if it is placed in a personnel file and shown likely to be disseminated to prospective employers.
- Opinion below (4th Circuit)
- Petition for certiorari
- Brief in opposition
- Amicus brief of the International Municipal Lawyers Association, et al. (in support of petitioners)
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Docket: 07-187
Case name: Davenport v. United States
Issue: Whether a final decision of a court determining a donor’s gift tax liability with respect to a gift to a donee is res judicata in a proceeding against the donee under 26 U.S.C. 6324(b).
- Opinion below (5th Circuit)
- Petition for certiorari
- Brief in opposition
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Docket: 07-197
Case name: Dickinson v. Collier
Issue: Whether the Drivers’ Protection Privacy Act provides a private right of action against state officials for alleged violations and, if so, whether the underlying suit is barred on either 11th Amendment or qualified immunity grounds.
- Opinion below (11th Circuit)
- Petition for certiorari
- Brief in opposition
- Amicus brief of Imagitas, Inc. (in support of the petitioner)
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Docket: 07-199
Case name: Marshall v. Henry
Issue: Whether, under Herrera v. Collins (1993), the court below improperly remanded for an evidentiary hearing respondent’s freestanding claim of actual innocence in a non-capital case.
- Opinion below (Ninth Circuit) (forthcoming)
- Petition for certiorari
- Brief in opposition (forthcoming)
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Docket: 07-208
Case name: Indiana v. Edwards
Issue: Whether the Sixth Amendment grants a defendant found competent to stand trial the right to represent himself in a criminal proceeding.
- Opinion below (Supreme Court of Indiana)
- Petition for certiorari
- Brief in opposition
- Petitioner’s reply
- Amicus brief of Ohio, et al. (in support of the petitioner)
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Docket: 07-285
Case name: American Future Systems v. Better Business Bureau of Eastern Pennsylvania
Issue: Whether a company that solicits business by phone is a “limited purpose public figure” under the First Amendment and thus must show actual malice in a defamation action.
- Opinion below (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, Eastern District)
- Petition for certiorari
- Brief in opposition
- Petitioner’s reply
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Docket: 07-291
Case name: Standing Together to Oppose Partial-Birth-Abortion v. Northland Family Planning Clinic, Inc., et al.
Issue: Whether, under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 24, a private organization substantially responsible for a successful ballot initiative may intervene as a matter of right to defend its constitutionality in court.
- Opinion below (6th Circuit)
- Petition for certiorari
- Brief in opposition
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Docket: 07-312
Case name: Florida Dept. of Revenue v. Piccadilly Cafeterias, Inc.
Issue: Whether a state may tax a court-ordered transfer of property from a chapter 11 bankruptcy estate to a third-party purchaser of the bankrupt party’s assets.
- Opinion below (11th Circuit)
- Petition for certiorari
- Brief in opposition
- Amicus brief of Illinois, et al. (in support of the petitioner)
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Docket: 07-394
Case name: Geren v. Omar
Issue: Whether federal courts have jurisdiction to consider a habeas petition of a U.S. citizen detained by U.S.-led coalition forces in Iraq pending a transfer to Iraqi authorities for criminal trial.
- Opinion below (D.C. Circuit)
- Petition for certiorari
- Brief in opposition
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Docket: 07-455
Case name: United States v. Ressam
Issue: Whether 18 U.S.C. 1844(h)(2), which mandates 10 years in prison for carrying an explosive during the commission of a felony, requires the explosives to be carried “in relation to” the underlying felony.
- Opinion below (9th Circuit)
- Petition for certiorari
- Brief in opposition
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Docket: 07-480
Case name: Huber v. Wal-Mart
Issue: Whether, under the Americans with Disabilities Act, disabled employees must be reassigned to a vacant position for which they are qualified or merely be permitted to apply for such a position.
- Opinion below (8th Circuit)
- Petition for certiorari
- Brief in opposition
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