Today’s Opinions and Order List
on Jan 23, 2006 at 10:02 am
Here is today’s Orders List. The Court denied petitioner Hamdan’s motion for supplemental briefing on the question of whether Congress has stripped the Court of jurisdiction to hear the case in No. 05-184. The Chief Justice did not participate, indicating that Hamdan will be heard and/or decided by an eight-Justice Court. The Court also issued orders respecting oral argument in the pending Vermont campaign-expenditure cases and the pending Texas redistricting cases.
The Court issued opinions today in the following argued cases:
No. 04-885, Central Virginia Community College v. Katz, affirmed 5-4, in an opinion written by Justice Stevens, declining to apply the Seminole Tribe sovereign immunity doctrine to claims brought under the Bankruptcy Clause. Justice Thomas dissented, joined by the Chief Justice and by Justices Scalia and Kennedy. Interestingly, if this decision had not been ready to be issued today, the case might well have been held over for reargument. It’s the first decision of the Term in which Justice O’Connor cast the deciding vote and in which Justice Alito would likely have come out the other way.
No. 04-1581, Wisconsin Right to Life v. FEC, unanimously vacated and remanded per curiam, for reasons that Lyle discusses in his post.
No. 04-597, Unitherm Food Systems v. Swift-Eckrich, Inc., reversed 7-2, in an opinion by Justice Thomas. Justice Stevens dissented, joined by Justice Kennedy.
The Court also unanimously granted the joint motion for order of decree in No. 128 Original, Alaska v. United States. The Chief Justice did not participate.
The next possible date for issuance of opinions is Febraury 21st.
