First StatPack, and a State of the Docket Update

The first edition of the StatPack for OT07 is now available here, and it is updated with information about all the cases set for argument so far this Term, including today’s 17 grants that emerged from the Long Conference. With no cases yet decided, the download includes the case list, including summaries of each case granted; the grant chart by Conference; and the Circuit Scorecard.

Turning to the docket: with none of today’s granted cases sufficiently expedited to be argued during the December sitting, the Court has only seven cases with which to fill out the fall’s argument calendar. This means that the Court will hear nine cases in the October sitting (including one day with only one argument; see here), ten cases in the November sitting (including two days with only one argument; see here), and seven in the December sitting. Since there are six days scheduled for argument during that sitting, either several days of argument will be canceled or all but one day will have only one argument. The amount of open space on the December calendar also raises the possibility that the now-consolidated cases dealing with Guantanamo detainees, Boumediene and Al-Odah, could be afforded two hours of oral argument. Additionally, Dan Schweitzer of NAAG points out that an original case (New Jersey v. Delaware) will be sufficiently briefed by the end of September so that it, too, may come for oral argument during the December sitting.

Still, with today’s deluge of grants, the 43 cases the Court now has agreed to hear put it five grants ahead of last Term’s pace, so a return to a more traditional two-argument-per-day schedule may be in the offing for the remainder of the Term. However, careful readers of today’s Order List will note that all 17 granted cases have been expedited, with briefing to conclude by December 28. That would make all 17 cases briefed and ready to be argued in January, if the Court so desired. The last time the Court’s docket overflowed in a similar manner – with 16 cases granted in January of 2007 – the Court did indeed schedule afternoon arguments for four days during the April sitting, rather than letting the extra cases roll over to the next Term.

It’s not known yet whether the Court will set all 17 of today’s granted cases for argument in January, and hence will continue to have some sittings featuring more than the traditional two-arguments-per-day and some sittings with fewer, or whether the Court will use today’s overflow to help re-establish the previous norm by holding several off until February. When additional argument calendars are released, we will post them as soon as possible.