Thursday round-up

Yesterday the Court released the hearing list for the October sitting, which begins on Monday. Lyle Denniston covered the release for this blog.

The Terms first oral argument will be the reargument inKiobel v. Royal Dutch Petroleum. Lyle Denniston previewed the case forthis blog, while Faiza Patel and Amos Toh of theBrennan Center for Justice and Lawrence Hurley ofCalifornia Lawyeralso have previews.

Other coverage focuses on the same-sex marriage cases; the Court has before it several petitions seeking review of the challenges to California’s Proposition 8 and the federal Defense of Marriage Act. Terry Baynes ofReutersreports that the Second Circuit will hear arguments today inWindsor v. United States, in which the Southern District of New York struck down Section 3 of DOMA on the ground that it discriminated against married same-sex couples. The plaintiffs and the Solicitor General have petitioned for cert. before judgment in the case, but the Court did not act on those petitions after the Long Conference on Monday. Carolyn LochheadandBob Egelkoof the San Francisco Chronicle, as well as Brian Moulton of theHuman Rights Campaign Blogand Lisa Keen ofPrideSource, also have coverage of the background and procedural postures of the same-sex marriage cases.

Media Matters has released areportshowing that “[p]rimetime news has largely overlooked the future ideological direction of the U.S. Supreme Court as a key election issue”; Jeremy Leaming has commentary at ACSblog. Meanwhile, theAssociated Press(via The Washington Post) reports on the likely impact of new appointees to the Court on gun laws.

Briefly:

• IIT Chicago-Kent College of Lawannouncedthat on October 3 Justice Stevens will speak on the Court’s 2010 decision inStop The Beach Renourishment Inc. v. Florida Department ofEnvironmentalProtection. The lecture will be posted on the school’sYouTube channel.
• TheJuvenile Justice Information Exchangehas issued a report on the effects of the Court’s decisions inGraham v. FloridaandMiller v. Alabama, in which the Court prohibited mandatory sentences of life without parole sentences for juvenile offenders. Douglas A. Berman of theSentencing Law and Policy Bloghas further details.
• Stephen Wermiel has a newpostin this blog’s “SCOTUS for law students” series, sponsored by Bloomberg Law, discussing the Court’s shrinking docket.
• Mary Orndorff Troyan ofThe Birmingham Newsreports on the Justice Department’s brief opposing cert. inShelby County v. Holder, a challenge to the constitutionality of Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act.
• David Royse of The News Service of Florida (viaNaples Daily News) previewsFlorida v. HarrisandFlorida v. Jardines, two cases involving the use of drug-sniffing dogs that are scheduled for oral argument in late October.
• Lawrence Hurley of E&E Publishing previewsArkansas Game and Fish Commission v. United States, in which the Court will consider whether government actions that impose recurring floods on private property constitute a taking.
• Michael Doyle ofMcClatchy Newspapers(via The State) previewsDelia v. E.M.A., in which the Court will consider whether Medicaid’s anti-lien provision preempts a North Carolina law allowing the state to reclaim one-third of a medical malpractice settlement when the treatment was funded by the state’s Medicaid program.
• Sam Favate of the Wall Street Journal’sLaw Blogreports on the ACLU’s petition for cert. inAssociation for Molecular Pathology v. Myriad Genetics, in which it asks the Court to determine whether human genes can be patented.
• At the ACLU’s Blog of Rights, Sameera Rahman reports on the amicus briefs filed in support of the respondents inClapper v. Amnesty International USA, a challenge to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act Amendments Act of 2008.