Thursday round-up
on Jan 17, 2013 at 8:31 am
The Court heard argument in two cases yesterday. In City of Arlington v. FCC, the Court will consider whether an agency’s determination of its own jurisdiction is entitled to deference under Chevron USA, Inc. v. NRDC, Inc. Adam Liptak has coverage for The New York Times, while Jonathan Stempel has coverage for Reuters. [Disclosure: Goldstein & Russell, P.C., whose attorneys work for or contribute to this blog in various capacities, is among the counsel to petitioner City of Arlington in this case.]
The Court also heard argument in Gunn v. Minton, in which it will consider whether federal courts have exclusive “arising under” jurisdiction when the sole substantive issue in the case is the application of a patent law doctrine which is an essential element of the plaintiff’s legal malpractice claim. Dennis Crouch has coverage of the argument for Patently-O. Kali has posted links to transcripts of both arguments on this blog.
Other coverage focuses on the role of the Court in the debates over gun control. At Slate, Emily Bazelon discusses the “hot question bouncing around the lower courts: whether the constitutional right to bear arms, as laid out in Heller and McDonald, extends outside the home,” while at the Huffington Post David Ropeik contends that the Court’s decision in District of Columbia v. Heller “offers some real hope that a reasonable middle ground may be possible.”
Coverage continues of Tuesday’s decision in Lozman v. City of Riviera Beach, in which the Court held that a floating home is not subject to federal maritime jurisdiction, with Howard Wasserman of PrawfsBlawg writing that the case “suffers from jurisdiction/merits conflation.” Additional coverage of the decision is available from David Savage at the Los Angeles Times.
Briefly:
- Amy has posted a remembrance for Frank Lorson, the former Chief Deputy Clerk of the Supreme Court who died on Friday, for this blog.
- In his report for Reason on Tuesday’s oral argument in Koontz v. St. John’s River Water Management District, involving a takings claim based on conditions attached to a land-use permit, Damon W. Root notes that Justice Scalia’s questioning was unexpectedly friendly to the government’s position.
- Howard Langer of the Alliance for Justice’s Justice Watch blog reports on the issues raised by Federal Trade Commission v. Watson Pharmaceuticals, Inc., in which the Court will consider the legality of reverse payment settlements in patent litigation.
- In his Verdict column for Justia, Michael C. Dorf posts the first of a three-part series on the fortieth anniversary of Roe v. Wade, addressing three “common criticisms” of the decision.
- Dena Potter of The Associated Press (via The Houston Chronicle) reports on the Court’s denial of a stay of execution in the case of Robert Gleason, a Virginia prisoner who vowed to continue killing unless he was executed.
- Reason magazine has posted a video preview of “3 Supreme Court cases to watch in 2013,” on gay marriage, drunk driving, and property rights.
