No new grants from Friday’s conference
on Nov 23, 2020 at 10:41 am
After adding two new cases to their merits docket for the current term on Friday, the justices did not grant any new petitions for review in an order list released on Monday morning.
The justices declined to hear the case of Calvin McMillan, who is one of 32 people on death row in Alabama sentenced to death by a judge after the jury voted for life in prison. McMillan had argued that his execution would violate the Eighth Amendment’s ban on cruel and unusual punishment because he was sentenced by “judicial override.”
The justices also turned down a challenge by retail giant Walmart to a Texas law that bars public corporations from obtaining a license to own a retail liquor store. Walmart argued that the law violates the Constitution’s commerce clause by discriminating against out-of-state businesses.
The justices did not act on the challenges by the Roman Catholic diocese of Brooklyn and two Orthodox Jewish synagogues to the restrictions placed by New York on attendance at worship services. There is no schedule for the justices to act on those requests, but the challenges have now been fully briefed, so the court could issue an order at any time.
The justices will return to the virtual bench on Monday, Nov. 30. Their next conference is scheduled for Friday, Dec. 4.
This post is also published at Howe on the Court.
