Relist Watch
on Jun 25, 2013 at 11:05 pm
John Elwood reviews Monday’s relisted cases.
As October Term 2012 races toward a close, ye faithful readers of Relist Watch – both of you – deserve your own well–timed dénouement. Sadly, you’ll need to wait just a bit longer, as plenty of business remains for the Court’s final, “mopping-up” Conference Wednesday.
The Justices did make inroads on their to-do list, summarily reversing in the state-on-top Ninth Circuit habeas case Ryan v. Schad, 12-1084, previously relisted twice (that’s quick work for a summary reversal). And of the Court’s nineish/tennish new grants on Monday, three came in previously relisted cases: Michigan v. Bay Mills Indian Community, 12-515, the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act case relisted for the first time last week, in which the Solicitor General had recommended a denial; UBS Financial Services Inc. of Puerto Rico v. Union de Empleados de Muelles de Puerto Rico, 12-1208, involving demand futility in shareholder-derivative suits, previously relisted twice; and Unite Here Local 355 v. Mulhall, 12-99, which last graced this column back in January, when it was relisted before the Court asked the SG to submit a denial recommendation for it to disregard. Speaking of CVSGs, the Court added some beach reading to the SG’s summer docket by calling for his views in the twice-relisted patent infringement case Limelight Networks, Inc. v. Akamai Technologies, Inc., 12-786, and its conditional cross-petition, Akamai Technologies, Inc. v. Limelight Networks, Inc., 12-960.
The remainder of last week’s relists are back for another round: White v. Woodall, 12-794 (the Sixth Circuit state-on-top habeas case now relisted for a sixth time since the Court received the record); Gallow v. Cooper, 12-7516 (the Fifth Circuit state-on-bottom habeas case, now up for its fifth relist); and Harris v. Quinn, 11-681 (the First Amendment challenge to compelled use of a representative to seek greater Medicaid reimbursements, now back for a third relist). The Justices also relisted for a third time in the victim restitution cases, Amy and Vicky, Child Pornography Victims v. U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington, 12-651, and Wright v. United States, 12-8505 (both involving the role of proximate cause in restitution for children depicted in child pornography).
The Court relisted for the first time in Lanus v. United States, 12-862, which asks the Court to overrule Feres v. United States, which held that the Federal Tort Claims Act does not waive the sovereign immunity of the United States for a serviceman’s claims of injury related to service. Or so says the SG’s brief in opposition—we haven’t been able to track down the petition yet. The Court also relisted a pair of abortion-related cases from Oklahoma, Cline v. Oklahoma Coalition for Reproductive Justice, 12-1094, and Pruitt v. Nova Health Systems, Inc., 12-1170. Both seek review of decisions of the Oklahoma Supreme Court invalidating state laws under Planned Parenthood v. Casey. In Cline, the Oklahoma court struck down a state law limiting the use of Mifepristone (a.k.a. RU-486). The Oklahoma law sought to limit the drug’s use to the protocol described on FDA-approved drug labels (i.e., no later than forty-nine days’ gestation), cutting back on existing “off-label” prescription by doctors up to sixty-three days’ gestation. In Pruitt, the Oklahoma court struck down a state law that requires the performance, display, and explanation of a pre-abortion ultrasound.
I have to stop now. I already used up the one accent mark that I allotted for this Term, and some of these cases are causing me to experience the strong sensation that an event or experience currently occurring has been experienced in the past. Now take some time to relax with a nice beverage and your favorite halftime snacks and we’ll be back later – maybe much later – as Relist Watch returns with a final wrap-up of the Justices’ end-of-Term Conference.
Thanks to Jeremy Marwell and V&E summer associate Varun Jain for compiling and drafting this update.
[page]12-862[/page] (relisted after the June 20 Conference)
[page]12-1094[/page] (relisted after the June 20 Conference)
[page]12-1170[/page] (relisted after the June 20 Conference)
[page]11-681[/page] (relisted after the June 6, June 13, and June 20 Conferences)
[page]12-651[/page] (relisted after the June 6, June 13, and June 20 Conferences)
[page]12-8505[/page] (relisted after the June 6, June 13, and June 20 Conferences)
[page]12-7516[/page] (relisted after the April 12, May 30, June 6, June 13, and June 20 Conferences)
[page]12-794[/page] (relisted after the May 16, May 23, May 30, June 6, June 13, and June 20 Conferences)
