Petitions to Watch | Conference of 3.06.09

This edition of “Petitions to Watch” features cases up for consideration at the Justices’ private conference on March 6. As always, the list contains the petitions on the Court’s paid docket that Tom has deemed to have a reasonable chance of being granted. To access previous editions of Petitions to Watch, visit our archives on SCOTUSwiki.

Docket: 08-586
Title: Jones, et al., v. Harris Associates
Issue: Whether the Seventh Circuit contravened the Investment Company Act in holding that a shareholder’s claim that the fund’s investment adviser charged an excessive fee is not cognizable under Section 36(b), unless the shareholder can show that the adviser misled the fund’s directors who approved the fee.

• Opinion below (7th Circuit)
• Petition for certiorari
• Brief in opposition
• Petitioner’s reply
• Brief amici curiae of AARP and Consumer Federation of America (in support of petitioner)
• Brief amici curiae of Law Professors (in support of petitioner)

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Docket: 08-648
Title: Brewer, Arizona Secretary of State, v. Ralph Nader, et al
Issue: Whether Arizona’s state residence requirement for petition circulators and a pre-primary filing deadline for independent candidates impose severe burdens on First and Fourteenth Amendments rights unjustifiable by a State’s interests in the integrity of the petition process.

• Opinion below (9th Circuit)
• Petition for certiorari
• Brief in opposition
• Petitioner’s reply
• Brief amici curiae States of Montana, Alabama, Alaska, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Idaho, Michigan, New Hampshire, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Dakota and Wyoming (in support of petitioner)