When Will We See This Term’s First Opinions?

UPDATED 6:15 PM. The Supreme Court offers no public guidance on when it will issue opinions in argued cases; it is thus a bit of a guessing game as to when the first signed (i.e., non-per curiam) opinions will be announced this term. Past practice, though, may shed some light.

First, logistically, the Court by tradition does not issue opinions on the same day it both hears arguments and issues orders early in the term. Hence, we did not expect opinions today (and at least until the end of the term, we do not expect opinions to be announced on any Monday when the Court hears argument).

Tomorrow or Wednesday, however, are possibilities for the issuance of the Court’s first signed opinions of the term. Last term, the Court issued its first two signed opinions on the Tuesday of the second week of the November sitting, and the equivalent day this term is tomorrow, 11/7. The two opinions issued 11/8/05, both unanimous, were IBP v. Alvarez and U.S. v. Olson. In October Term 2004, the Court similarly issued two unanimous opinions on 11/9/04, which was the second Tuesday of the November sitting of the Court. Update: To see when the first opinion has been issued over the last 25 years, see this post by Marty Lederman from the old SCOTUSblog site.

Last term, the Court also issued one signed opinion on the Monday following the final Conference of the November sitting, on 11/14/05. The opinion in that case, Schaffer v. Weast, was the first non-unanimous decision announced last term, as it featured dissenting opinions from both Justices Breyer and Ginsburg.

One interesting additional wrinkle: tomorrow is, of course, Election Day – would the Court perhaps hold off on issuing opinions while most people focus on the other branches of government? If the past is any indicator, the answer is no. On November 7, 2000, the last time the second Tuesday of the November sitting also fell on a national Election Day, the Court issued its first two opinions of the October Term 2000, and both were unanimous (see 531 US 4, 12).

Thus, based on past practice, there is a substantial chance we will see 1-3 unanimous or near-unanimous opinions either tomorrow, Wednesday, or next Monday, with a few more to come during the December sitting. UPDATE 6:15 PM: Even though the opinion line at the Supreme Court has not been updated since June, Marty Lederman has received confirmation that the Public Information Office intends to resume its practice of announcing decision days in advance on that opinion line, as soon as the Court begins to issue opinions this Term. Thus, it is likely the Court will issue no opinions this week, although there remains the possibility of opinions next Monday. Otherwise, the Court presumably will issue its first opinions of the Term (from argued cases) in the December sitting.