Oral Argument Tag

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Posted 25 Jan 2016 in Case Notes, Commentary
It was a typical oral argument at the Supreme Court in a “big” case. Protesters outside with opposing messages tried to out yell each other, but everyone inside was listening to Justice Kennedy.  In Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association the Court will decide whether to overrule a nearly 40-year old precedent requiring public sector employees who don’t join the union to pay their “fair share” of collective bargaining costs. More than 20 States have enacted statutes authorizing fair share.

Posted 10 Dec 2015 in Commentary
Today was a big day for redistricting before the Supreme Court. The Court decided one redistricting case and heard oral argument in two others.    Texas, like all other states, redistricts based on total population data from the census. A number of Texas voters argue that state legislative districts deviate from the ideal by as much as 45 percent when voting population is used. At oral argument today in Evenwel v. Abbott Justices Kennedy, frequently the Court’s “swing” vote in high-profile cases, asked whether both metrics can be used to comply with one-person, one-vote.

Posted 28 Apr 2015 in Case Notes, Commentary
Justice Kennedy has a lot to think about over the next two months when it comes to same-sex marriage. His first question (third of the argument) raised an issue that was discussed throughout Mary Bonauto’s argument in favor of a constitutional right to same-sex marriage:  for millennia (not years, decades, or even centuries) marriage has been between a man and a women. Then Justice Breyer, ever the pragmatist, asked why states can’t just wait and see whether same-sex is harmful to traditional marriage. And should just nine people be deciding this question anyway?

Posted 06 Nov 2013 in Case Notes

Today, the Supreme Court heard argument in Town of Greece v. Galloway, No. 12-696, which asks whether the Town's legislative-prayer practice violates the Establishment Clause. We previously discussed the case here. Here is a transcript of the oral argument. And here is a recap from Lyle Denniston. He concludes by building on a comment from Justice Kagan: Justice Kagan tried to sum up: Isn’t the question here, she said, whether public meeting prayers with references to Jesus Christ “will be allowed in a public...