The Supreme Court has announced the addition of four significant cases to its docket for the 2025-26 term. The cases involve critical issues surrounding federal sentencing, the death penalty, and civil procedure. The initial list of orders was scheduled for release on Monday morning, but a software glitch led to an early notification for lawyers involved, prompting an advance release just after 6 p.m. on Friday.
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The first case is the high-profile Hamm v. Smith. This involves Joseph Smith, sentenced to death for the murder of Durk Van Dam. Previously, the 11th Circuit ruled that executing Smith would violate the Eighth Amendment due to his intellectual disability. The Supreme Court will now assess how multiple IQ scores should influence a court’s decision on intellectual disability claims in capital cases.
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Next, the combined cases of Rutherford v. United States and Carter v. United States will examine whether courts can consider non-retroactive changes to criminal law as “extraordinary and compelling reasons” to justify sentence reductions.
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Finally, Coney Island Auto Parts v. Burton poses a procedural question about whether Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 60(c)(1) imposes a time limitation for setting aside a default judgment void due to a lack of personal jurisdiction.
Notably, the Supreme Court declined to review other notable cases, including the Ohio case involving Karla Ayers and the Republican National Committee v. Genser case concerning Pennsylvania’s election policy on provisional ballots.
For further details, you can access the full coverage on SCOTUSblog.