On October 30, several key activities and cases were highlighted from the U.S. Supreme Court. Among them is the court’s request for supplemental briefs in the case challenging former President Donald Trump’s effort to deploy the National Guard to Illinois. The court’s interest lies in the interpretation of the legal basis for this deployment as detailed in Trump’s October 4 memorandum. Litigants are required to file these briefs by November 10, with the opportunity for replies a week later.
As the court gears up for its upcoming November sitting, several cases are drawing attention. This includes Rico v. United States, which will examine the scope of the fugitive-tolling doctrine in terms of supervised release, previewed by SCOTUSblog. Another case on the docket is Hencely v. Fluor Corporation, focusing on the liability of military contractors in tort suits involving negligence, as discussed by Ronald Mann on SCOTUSblog.
Former Justice Anthony Kennedy’s memoir, Life, Law, Liberty: Confessions of a Judicial Introspectionist, is also a point of interest, with his scheduled appearance at Stanford Law School. For unseen insights into key Supreme Court precedents, next week’s tariffs case calls attention to Dames & Moore v. Regan, as noted, showcasing the long-standing implications of presidential power under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.
Moreover, a noteworthy development on the court’s interim docket has surfaced as the Trump administration urges a pause on an order mandating the reinstatement of the chief U.S. copyright official. Echoing broader legal debates, the docket commonly referred to as the “shadow docket” has been critiqued for its expedited nature of decisions outside public discourse. Various nomenclatures like “emergency docket” and “interim docket” suggest differing focuses, from immediate action on presidential decisions to its interim capacity while cases proceed in lower courts, a topic evidently subject to ongoing reflection and analysis among legal scholars and practitioners.
For a comprehensive outline of the court’s activities, the original discussion can be accessed on SCOTUSblog.