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Relist watch

By John Elwood

Yesterday, the Court denied cert. without comment in two cases previously discussed at length here [Ayala-Segoviano v. United States (10-5296) and Vazquez v. United States (10-6117) (both of which had been relisted three times), which presented the question whether Almendarez-Torres v. United States, 523 U.S. 224 (1998), should be overruled.  Looks like one of the Justices was trying to drum up the votes (probably from one of the new Justices) to get the cases granted but struck out.

Yesterday, the Court relisted the following seven cases for the first time.  If a case has been relisted once, it generally means that the Court is paying close attention to the case, and the chances of a grant are higher than for an average case.  But once a case has been relisted more than twice, it is generally no longer a likely candidate for plenary review, and is more likely to result in a summary reversal or a dissent from the denial of cert.

Title: Burris v. Judge
Docket: 10-367

Issue(s): Whether the Seventh Circuit erred in upholding an injunction that limited the candidates at a special election who could be placed on the ballot to temporarily fill Barack Obama?s old Senate seat to candidates already on the ballot for the upcoming election for a full six-year term (thus effectively preventing appointed Senator Roland Burris from participating in the special election).

Certiorari stage documents:

§  Opinion below (7th Cir.)

§  Petition for certiorari

§  Brief in opposition

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Title: Schering Corp. v. Kuzinski
Docket: 10-459
Issue(s): (1) What deference is due to an agency interpretation of its own regulations when the interpretation departs from the agency?s prior position; and (2) whether the Second Circuit erred in its construction of the outside sales exemption of the Fair Labor Standards Act.

Certiorari stage documents:

§  Opinion below (2d Cir.)

§  Petition for certiorari

§  Brief in opposition

§  Petitioner’s reply

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Title: Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corp. v. Lopes
Docket: 10-460
Issue(s): (1) Whether the Second Circuit’s holding that highly paid pharmaceutical sales representatives are not covered by the FLSA’s administrative exemption or the outside sales exemption is contrary to the statute’s text, purpose, and DOL’s long-standing regulations; and (2) whether an agency’s break with prior interpretations of its regulations, advanced for the first time in an amicus brief, is entitled to heightened deference under Auer v. Robbins.

Certiorari stage documents:

§  Opinion below (2d Cir.)

§  Petition for certiorari

§  Brief in opposition

§  Amicus brief of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce

§  Amicus brief of Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America

§  Petitioner’s reply

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Title: Golan v. Holder
Docket: 10-545
Issue(s): (1) Does the Progress Clause of the United States Constitution, Article I, § 8, cl. 8, prohibit Congress from taking works out of the public domain? (2) Does Section 514 of the Uruguay Round Agreements Act violate the First Amendment of the United States Constitution?

Certiorari stage documents:

§  Opinion below (10th Cir.)

§  Petition for certiorari

§  Brief in opposition

§  Petitioners’ reply

§  Amicus brief of Internet Archive

§  Amicus brief of the Conductors Guild

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Title: Wine Country Gift Baskets.com v. Steen
Docket: 10-671
Issue(s): Whether the Twenty-first Amendment overrides the Commerce Clause and allows states to discriminate against out-of-state businesses in the sale of alcoholic beverages.

Certiorari stage documents:

§  Opinion below (5th Cir.)

§  Petition for certiorari

§  Brief in opposition of Glazer?s Wholesale Drug Co. and Republic Beverage Co.

§  Petitioners’ reply

§  Amicus brief of Economists et al.

§  Amicus brief of the Specialty Wine Retailers of America

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Title: Felkner v. Jackson
Docket: 10-797
Issue(s): Whether a ruling by the court of appeals on habeas, reversing a district court’s decision and finding a state prosecutor’s proffered race-neutral bases for peremptorily striking two out of three African-American jurors insufficient, satisfies the restrictions on habeas corpus relief imposed by Congress in 28 U.S.C. § 2254(d)?

Certiorari stage documents:

§  Opinion below (9th Circuit)

§  Petition for certiorari

§  Brief in opposition

§  Petitioner’s reply

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Title: Quinn v. Judge
Docket: 10-821
Issue(s): Whether, contrary to the longstanding practice and the laws of many states, the Seventeenth Amendment requires a special election to fill a vacant Senate seat “every time that a vacancy happens in the state’s senate delegation”-as the decision below holds-even where the vacated term will expire in the normal course following the next, biennial Congressional election.

Certiorari stage documents:

§  Opinion below (7th Cir.)

§  Petition for certiorari

§  Brief in opposition to petition for certiorari

§  Amicus brief of Louisiana et al.

§  Petitioner’s reply

Full post as published by SCOTUSBLOG on February 23, 2011 (boomark / email).