Federal Judiciary

Petition of the day

By Conor McEvily

Today?s first petition of the day is:

Title: SpeechNow.org v. FCC
Docket: 10-145
Issue(s): Whether, under the Free Speech Clause of the First Amendment, the federal government may require an unincorporated association that makes only independent expenditures to register and report as a political committee.

Certiorari-Stage Documents:

• Opinion below (DC Circuit)
• Petition for certiorari
• Brief in opposition
• Amicus brief for Committee for Truth in Politics, et al.

Today’s second petition of the day is:

Title: Swarthout v. Cooke
Docket: 10-333
Issue(s): Whether a federal court may grant habeas corpus relief to a state prisoner based on its view that the state court erred in applying the state-law standard of evidentiary sufficiency governing state parole decisions.

Certiorari-Stage Documents:

• Opinion below (9th Circuit)
• Petition for certiorari

Today’s third petition of the day is:

Title: Herrera v. Oregon
Docket: 10-344
Issue(s): Whether the Sixth Amendment, as incorporated against the states by the Fourteenth Amendment, requires a unanimous jury verdict to convict a person of a crime.

Certiorari-Stage Documents:

• Opinion Below (Court of Appeals of Oregon, opinion begins on pg. 50)
• Petition for certiorari

Full post as published by SCOTUSBLOG on October 05, 2010 (boomark / email).