Supreme Court

Opening Second Circuit Brief in Appeal of Cayuga Immunity from Tax Foreclosure

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here is Seneca County’s opening brief:

Seneca County Opening Brief

Lower court materials are here.

What is a “CVSG”?

Matthew L.M. Fletcher3 Comments

We get the question all the time, so here goes:

A CVSG is an acronym for “call for the views of the Solicitor General.” This is a option for the Supreme Court when the United States is not a party to a cert petition but the interests of the federal government are implicated. It comes up when a party files a cert petition (say, the State of Michigan) where the respondent is not federal (say, the Bay Mills Indian Community) that involves the interpretation of federal statutes or some other federal interests. It comes up a lot (relatively speaking) in Indian law because the United States always has an interest (as trustee, etc.) in Indian cases, and have been involved in more Indian cases by far than any other party (even if you add up all the Supreme Court cases involving all Indian tribes collectively, I bet).

Since the Office of Solicitor General is influential on the Court, in part because it represents the United States and because it does so with remarkable candor about its positions, the SG’s brief (usually termed an “invitation brief”) is a strong indicator where the Court will go in terms of deciding whether to grant cert. In short, if the SG recommends denial, the Court very likely will deny.

Patricia Millett’s paper on the lawyering that goes on after the Court issues a CVSG is essential reading.

Supreme Court Invites SG to Brief Michigan v. Bay Mills; Denies Contour Spa Petition

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here is the order.

The Bay Mills CVSG notice is on page 2 (we called it here), and the Contour Spa denial notice is on page 4.

Supreme Court Grants Cert in Adoptive Couple v. Baby Girl

Matthew L.M. Fletcher9 Comments

Here is today’s order.

Update — BLT coverage here.

SCOTUSBlog: Two Indian Law Petitions to Watch for this Week’s Conference

Matthew L.M. Fletcher4 Comments

Here:

Issue: (1) Whether a non-custodial parent can invoke the Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978 (ICWA), 25 U.S.C. §§ 1901-63, to block an adoption voluntarily and lawfully initiated by a non-Indian parent under state law; and (2) whether ICWA defines “parent” in 25 U.S.C. § 1903(9) to include an unwed biological father who has not complied with state law rules to attain legal status as a parent.
Issue: (1) Whether a federal court has jurisdiction to enjoin activity that violates the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA), 25 U.S.C. § 2701 et seq., but takes place outside of Indian lands; and (2) whether tribal sovereign immunity bars a state from suing in federal court to enjoin a tribe from violating IGRA outside of Indian lands.

 

State of New York Amicus Brief in Support of Madison County Cert Petition

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here:

New York Amicus Brief in Support of Petition

Cert Opposition Brief in Bivens Action against BIA Officer

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here is the cert opp in Oravec v. Cole:

Cole Cert Opp

Petition is here. I still expect a CVSG or something here.

Linda Greenhouse on Supreme Court Nominations and the Gun Lobby

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here.

An excerpt:

Back in 2009, when President Obama chose Judge Sonia Sotomayor as his first Supreme Court nominee, the White House expected that her compelling personal story, sterling credentials, and experience both as a prosecutor and, for 17 years, as a federal judge would win broad bipartisan support for her nomination. There was, in fact, no plausible reason for any senator to vote against her.

The president’s hope was Senator Mitch McConnell’s fear. In order to shore up his caucus, the Senate Republican leader asked a favor of his friends at the National Rifle Association: oppose the Sotomayor nomination and, furthermore, “score” the confirmation vote. An interest group “scores” a vote when it adds the vote on a particular issue to the legislative scorecard it gives each member of Congress at the end of the session. In many states, an N.R.A. score of less than 100 for an incumbent facing re-election is big trouble.

Creepy.

Ward Churchill Cert Petition

Matthew L.M. Fletcher1 Comment

Here is the petition in Churchill v. University of Colorado:

Churchill v Regents Cert Petition

Questions presented:

I. Does a bad faith investigation of all of a tenured professor’s writings and public speeches, undertaken by state university officials in retaliation for the exercise of constitutionally protected speech and with the stated purpose of finding grounds for termination, violate a clearly established right and create a freestanding First Amendment cause of action?

II. Should absolute, quasi-judicial immunity completely shield a state university and its board of regents’ termination decisions, even when a jury has determined that these officials fired a tenured professor in retaliation for speech protected by the First Amendment and would not have fired him but for his exercise of free speech?

Lower court materials here.

NYTs (Liptak) on SCT Cert Petition involving Cherokee ICWA Case

Matthew L.M. Fletcher1 Comment

Here.