Federal Judiciary

April argument calendar, day by day

By Akin Gump Supreme Court Practice Group

The Supreme Court on Monday released the oral argument calendar for the final series of hearings this Term, in the session beginning Monday, April 20.  Two of the most significant cases of the Term are on the list: Al-Marri v. Spagone (08-368), testing the President’s power to order the unlimited detention of an individual taken captive and held inside the U.S. — to be heard on April 27 — and Northwest Austin Municipal Utility District v. Holder  (08-322), on the constitutionality of Congress’ 25-year extension of Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act, requiring a number of state and local governments to get clearance in Washington before they may change their election laws or procedures – to be heard on the final day of hearings, April 29.

The Al-Marri case is the only one scheduled for an afternoon session, beginning at 1 p.m.  The morning sessions begin at 10 a.m.

Here are the day-to-day hearings, with a summary of the issues at stake:

Mon., April 20:

Iraq v. Beaty (07-1090) and Iraq v. Simon (08-539) — foreign government immunity to lawsuits for actions of the former Iraq regime of Saddam Hussein (cases consolidated for one-hour argument)

Horne v. Flores (08-289) and Speaker of the Arizona House v. Flores (08-294) — state power to control English language instruction (cases consolidated for one-hour argument)

Tuesday, April 21:

Safford Unified School District v. Redding (08-479) — constitutionality of strip-searching a student at a public school in search of drugs

Eisenstein v. New York City (08-660) — time limit for lawsuits seeking recovery of misspent federal funds under False Claims Act

Wed., April 22:

Ricci v. DeStefano (07-1428) and Ricci v. DeStefano (08-328) – city duty to promote white workers who scored highest on firefighter civil service exam (cases consolidated for one-hour argument)

Mon., April 27:

Nijhawan v. Holder (08-495) — challenge to banishment after felony conviction

Bobby v. Bies (08-598) — claim of interference by federal appeals court with state court over mental retardation issue in death penalty case

Afternoon: Al-Marri v. Spagone (08-368) — President’s power to order detention of terrorism suspect seized and held inside U.S.

Tues., April 28:

Forest Grove School District v. T.A. (08-305) — right to private school tuition reimbursement for disabled student who received no prior public benefits

Cuomo v. Clearing House (08-453) — state power to enforce state laws against racial bias in mortgage lending

Wed., April 29:

Northwest Austin Municipal Utility District v. Holder (08-322) — constitutionality of Congress’ 25-year extension of Section 5 of the Civil Rights Act

Full post as published by SCOTUSBLOG on February 23, 2009 (boomark / email).