Federal Judiciary

Today at the Court

By Akin Gump Supreme Court Practice Group

The Court is expected to release an orders list at 10 this morning, before hearing oral arguments in two cases:

~10 a.m. — At issue in Hamilton, Chapter 13 Trustee v. Lanning (08-998) is the formula for how much a debtor has available to pay creditors who hold no security.  Professor Jonathan Hayes of the BankruptcyProf Blog previewed the case last week for SCOTUSblog.  [Disclosure: Akin Gump and Howe & Russell serve as counsel to the respondent in this case, but Professor Hayes is not affiliated with either of these law firms.]

~11 a.m. — In Levin v. Commerce Energy, Inc. (09-223), the Court will consider whether federal courts may hear a case alleging federal equal protection and dormant Commerce Clause claims when the plaintiffs do not challenge their own tax assessment and the relief sought is directed to specific tax exemptions or exclusions applicable to only four other taxpayers.  Last week Harvard Law School student Josh Branson discussed the arguments in the case for SCOTUSblog.

Full post as published by SCOTUSBLOG on March 22, 2010 (boomark / email).