McGee v. Alaska, 104 S.Ct. 16 (decided September 9, 1983): Rehnquist denies prisoner’s request to be released on bail even though the prosecuting authority (State of Alaska) agreed; this was a federal law habeas application and the federal court decides for itself whether to grant release or bail; also he does not believe cert would be granted (McGee had already been released on bail until his state appeals were exhausted, then went back into prison to serve out his sentence;

Tuscarora Nation of Indians v. Power Authority of the State of New York, 79 S.Ct. 4 (decided September 8, 1958): Harlan partially affirms and partially reverses Second Circuit’s stay of condemnation of Tuscarora lands for power project; power authority says it can hold off on some parts of it without financial loss; notes that tribe’s separate action disputing the Power Authority’s license in the D.C. District Court would be heard by the D.C. Circuit, not the Second Circuit (

Uhler v. AFL-CIO, 105 S.Ct. 5 (decided September 7, 1984): Rehnquist says federal courts have no jurisdiction to stay California Supreme Court’s striking from the ballot a referendum requiring the legislature to apply to Congress for a Constitutional Convention to add a “Balanced Budget Amendment”; California court had held that under Article V of the U.S. Constitution a Convention can be called only by the State Legislatures on their own initiative (and not as directed by re

Shamburger v. Cockrell, 536 U.S. 986 (decided September 6, 2002): Denies stay of execution and also denies cert. Stevens and Ginsburg would grant the stay (both had come to believe that the death penalty, as practiced, is always a violation of Due Process). Shamberger was executed by lethal injection five days later. A student at Texas A & M, he had shot another A & M student during an off-campus burglary (one of many burglaries). Gun was a 9mm pistol he had bought with a

Moore v. Brown, 448 U.S. 1335 (decided September 5, 1980): Rehnquist refuses to stay injunction requiring Mobile, Alabama school board to be elected by district (instead of traditional at-large); at-large system was not facially discriminatory because it was instituted in 1826, and District Court erroneously pointed to effect of excluding blacks, as opposed to intent, but the parties had agreed to hold district election for now and can return to at-large later if appeal succe

Certain Named and Unnamed Non-Citizen Children and their Parents v. Texas, 448 U.S. 1327 (decided September 4, 1980): Powell restores District Court injunction against Texas law barring state funds to educate “illegal” alien children; notes open question of “strict scrutiny” as to plaintiffs’ Equal Protection argument; Texas in opposition points to increased expense of educating the children, and argues they they would suffer minimal harm because the law has already kept them

Gruner v. Superior Court of California, 429 U.S. 1314 (decided September 3, 1976): reporters ordered jailed until they answered questions as to grand jury sources seek stay of commitment on the ground that there was no “due process hearing” to determine whether jailing them would achieve its purpose of forcing them to cooperate; Rehnquist notes that this argument amounts to “you can’t jail us if we can prove it won’t work!”; denies stay Knickerbocker Printing Corp. v. United

Hawaii Housing Authority v. Midkiff, 463 U.S. 1323 (decided September 2, 1983): Rehnquist denies stay of Circuit Court order recalling an earlier decision as to whether Hawaii Land Reform Act violated Fifth Amendment “takings clause” and enjoining housing authority from pursuing any state administrative or judicial proceedings under the Act; possible Younger abstention (federal courts will wait until state proceedings are concluded) but notes the Circuit Court will shortly re

Whole Woman’s Health v. Jackson, 141 S.Ct. 2949 (decided September 1, 2021): Court denies motion to stay enforcement of Texas law S.B. 8 (allowing private citizens to sue women getting perfectly legal abortions -- not a stretch to call it “bounty hunting”); admits “serious questions” as to Constitutionality of the law but procedurally nobody is in the case who can be stayed; the State does not enforce this law. Roberts, Breyer, and Kagan dissent, arguing that the status quo

Harris v. United States, 404 U.S. 1232 (decided August 31, 1971): Douglas, reversing both the District Court and the Court of Appeals, grants bail to defendant convicted of drug trafficking; notes reversal on merits possible because scanty evidence that defendant knew his truck contained narcotics, and not flight risk because he worked steadily as mechanic, had family in the area, and had never missed a court date Winston-Salem/Forsyth Co. Board of Education v. Scott, 404 U.S

Wise v. Lipscomb, 434 U.S. 1329 (decided August 30, 1977): Powell stays Court of Appeals rejection of reapportionment plan for electing Dallas City Council; plans submitted by legislatures (as opposed to plans ordered by a federal court) are entitled to some leeway and some at-large voting may be permissible; says good chance that cert would be granted (it was, and the Court agreed with Powell, 437 U.S. 535, 1978) Dandridge v. Jefferson Parish School Board, 404 U.S. 1219 (dec

Keyes v. Denver School District No. 1, 396 U.S. 1215 (decided August 29, 1969): Brennan vacates Circuit Court’s stay of desegregation plan; Circuit Court’s rationale was to allow time to build public support for plan, but that is not a good enough reason (Denver went through years of litigation with various plans, finally ending in 1991) Loran Cole v. Florida, 145 S.Ct. 109 (Mem.) (decided August 29, 2024): denies stay of execution; Cole (death row for 30 years for rape and m

Willhauck v. Flanagan, 448 U.S. 1323 (decided August 28, 1980): Brennan denies stay of prosecutions by two D.A.’s arising from high speed car chase through adjacent counties; defendant had argued violation of Double Jeopardy Clause and Brennan suggests that there is a Double Jeopardy exception for Younger abstentions, but jeopardy would not “attach” until jury was sworn in (I always thought that phrase was pretty meaningless; to say “jeopardy attaches when the jury is sworn i

In re Disbarment of N. Deday LaRene, 518 U.S. 1046 (decided August 27, 1996): criminal defense attorney disbarred after he got in with his gangster clients and was indicted for embezzlement and tax evasion (73 F.3d 64), though that didn’t slow him down: his firm’s web site, http://www.lareneandkriger.com, says he’s admitted in the Supreme Court, even though he’s never been reinstated

Beltran v. Smith, 458 U.S. 1303 (decided August 26, 1982): imprisoned gangster, cooperating with prosecutors and in the Witness Protection Program, claims he will be killed if transferred to another prison; Rehnquist denies stay of transfer order, no showing that program officials will fail to protect him (he safely served his time and then got back into gangs; in 2009 he was killed in shootout with police) In re Davis, 2024 WL 3939181 (decided August 26, 2024): Alito denies

Guey Heung Lee v. Johnson, 404 U.S. 1215 (decided August 25, 1971): Douglas denies stay of San Francisco desegregation order as to Chinese-ancestry children; holds that Brown v. Board of Education did not apply just to black children, and believes plan was “thoughtful” though not for him to approve it at this stage (stay was sought by Chinese parents who wanted their children to remain segregated) Gray v. Kelly, 564 U.S. 1301 (decided August 25, 2011): Roberts denies condemne

Kemp v. Smith, 463 U.S. 1321 (decided August 24, 1983): Powell denies stay of execution; notes that case has been reviewed 16 times by federal and state courts; doubts that Eleventh Circuit will agree with defendant on new issues but notes that they heard arguments the day before (it ruled against defendant, 715 F.2d 1459; after cert and another stay was denied, defendant was executed Dec. 15, 1983, the first execution in Georgia since death penalty was reinstituted in 1976)

Lopez v. United States, 404 U.S. 1213 (decided August 23, 1971): Douglas orders draft resister released on his own recognizance; defendant claimed he had not been allowed to assert conscientious objector status after induction date but was now allowed to under Ehlert v. United States, 402 U.S. 99; Ninth Circuit then remanded for reconsideration on issue of whether his belief as to not being able to assert status was in good faith, 451 F.2d 1311. Jimenez v. U.S. District Ct.,

California v. American Stores Co., 492 U.S. 1301 (decided August 22, 1989): O’Connor continues injunction preventing merger of supermarket chains which might violate Clayton Antitrust Act; notes circuit split as to whether “injunction” under Act includes divestiture as a remedy (the Court found that it did, 495 U.S. 271, 1990) Matter of Lovett, 143 S.Ct. 69 (decided August 22, 2022): Jonathan Lovett of Somers, N.Y. (not far from me) suspended (and later disbarred); he did no

Matter of Disbarment of Gottfried, 518 U.S. 1043 (decided August 21, 1996): Court disbars Lawrence R. Gottfried, who had been convicted of removal and destruction of government records under 18 U.S.C. §2071. Working for the VA, he evaluated appeals of denials of benefits. He made his job easier by throwing out parts of the files and then referring the cases back because the files were incomplete. Eventually this attracted suspicion and then investigation. “From February 9