Today in Supreme Court History: December 8

Chew Heong v. United States, 112 U.S. 536 (decided December 8, 1884): Chinese Exclusion Act (requiring certificate for reentry) did not apply to those who were already in the country, left then returned

Shapiro v. McManus, 577 U.S. 39 (decided December 8, 2015): Constitutional challenges to Congressional reapportionments must be referred to three-judge panel (appeal from which is one of the only remaining direct, non-discretionary appeal routes to the Supreme Court, and I think the only one directly from the trial level) (trial court had treated referral as discretionary)

Mohawk Industries v. Carpenter, 558 U.S. 100 (decided December 8, 2009): order denying claim of attorney-client privilege is not immediately appealable (I suppose the only thing to do if disclosure would put your client in some kind of outside jeopardy is to flout the order and get cited for contempt, but that order’s not appealable either)