Today in Supreme Court History: November 6

Weeth v. New England Mortgage Security Co., 106 U.S. 605 (decided November 6, 1882): the Supreme Court used to have jurisdiction when a “certificate of division” was presented to it, where there was a disagreement between the District Judge and the Circuit Justice (from the Supreme Court); here (in a dispute over loan repayment) certificate rejected because required Court to get into fact-finding

Mount Lemmon Fire District v. Guido, 139 S.Ct. 22 (decided November 6, 2018): 20-employee minimum required for liability under Age Discrimination Act of 1967 does not apply to state entities (here, a local fire department)

Miles v. Apex Marine Corp., 498 U.S. 19 (decided November 6, 1990): Jones Act allows wrongful death claim (extending the holding of Moragne v. States Marine Lines, 1970, from longshoremen to seamen) (when we learned Moragne in Torts class, I thought: “wrongful death”? is there such a thing as rightful death?)

Trump v. Orr, 607 U.S. --- (decided Nov. 6, 2025): lifting stay of Trump’s order requiring passports to show gender identity at birth; in dissent Jackson argues that factors for staying the order weigh in favor of class action transgender plaintiffs who are the ones suffering harm