Today in Supreme Court History: September 22

Pfeifer v. E.I. duPont de Nemours and Co., 530 U.S. 1300 (decided September 22, 2000): denies cert to review Nebraska Supreme Court decision holding that farmer’s breach of warranty claims against manufacturer for herbicide (sales person said it controlled weeds in corn but instead it killed the corn too) were preempted by federal statute limiting warranties to labels, 258 Neb. 756

Dr. Seuss Enterprises, L.P. v. Penguin Books USA, Inc., 521 U.S. 1146 (September 22, 1997): denies cert to review Circuit Court holding that Seuss copyright was infringed by parody using Seuss style language to describe O.J. Simpson trial (“The Cat NOT in the Hat”), 109 F.3d 1394

Miller v. Hamm, 143 S.Ct. 50 (decided September 22, 2022): Court vacates District Court’s stay of execution (implicitly disagreeing with its evaluation that defendant would succeed on the merits) (Sotomayor, Kagan, Barrett and Jackson would maintain the stay); Miller had survived two attempts at execution by lethal injection, the executioners being unable to find a vein, and argued Equal Protection and Due Process violations; right after the Court cleared the way for execution, the State of Alabama decided to switch to death by nitrogen hypoxia but it took a long time to develop the protocol; Alabama Supreme Court later ok’d this method, and Miller was executed Sept. 26, 2024