Category Archives: Briefs

Supreme Court Briefs

Five Ways to Write Like Paul Clement

Posted April 23rd, 2012
Shon R. Hopwood
On Wednesday, former U.S. Solicitor General Paul Clement will take the lecturn at the Supreme Court to once again argue a vexing issue of the day. This time around he will be defending Arizona’s immigration policy. By now, people are probably wondering how Mr. Clement ends up arguing so many cases before the Court. Well, [...]
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The Legal Writing Pro Dissects the Solicitor General’s Brief in the Affordable Care Act Case

Posted March 29th, 2012
Shon R. Hopwood
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The Legal Writing Pro, Ross Guberman, sent me this great PDF (you can find it here), where he dissects the Solicitor General’s merits brief in the Affordable Care Act case. For those of you who do not know Ross, he is a legal writing master who instructs law school students, lawyers, and judges on how to [...]
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Religious Freedom Versus Workplace Discrimination

Posted December 26th, 2011
Shon R. Hopwood
Cases at the U.S. Supreme Court often involve a collision of competing values, such as Fourth Amendment cases where the right to privacy runs headfirst into the ability of police to acquire relevant inculpatory evidence. Cases in which important values clash are some of the most difficult for the Court to decide and the public [...]
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Matters of Practice: Dealing with Potential Vehicle Problems

Posted September 19th, 2011
Shon R. Hopwood
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Supreme Court practice has a language unto itself. One of the terms you will occasionally hear at the certiorari stage is that a petition has “vehicle problems.” Well, what does that mean? And what the heck is a vehicle? The Court doesn’t like to waste time. So when they consider granting a petition to decide [...]
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JDB and Brown: Kids-(and Parents?)-and the Constitution

Posted July 11th, 2011
Palma Joy Strand
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Two cases from the mopping-up phase of the recent Supreme Court term—J.D.B. v. North Carolina and Brown v. Entertainment Merchants Assn.—have me thinking about kids and the Constitution. These two cases join prior Court decisions that delineate the constitutional rights of minors—cases such as Tinker v. Des Moines School District (1st Amendment—children have free speech [...]
Also posted in Constitutional Law, Uncategorized |( 1 Comment)

Does A Roadside Cross Endorse Christianity?

Posted April 25th, 2011
Shon R. Hopwood
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Last term, Justice Kennedy said in Salazar v. Buono, that a “cross by the side of a public highway,” marking “where a state trooper perished,” was not a statement of “governmental support for sectarian beliefs,” and therefore, would not violate the Establishment Clause. As Lee Corso would say: Not so fast Justice Kennedy! In August [...]
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A New Batch of Merits Briefs

Posted February 25th, 2011
Andy Cockle
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We filed three merits briefs in the past week: the Respondent’s Brief in the anticipated employment discrimination case of Wal-Mart v. Dukes, No. 10-277 was filed earlier this week; the Reply Brief in Alford v. Greene, No. 09-1478; and the Petitioner’s Brief in Nevada Commission on Ethics v. Carrigan, No. 10-568.  
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The Health Care Challenge Lands at the Supreme Court

Posted February 9th, 2011
Shon R. Hopwood
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Bypassing the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, today, the Commonwealth of Virginia brought their Affordable Care Act challenge to the Supreme Court’s doorstep. The State calls on the Court to sidestep the normal appellate route and decide now whether Congress, in passing the new health care bill, transgressed its constitutional powers. The petition for writ of certiorari lays out what is at stake:
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Camreta v. Greene Respondent’s Brief

Posted January 27th, 2011
Andy Cockle
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The Respondent's Brief in Camreta v. Greene, No. 09-1454 and Alford v. Greene, No. 09-1478, was filed this week. The case involves whether the Fourth Amendment prohibits the temporary seizure and interview of a child at a public school when allegations of abuse are present.
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Borough of Duryea v. Guarnieri Merits Briefs

Posted January 20th, 2011
Andy Cockle
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On Tuesday, we filed the Respondent's Brief in Borough of Duryea, Pennsylvania, et al v. Guarnieri, No. 09-1476. Since SCOTUS Blog does not appear to have the Petitioner's Brief on their site, I thought we would place this one on the blogosphere as well.
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