By Matthew Netti
As Justice Alito expressed in his majority opinion in a 2018 Supreme Court decision, “[t]he legalization of sports gambling is a controversial subject.” Murphy v. Nat’l Collegiate Athletic Ass’n, 138 S. Ct. 1461, 1484 (2018). Not only is the subject controversial; the effect it has on the country moving forward is unpredictable . . .
By Sarah E. Kelly
In Pereira v. Sessions, decided on June 21, 2018, the Supreme Court declined to apply Chevron deference in holding that a Notice to Appear (NTA), which fails to specify the time and place of a noncitizen’s removal proceeding, does not trigger the stop-time rule under section 1229(a) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) . . .
By R Spooner
Although Justice Sotomayor often joins the same opinions as Justice Ginsburg, they do depart on an important philosophy of judging. Justice Ginsburg has maintained that her gender makes no difference to judging. Justice Sotomayor, while still a Circuit Court judge, made a speech questioning the famous notion that a wise old woman and a wise old man would reach the same conclusion when deciding cases. She famously said, “I would hope that a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn’t lived that life.” See Charlie Savage, A Judge’s View of Judging Is on the Record, NY Times (May 15, 2009). Not surprisingly, this quote got a lot of play during Sotomayor’s confirmation hearings . . .
By R Spooner
The award for most unsatisfying decision of the Supreme Court’s 2017–18 term goes to Masterpiece Cakeshop. Masterpiece Cakeshop is a bakery owned by Jack Phillips, a man whose religion holds same-sex marriage to be a sin. When a gay couple went into the bakery to order a wedding cake, Phillips refused. He was willing to sell other types of baked goods to LGBTQ customers, just not wedding cakes. The bakery is located in Colorado, a state with a public accommodations law that protects against sexual orientation discrimination, the Colorado Anti-Discrimination Act (CADA) . . .