The U.S. Supreme Court, 2015-16 Term

October 4, 2015

First Monday in October is upon us. Tomorrow, the U. S. Supreme Court begins its 2015-16 Term. Here at Mark Rubin Writes we will follow the Court once again, relying heavily on SCOTUSblog.com and many other resources.

Adam Liptak’s Supreme Court Prepares to Take on Politically Charged Cases for the New York Times, today, provides an excellent overview of the coming Term. I noted in particular his three paragraphs about partisanship, relying on Neal Devins, a law professor at William & Mary. Here they are:

‘This coming term will again put into focus that the court is divided along partisan lines and that the 2016 presidential elections will be hugely consequential in shaping constitutional and other law for perhaps

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Big Week at the Supreme Court!

March 1, 2015

It’s a big week at the Supreme Court. The Court here’s oral arguments on March 2 in Arizona State Legislature v. Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission, No. 13-1314. (I was a finalist for the Redistricting Commission; often, we are blessed in failure!) The Court has framed the issues as follows:  (1) Whether the Elections Clause of the United States Constitution and 2 U. S. C. § 2a(c) permit Arizona’s use of a commission to adopt congressional districts; and (2) whether the Arizona Legislature has standing to bring this suit.

The “Elections Clause” provision is located in Article I, Section 4. It states:  “The times, places and manner of holding elections for Senators and Representatives, shall be prescribed in

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