Docket Deep Dives
Description
Three concurrent panels that allow participants to tailor their experience to their particular interests. The panels this year will be Administrative Law, Immigration Law, and Criminal Law.
Administrative Law
Materials for Panel
Federal Communications Commission v. Consumers’ Research
- Case file
- SCOTUS docket/opinion
- Justices pass on opportunity to further limit the power of federal agencies - Amy Howe and Zachary Shemtob, SCOTUSblog
- SCOTUS dispatch: reflections on FCC v. Consumers’ Research - Leah DeFreitas, JuristNews
- How FCC v. Consumers’ Research Could Sink Proposals to Reform Labor Law - Alexander T. MacDonald, The Federalist Society
Schools, Health & Libraries Broadband Coalition v. Consumers’ Research
- Case file
- SCOTUS docket/opinion
- Court grants challenge to FCC subsidies over nondelegation doctrine - Amy Howe, SCOTUSblog
- FCC asks court to uphold constitutionality of nationwide rural phone and internet subsidies - Kalvis Golde, SCOTUSblog
Washington v. Federal Emergency Management Agency
- Attorney General James Sues FEMA for Cutting Bipartisan Funding for Natural Disasters - Office of the New York State Attorney General
- Trump administration cannot reallocate billions meant for disaster mitigation, federal judge rules - Jack Brook and Michael Casey, PBS News
- US judge blocks Trump administration from diverting disaster prevention grants - Jonathan Stempel, Reuters
Democracy Forward Foundation v. Office of Management and Budget
- Joint Status Report - filed by OMB
- Joint Status Report - filed by Democracy Forward
- Civil Rights Litigation Clearinghouse Case File
- Democracy Forward Files Lawsuits Against DOGE, Federal Agencies as Trump Administration Fails Basic Transparency Requirements - Democracy Forward
- Judge Issues National Injunction to Block Trump Administration’s Devastating Attempt to Halt Funding For Essential Services - Democracy Forward
Immigration Law
Materials for Panel
- Urias-Orellana v. Bondi
- Issue: Whether a federal court of appeals must defer to the Board of Immigration Appeals' judgment that a given set of undisputed facts does not demonstrate mistreatment severe enough to constitute "persecution" under 8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(42).
- Trump v. CASA on the Merits
- Issue: On July 23, the Ninth Circuit ruled that Trump’s EO pertaining to birthright citizenship was unconstitutional and violated the 14th Amendment. This decision came after the groundbreaking decision released by the Court in the 2024 term, of which the Court did not decide the merits of the EO but ruled that nationwide injunctions were no more (Trump v. CASA). The merits of Trump v. CASA are likely to make their way to the Court’s docket given the Ninth Circuit’s ruling.
- Trump’s EO Blocking Harvard from Enrolling International Students + Visa Revocations
- Issue: The Trump Administration issued measures to restrict Harvard’s ability to enroll international students and scholars. Harvard challenged these measures in federal court, and on June 20, a federal judge issued a preliminary injunction blocking the administration’s efforts. The administration has since appealed, and the case is in the First Circuit.
- Docket File
- District Court Order Granting Prelim. Injunction
- Harvard's Complaint
- Judge Blocks Trump Proclamation Barring Harvard’s International Students - Stephanie Saul, New York Times
- Fact Sheet: President Donald J. Trump Restricts Foreign Student Visas at Harvard University - The White House
- International Students and Scholars - Harvard University
- Issue: The Trump Administration issued measures to restrict Harvard’s ability to enroll international students and scholars. Harvard challenged these measures in federal court, and on June 20, a federal judge issued a preliminary injunction blocking the administration’s efforts. The administration has since appealed, and the case is in the First Circuit.
Criminal Law
Materials for Panel
- Barrett v. United States – Fifth Amendment
- Issue: Whether the double jeopardy clause of the Fifth Amendment permits two sentences for an act that violates 18 U.S.C. § 924(c) and (j).
- Hamm v. Smith – Eighth Amendment
- Issue: Whether and how courts may consider the cumulative effect of multiple IQ scores in assessing an Atkins claim.
- Rico v. United States – Sentencing Timelines for Fugitives
- Issue: Whether the fugitive-tolling doctrine applies in the context of supervised release.
- Rutherford v. United States – Compassionate Release
- Issue: Whether a district court may consider disparities created by the First Step Act’s prospective changes in sentencing law when deciding if “extraordinary and compelling reasons” warrant a sentence reduction under 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(1)(A)(i) (compassionate release statute).
- Villarreal v. Texas – Sixth Amendment
- Issue: Whether a trial court abridges a defendant's Sixth Amendment right to counsel by prohibiting the defendant and his counsel from discussing the defendant's testimony during an overnight recess.
- Case v. Montana – Fourth Amendment
- Issue: Whether law enforcement may enter a home without a search warrant based on less than probable cause that an emergency is occurring, or whether the emergency-aid exception requires probable cause.