Welcome to the Dec 2 edition of Robe & Gavel, Ballotpedia’s newsletter about the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) and other judicial happenings around the U.S.

The way a crow
Shook down on me
The dust of snow
From a hemlock tree

Has given my heart
A change of mood
And saved some part
Of a day I had rued.

-Robert Frost 

We’re already at the penultimate edition of the year, dear reader. No, we’re not crying. There’s just a bit of snow in our eyes. But there is much to discuss as SCOTUS enters its December sitting. So we’ll save our teary goodbyes for the next edition. Are you ready? Good. Let’s gavel in. 

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Grants

SCOTUS has accepted no new cases to its merits docket since our Nov. 11 issue. To date, the court has agreed to hear 47 cases for the 2024-2025 term. 

Arguments

The Supreme Court will hear four arguments this week. Click here to read more about SCOTUS’ current term.

Click the links below to learn more about these cases:

Dec. 2

• United States v. Miller (2024) concerns the sovereign immunity waiver, 11 U.S.C. § 544, of U.S. bankruptcy law.
  • The question presented: “Whether a bankruptcy trustee may avoid a debtor’s tax payment to the United States under Section 544(b) when no actual creditor could have obtained relief under the applicable state fraudulent-transfer law outside of bankruptcy.”
• Food and Drug Administration v. Wages and White Lion Investments, LLC concerns a legal challenge to the Food and Drug Administration’s regulation of e-cigarettes.
  • The question presented: “Whether the court of appeals erred in setting aside FDA’s denial orders as arbitrary and capricious.”

Dec. 3

• Republic of Hungary v. Simon (2024) concerns the scope of the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act’s expropriation exception. The exception involves lawsuits brought against foreign governments or foreign sovereigns who, in violation of international law, take property connected to commercial activities in the U.S.
  • The question presented:“1. Whether historical commingling of assets suffices to establish that proceeds of seized property have a commercial nexus with the United States under the expropriation exception to the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act.
    
    “2. Whether a plaintiff must make out a valid claim that an exception to the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act applies at the pleading stage, rather than merely raising a plausible inference.
    
    “3. Whether a sovereign defendant bears the burden of producing evidence to affirmatively disprove that the proceeds of property taken in violation of international law have a commercial nexus with the United States under the expropriation exception to the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act.”

Dec. 4

• United States v. Skrmetti concerns Tennessee Senate Bill 1 violates the Fourteenth Amendment.
  • The questions presented: “Whether Tennessee Senate Bill 1 (SBl), which prohibits all medical treatments intended to allow ‘a minor to identify with, or live as, a purported identity inconsistent with the minor’s sex’ or to treat ‘purported discomfort or distress from a discordance between the minor’s sex and asserted identity,’ Tenn. Code Ann. § 68-33-103(a)(1), violates the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.”

In its October 2023-2024 term, SCOTUS heard arguments in 62 cases. Click here to read more about SCOTUS’ previous term.

Opinions

SCOTUS has not ruled on any cases since our Nov. 11 edition. 

Upcoming SCOTUS dates

Here are the court’s upcoming dates of interest:

• Dec. 2: SCOTUS will hear arguments in two cases.
• Dec. 3: SCOTUS will hear arguments in one case.
• Dec. 4: SCOTUS will hear arguments in one case.
• Dec. 6: SCOTUS will conference. A conference is a private meeting of the justices.

Federal court action

Nominations

President Biden has announced no new Article III nominees since our Nov. 11 edition. 

The president has announced 252 Article III judicial nominations since taking office on Jan. 20, 2021. For more information on the president’s judicial nominees, click here.

Committee action

The Senate Judiciary Committee has reported six new nominees out of committee since our Nov. 11 edition.

• Ryan Park, to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
• Anthony Brindisi, to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York
• Elizabeth Coombe, to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York
• Sarah Davenport, to the U.S. District Court for the District of New Mexico
• Tiffany Johnson, to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York
• Keli Neary, to the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania

Confirmations

The Senate has confirmed eight nominees since our Nov. 11 issue.

• Sharad Desai, to the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona
• Rebecca Pennell, to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Washington
• Amir Ali, to the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia
• Sarah Russell, to the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut
• Mustafa Kasubhai, to the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon
• Embry Kidd, to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
• Jonathan Hawley, to the U.S. District Court for the Central District of Illinois
• April Perry, to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois

Vacancies

The federal judiciary currently has 40 vacancies, all of which are for lifetime Article III judgeships. As of publication, there were 22 pending nominations.

According to the Administrative Office of U.S. Courts, there were 19 upcoming vacancies in the federal judiciary, where judges have announced their intention to leave active judicial status.

For more information on judicial vacancies during President Biden’s term, click here.

Do you love judicial nomination, confirmation, and vacancy information? We figured you might. Our monthly Federal Vacancy Count monitors all the faces and places moving in, moving out, and moving on in the federal judiciary. Click here for our most current count.

Need a daily fix of judicial nomination, confirmation, and vacancy information? Click here for continuing updates on the status of all federal judicial nominees.

Or, keep an eye on our list for updates on federal judicial nominations.

Looking ahead

We’ll be back on Dec. 9 with a new edition of Robe & Gavel. Until then, gaveling out! 

Contributions

Myj Saintyl compiled and edited this newsletter, with contributions from Sam Post and Ellie Mikus.