Welcome to the Oct. 14 edition of Robe & Gavel, Ballotpedia’s newsletter about the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) and other judicial happenings around the U.S.

We’re back with another installment as SCOTUS dives into week two of the October sitting. There’s a lot to cover, so grab a seat, and let’s gavel in!

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Grants

SCOTUS has accepted no new cases to its merits docket since the Oct. 7 edition. To date, the court has agreed to hear 40 cases for the 2024-2025 term. Sixteen of those cases have been scheduled for argument. 

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:

Oct. 15

• Medical Marijuana, Inc. v. Horn concerns damages claims under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO).
  • The questions presented: “Whether economic harms resulting from personal injuries are injuries to ‘business or property by reason of’ the defendant’s acts for purposes of civil RICO.”
• Bouarfa v. Mayorkas concerns whether an individual can obtain judicial review regarding a revoked visa petition based on nondiscretionary, or clearly defined, criteria.
  • The questions presented: “Whether a visa petitioner may obtain judicial review when an approved petition is revoked on the basis of nondiscretionary criteria.”

Oct. 16

• Bufkin v. McDonough concerns enforcement of the benefit-of-the-doubt rule under Title 38 of the United States Code on military veterans’ benefits claims. The rule means that in veterans’ law cases, the veteran, rather than the government, receives the benefit of the doubt in their claims.
  • The questions presented: “Must the Veterans Court ensure that the benefit-of-the-doubt rule was properly applied during the claims process in order to satisfy 38 U.S.C. § 7261(b)(1), which directs the Veterans Court to ‘take due account’ of VA’s application of that rule?”
• City and County of San Francisco v. Environmental Protection Agency concerns the Clean Water Act.
  • The questions presented: “Whether the Clean Water Act allows EPA (or an authorized state) to impose generic prohibitions in NPDES permits that subject permit holders to enforcement for exceedances of water quality standards without identifying specific limits to which their discharges must conform.”

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 yet issued any opinions for the October 2024-2025 term. 

Upcoming SCOTUS dates

Here are the court’s upcoming dates of interest:

• Oct. 15: SCOTUS will hear arguments in two cases.
• Oct. 16: SCOTUS will hear arguments in two cases.
• Oct. 18: SCOTUS will conference. A conference is a private meeting of the justices.

Federal court action

Nominations

President Joe Biden (D) has not announced any new nominations since the Oct. 7 report.

The president has announced 251 Article III judicial nominations since taking office Jan. 20, 2021. For more information on the president’s judicial nominees, click here.

Committee action

The Senate Judiciary Committee has not reported any new nominees out of committee since our Oct. 7 edition.

Confirmations

The Senate has not confirmed any nominees since our Oct. 7 edition.

Vacancies

The federal judiciary currently has 43 vacancies, all of which are for lifetime Article III judgeships. As of publication, there were 28 pending nominations.

According to the Administrative Office of U.S. Courts, there were 24 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 Nov. 11 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.