Welcome to the Nov. 3 edition of Robe & Gavel, Ballotpedia’s newsletter about the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) and other judicial happenings around the U.S.

Your favorite federal courts newsletter is back, dear reader. And we have a ton of new updates for you. This week, SCOTUS will hear five cases on topics like the Second Amendment and tariffs. So take a seat, and let’s gavel in!

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Grants

SCOTUS has accepted three new cases to its merits docket since our Oct. 13 issue. To date, the court has agreed to hear 44 cases for the 2025-2026 term. SCOTUS dismissed one case after it was accepted. Twenty-seven cases have been scheduled for arguments.

Click the links below to learn more about these cases:

• Flower Foods, Inc. v. Brock originated from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit and concerns the exemption in Section 1 of the Federal Arbitration Act.
• United States v. Hemani concerns the Second Amendment and 18 U.S.C. 922(g)(3), the federal law that prohibits unlawful users of controlled substances from possessing firearms. The case originated from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.
• Keathley v. Buddy Ayers Construction, Inc. originated from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit and concerns the doctrine of judicial estoppel in bankruptcy filings.
  • Estoppel prevents a party from making a claim that contradicts one they have made before or one that has been legally established as true.

Arguments

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

Click the links below to learn more about these cases:

Nov. 3

• Rico v. United States concerns the fugitive-tolling doctrine and supervised release.
  • The questions presented: “Whether the fugitive-tolling doctrine applies in the context of supervised release.”
    • According to the Supreme Court, the fugitive-tolling doctrine states that “criminal defendants should not receive credit toward prison sentences for time that they are not behind prison walls.”
• Hencely v. Fluor Corporation concerns Boyle v. United Technologies Corp. and the Federal Tort Claims Act.
  • The questions presented: “Should Boyle be extended to allow federal interests emanating from the FTCA's combatant-activities exception to preempt state tort claims against a government contractor for conduct that breached its contract and violated military orders?”

Nov. 4

• Coney Island Auto Parts Unlimited, Inc. v. Burton concerns Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 60(c)(1).
  • The questions presented: “Whether Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 60(c)(1) imposes any time limit to set aside a void default judgment for lack of personal jurisdiction.”
• The Hain Celestial Group, Inc. v. Palmquist concerns a procedural issue in federal courts.
  • The questions presented: “1. Whether a district court's final judgment as to completely diverse parties must be vacated when an appellate court later determines that it erred by dismissing a non-diverse party at the time of removal.

“2. Whether a plaintiff may defeat diversity jurisdiction after removal by amending the complaint to add factual allegations that state a colorable claim against a nondiverse party when the complaint at the time of removal did not state such a claim”

• Diverse parties are parties from different states. 

Nov. 5

• Learning Resources, Inc. v. Trump (consolidated with Trump v. V.O.S. Selections) concerns the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.
  • The questions presented: “Whether IEEPA authorizes the President to impose tariffs.”

In its October 2025 term, SCOTUS heard arguments in 65 cases. Click here to read more about SCOTUS's previous term.

Opinions

SCOTUS has not ruled on any cases since our Oct. 13 edition. The court has not issued rulings in any cases so far this term. 

Federal court action

Nominations

President Donald Trump (R) has announced two new Article III nominees since our Oct. 13 edition.

• William J. Crain, to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana
• Alexander Van Hook, to the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana

The president has announced 29 Article III judicial nominations since taking office on Jan. 20, 2025. 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. 13 edition.

Confirmations

The Senate has confirmed eight nominees since our Oct. 13 issue.

• Edmund LaCour, to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama
• Jordan Pratt, to the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida
• Bill Lewis, to the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Alabama
• Rebecca Taibleson, to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
• Chad Meredith, to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky
• Bill Mercer, to the U.S. District Court for the District of Montana
• Anne-Leigh Gaylord Moe, to the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida
• Harold Mooty, to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama

Vacancies

The federal judiciary currently has 50 vacancies, 49 of which are for lifetime Article III judgeships. As of publication, there were 15 pending nominations.

According to the Administrative Office of U.S. Courts, there were eight 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 Trump’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. 10 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.