The High Court Report

In today's episode, we analyze the Supreme Court's recent activities across three key areas: Last week's 11 opinions and emerging patterns Term statistics and remaining docket overview Major religious liberty case granted certiorari via June 23rd Order List Key Topics Covered Term Statistics (As of June 23, 2025) Total cases heard: 62 unique cases this term Cases decided: 52 (approximately 84%) Ca...

Opinion Summaries: June 20, 2025 Opinions The Supreme Court released six significant opinions on June 20, 2025, spanning tobacco regulation, terrorism jurisdiction, environmental standing, telecommunications law, disability rights, and federal sentencing. This episode provides comprehensive analysis of each decision, including voting breakdowns, key holdings, and detailed examination of concurring...

Opinion Summary: United States v. Skrmetti | Date Decided: 6/18/25 | Case No. 23-477 Link to Docket: Here . Question 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 mino...

Opinion Summary: Perttu v. Richards | Date Decided: 6/18/25 | Case No. 23–1324 Link to Docket: Here . Question Presented: In cases subject to the Prison Litigation Reform Act, do prisoners have a right to a jury trial concerning their exhaustion of administrative remedies where disputed facts regarding exhaustion are intertwined with the underlying merits of their claim? Holding: Parties are entit...

Opinion Summary: Oklahoma v. EPA | Date Decided: 6/18/25 | Case No. 23–1067 This case was consolidated with: Pacificorp V. EPA, Case No. 23-1067. Link to Docket: Here . Background: Under the Clean Air Act, each state must adopt an implementation plan to meet national standards, which EPA then reviews for compliance with the Act. In 2023, EPA published disapprovals of 21 states' plans implementing...

Opinion Summary: EPA v. Calumet Shreveport Refining, L.L.C. | Date Decided: 6/18/25 | Case No. 23–1229 Link to Docket: Here . Question Presented: Holding: EPA's denials of small refinery exemption petitions are locally or regionally applicable actions that fall within the "nationwide scope or effect" exception, requiring venue in the D.C. Circuit. Result: Vacated and remanded. Voting Breakdown: 7-...

Opinion Summary: NRC v. Texas | Date Decided: 6/18/25 | Case No. 23–1300 This case was consolidated with: Interim Storage Partners, LLC V. Texas, Case No. 23-1312. Link to Docket: Here . Questions Presented: Whether the Hobbs Act, 28 U.S.C. 2341 et seq., which authorizes a "party aggrieved" by an agency's "final order" to petition for review in a court of appeals, 28 U.S.C. 2344, allows nonparties...

In this episode, we analyze the Supreme Court's recent activities across three key areas: Six near unanimous decisions released on June 12th, 2025 Two major cases granted certiorari via June 16th, 2025 Order In this episode, we analyze the Supreme Court's recent activities across three key areas: Term statistics and remaining docket overview Six decisions released on June 12th, 2025 Two major case...

Opinion Summary: A.J.T. v. Osseo Area Schools | Date Decided: 6/12/25 | Case No. 24–249 Link to Docket: Here . Background: Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act (Rehabilitation Act) require public entities and organizations that receive federal funding to provide reasonable accommodations for people with disabilities. In the decision below,...

Opinion Summary: Soto v. United States | Date Decided: 6/12/25 | Case No. 24-320 Link to Docket: Here. Question Presented: Holding: Result: Voting Breakdown: Link to Opinion: Here . Oral Advocates: For Petitioner: For Respondent: Website Link to Oral Argument: Here . Apple Podcast Link to Oral Argument: Here .

Opinion Summary: Martin v. United States | Date Decided: 6/12/25 | Case No. 24–362 Link to Docket: Here . Background: Petitioners are the innocent victims of a wrong-house raid conducted by an FBI SWAT team in Atlanta, Georgia. Seeking a remedy for torts committed against them, Petitioners brought a cause of action against the United States under the Federal Tort Claims Act. In its opinion below,...

Opinion Summary: Rivers v. Guerrero | Date Decided: 6/12/25 | Case No. 23-1345 Link to Docket: Here . Background: Under the federal habeas statute, a prisoner "always gets one chance to bring a federal habeas challenge to his conviction," Banister v. Davis, 590 U.S. 504, 509 (2020). After that, the stringent gatekeeping requirements of 28 U.S.C. § 2244(b)(2) bar nearly all attempts to file a "seco...

Opinion Summary: Commissioner of Internal Revenue v. Zuch | Date Decided: 6/12/25 | Case No. 24–416 Link to Docket: Here . Question Presented: Whether a proceeding under 26 U.S.C. 6330 for a pre-deprivation determination about a levy proposed by the Internal Revenue Service to collect unpaid taxes becomes moot when there is no longer a live dispute over the proposed levy that gave rise to the proc...

Opinion Summary: Parrish v. United States | Date Decided: 6/12/25 | Case No. 24–275 Link to Docket: Here . Background: Ordinarily, litigants must file a notice of appeal within 30 or 60 days of an adverse judgment. 28 U.S.C. § 2107(a)-(b). Under 28 U.S.C. § 2107(c) and Fed. R. App. P. 4(a)(6), however, district courts can reopen an expired appeal period when a party did not receive timely notice o...

Supreme Court Roundup: Decisions, Emergency Actions, and New Grants In this episode, we analyze the Supreme Court's recent activities across three key areas: Six unanimous decisions released on June 5th, 2025 Two significant emergency docket interventions involving DOGE Three major cases granted certiorari via June 6th, 2025 Order June 5, 2025 Unanimous Decisions Remarkable consensus: 5 unanimous...

Opinion Summary: Laboratory Corp. of America Holdings v. Davis | Date Decided: 6/5/25 | Case No. 24–304 In this episode, I breakdown the dismissal, Justice Kavanaugh's dissent and theories for the dismissal. Link to Docket: Here . Question Presented: Whether a federal court may certify a class action when some of its members lack any Article III injury. Result: Dismissed as improvidently granted....

Opinion Summary: Smith & Wesson Brands, Inc. v. Estados Unidos Mexicanos | Date Decided: 6/5/25 | Case No. 23–1141 Link to Docket: Here . Background: The Mexican Government sued leading members of the American firearms industry, seeking to hold them liable for harms inflicted by Mexican drug cartels. According to Mexico, America's firearms companies have engaged in a series of business practices f...

Opinion Summary: Catholic Charities Bureau, Inc. v. Wisconsin Labor and Industry Review Comm’n. | Date Decided: 6/5/25 | Case No. 24–154 Link to Docket: Here. Question Presented: Holding: The Wisconsin Supreme Court’s application of § 108.02(15)(h)(2) to petitioners violates the First Amendment. Result: Reversed and remanded. Voting Breakdown: 9-0. Justice Sotomayor delivered the opinion for a una...

Opinion Summary: CC/Devas (Mauritius) Ltd. v. Antrix Corp. | Date Decided: 6/5/25 | Case No. 23–1201 This case was consolidated with: Devas Multimedia Private Ltd. v. Antrix Corp. Ltd., Case No. 24-17. Link to Docket: Here . Questions Presented: Whether plaintiffs must prove minimum contacts before federal courts may assert personal jurisdiction over foreign states sued under the Foreign Sovereign...

Opinion Summary: BLOM Bank SAL v. Honickman| Date Decided: 6/5/25 | Case No. 23–1259 Link to Docket: Here . Background: For more than 70 years, this Court has "required a movant seeking relief under Rule 60(b)(6)" of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure "to show 'extraordinary circumstances' justifying the reopening of a final judgment." Gonzalez v. Crosby, 545 U.S. 524, 535 (2005) (quoting Ackerm...

Opinion Summary: Ames v. OH Dept. of Youth Services | Case No. 23-1039 | Date Decided: 6/5/25 In this episode, we'll Ames versus Ohio Department of Youth Services, Case Number 23–1039. I'll walk through the opinion, give my thoughts on case implications and also compare how the oral arguments compared and contrasted to the ultimate opinions. Spoiler alert: oral arguments heavily forecasted the res...

Guns, Warrantless Home Searches, and Ballot Boxes: Inside the Supreme Court's June 2nd Order List In this episode of Supreme Court Oral Arguments and Opinions, I break down the Court's June 2, 2025 Order List , focusing on several cases that touch on fundamental constitutional questions affecting Americans' daily lives. The episode examines four cases where the Court granted certiorari and two den...

Emergency Docket Order Summary: Noem v. Doe | Order Date: 5/30/25 | Case No. 24A1079 Link to Docket: Here . Question Presented: Whether the Supreme Court should stay the April 15, 2025 order entered by the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts pending appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit and any further proceedings in this Court. The central issue in t...

Reading the Eagle County Tea Leaves: How the Justices' Oral Argument Questions Foreshadowed Their Opinions This episode of SCOTUS Oral Arguments and Opinions delves into the case of Seven County Infrastructure Coalition versus Eagle County, decided on May 29, 2025. The episode compares and contrasts the oral arguments and written opinions of Justices Kavanaugh and Sotomayor. Justice Kavanaugh's ma...

Opinion Summary: Seven County Infrastructure Coalition v. Eagle County | Date Decided: 5/29/25 | Case No. 23–975 Link to Docket: Here . Question Presented: Whether the National Environmental Policy Act requires an agency to study environmental impacts beyond the proximate effects of the action over which the agency has regulatory authority. Holding: The D.C. Circuit failed to afford the Board the...