Pending SCOTUS Cases For This Term

Selected Cases Awaiting Rulings

It seems that not only are the Supremes slow in granting cert, but that they are taking their sweet time hearing cases. The term is set to end soon and these cases remain on the docket. Let us hope that these cases are heard before the justices all go on vacation... especially if the stack of Republican conservatives take as much vacation as does George W.

•Hamdan v. Rumsfeld: Regarding the Bush administration's attempt to hold military trials for foreign terrorism suspects and its broader effort to keep federal judges from hearing claims from detainees at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

•League of United Latin American Citizens v. Perry: Testing the validity of a Texas congressional district map that Democrats say violates the constitutional guarantee of equality because it was drafted solely for partisan gain two years after a map based on the 2000 Census was adopted.

•Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway Co. v. White: Testing when an employer has wrongly retaliated against a worker because she claimed sexual harassment or other bias.

•Randall v. Sorrell: Testing a Vermont law that would limit campaign contributions from individuals to $200-$400 per election, depending on the race, and cap how much a candidate for statewide office could spend in a two-year election cycle.

•Hill v. McDonough: Testing whether a prisoner who has exhausted his appeals can use civil rights law to get a hearing on his challenge to a lethal-injection execution.

•Rapanos v. United States and Carabell v. Army Corps of Engineers: Testing how broadly the Clean Water Act covers remote wetlands that eventually drain into navigable waters and when it bars developers from obtaining building permits in the those areas.

•Hudson v. Michigan: Testing whether evidence from a police search must be suppressed if officers fail to wait a reasonable amount of time after knocking and announcing at a suspect's home.

•Mohawk Industries v. Williams: Testing whether a corporation could be found liable for a racketeering “enterprise” because it used outside recruiters to get illegal-immigrant workers.