Supreme Court kicks off final week of arguments for the term News
Supreme Court kicks off final week of arguments for the term

The US Supreme Court [official website] heard oral arguments [day call, PDF] in three cases Monday.

In Lucia v. Securities and Exchange Commission [transcript, PDF] the court heard arguments on whether administrative law judges of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) [official website] are officers of the United States within the meaning of the Appointments Clause [art. II, § 2, cl. 2]. If so, then they would have to be appointed by the commission rather than by SEC staff as is current practice. The US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled [opinion, PDF] that they are not officers of the United States.

In Pereira v. Sessions [transcript, PDF] the court heard arguments on whether, to trigger the stop-time rule for a non-permanent resident’s eligibility for cancellation of removal [8 USC § 1229b(a) and (b)] by serving a “notice to appear,” the government must “specify” the items listed in the definition of a “notice to appear,” including “[t]he time and place at which the proceedings will be held.”

In Chavez-Meza v. United States [transcript, PDF] the court heard arguments on whether, when a district court decides not to grant a proportional sentence reduction under 18 USC § 3582(c)(2) [text], it must provide some explanation for its decision when the reasons are not otherwise apparent from the record, or whether it can instead issue its decision without any explanation so long as it is issued on a preprinted form order containing the boilerplate language providing that the court has “tak[en] into account the policy statement set forth in 18 USSG § 1B1.10 and the sentencing factors set forth in 18 USC § 3553(a) [text], to the extent that they are applicable.” Justice Neil Gorsuch is recused.

THIS DAY @ LAW

Justice Department brings anit-trust action against AT&T

On November 20, 1974, the Department of Justice filed its final anti-trust suit against AT&T. United States v. AT&T was ultimately settled out of court with an agreement that the corporation would break up its monopoly on phone service throughout the country.

Nuremberg war crimes trials began

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Winston Churchill born

On November 20, 1874, Sir Winston Churchill was born in Woodstock, England. He would go on to lead the United Kingdom as Prime Minister through World War II. Toward the end of the war, Churchill worked with US President Franklin D. Roosevelt to craft the treaties and accords that have defined the world since WWII. A 2002 poll by the BBC declared Churchill the Greatest Briton of all time.

New Jersey ratifies Bill of Rights

New Jersey ratified the Bill of Rights, a set of 10 fundamental amendments to the US Constitution, on November 20, 1789, becoming the first state to do so. The state also ratified an amendment on federal representation which ultimately failed. Additionally, New Jersey rejected an amendment on congressional salaries, which would eventually become the 27th Amendment more than 200 years later. Read the articles ratified by New Jersey.