[JURIST] The US Supreme Court [official website] heard oral arguments [day call, PDF] Monday on the constitutionality of a federal statute requiring the Secretary of State, on request, to endorse passports of US citizens born in Jerusalem with “Israel” as the place of birth. In Zivotofsky v. Kerry [transcript, PDF; JURIST report] the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit found the statute unconstitutional on grounds that it “impermissibly infringe[d] on the [p]resident’s exercise of the recognition power.” At arguments Monday the court seemed split on the issue. The Supreme Court previously ruled [JURIST report] in 2012 that a citizen’s ability to list Israel as a place of birth on a passport is not a political question [Cornell LII backgrounder] but remanded the case for a ruling specifically on the issue.

Also Monday the court heard arguments in Omnicare, Inc. v. Laborers District Council Construction Industry Pension Fund [transcript, PDF; JURIST report]. In this case the court will address a circuit split with respect to whether plaintiffs can plead that a statement of opinion is “untrue” for purposes of the Security Act of 1933 [text] by alleging that the opinion itself is objectively wrong, or whether plaintiffs must also allege that the statement was subjectively false, which requires allegations that the speaker’s actual opinion was different from the one expressed. Petitioner Omnicare [corporate website] is a publicly traded corporation that is the US’ largest provider of pharmaceutical care services for the elderly. Respondents are a class of investors who allege Omnicare issued them stock under a registration statement with “an untrue statement of a material fact.”