The US Supreme Court [official website] granted certiorari [order list, PDF] in two cases [SCOTUSblog report] Thursday. The court granted the petition for a writ of certiorari in District of Columbia, et al. v. Wesby, Theodore, et al. [docket] and granted a motion of International Municipal Lawyers Association, Inc. for leave to file a brief as amicus curiae. The qualified immunity case comes from the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit [opinion, PDF]. The court will determine [SCOTUSblog materials] whether (1) police had probable cause to arrest the partiers for trespassing under the Fourth Amendment, and in particular whether, when the owner of a vacant home informs police that he has not authorized entry, an officer assessing probable cause to arrest those inside for trespassing may discredit the suspects’ questionable claims of an innocent mental state; and (2) whether, regardless of probable cause, the officers were entitled to qualified immunity because the law was not clearly established in this regard.

The court also granted the petition for a writ of certiorari in Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. v. Superior Court of California, San Francisco County [docket]. The case, which involves forum contacts for specific jurisdiction, is an appeal from the California Supreme Court [opinion, PDF]. The Supreme Court will determine [SCOTUSblog materials] whether a plaintiff’s claims relate to a defendant’s forum activities even when there is evidence to support that the claims would be exactly the same even if the defendant had no forum contacts.