We continue with Supreme Court Review of state courts. How has the court limited procedural rules as independent-and-adequate and why (note the timing of many of these cases)? What other state law can be I&A? What is an "advisory opinion" and how does the general prohibition on them explain independent-and-adequate? What are the different approaches to cases in which it is difficult to determine whether a decision is based on federal or state law and why did the Court settle on an approach in Long? (See the Pfander discussion of Long). What are the benefits and drawbacks to the Long approach? What does finality mean at its core and what other understandings of finality has the Court adopted--what are their details and why?
Move to Review of Federal Court of Appeals, looking closely at §§ 1253 and 1254; skip Camreta. What does it mean for a case to be "in" the court of appeals for § 1254 purposes? What is certiorari before judgment and when does the Court exercise that power (see the Vladeck essay from SCOTUSBlog).
I expect/hope to finish SCOTUS on Tuesday, depending on how far we get on Monday, so panel 3 (Courts of Appeals) should be ready to go.
