Tuesday audio--Part I, Part II. Nice job in a long class today. SCOTUS Panel papers due outside my office by 11 a.m. next Tuesday, September 17. No class next Tuesday. Two more classes to make-up.
I mentioned Moore v. Harper, the independent-state-legislature case in which the Court had to deal with Cox finality. Read pp. 8-11 for the discussion. The Court reject the independent state legislature doctrine--the theory that the U.S. Constitution grants state legislatures
exclusive and unilateral control over redistricing and selector of
presidential elections, unchecked by the state executive or state
courts. The case was complicated because the North Carolina Supreme
Court first reached the merits and rejected ISL, then (while the case was pending in SCOTUS and after the court's
political alignment changed)
reconsidered and held that political gerrymandering claims are not
justiciable under the state constitution. SCOTUS thus had to consider whether the initial judgment rejecting ISL
was final for § 1257. Was the Court right in finding finality?
Did it rely on the correct Cox category? Fair game for a reaction paper.
We turn to Courts of Appeals; prep Structure and Finality. Pay attention to the structure of the courts of appeals, how they hear cases, and how cases reach them. Why the finality requirement in § 1291--what are the policies, benefits, and drawbacks to that? What are the elements of the collateral order doctrine and do they make sense? What is the difference between a right not to stand trial and a right against liability, does the distinction make sense, and how does it affect COD? What orders are subject to COD review and which are not--how do you explain the difference between them? See pp. 4-5 of Justice Barrett's concurrence in Trump v. US (immunity).
