Monday, October 5, 2009

First Monday: Supreme Court OT2009

Oyez! Oyez! Oyez! All persons having business before the Honorable, the Supreme Court of the United States, are admonished to draw near and give their attention, for the Court is now sitting. Or at least they will be at 10:00 a.m. today, which marks the official beginning of the Supreme Court’s October Term 2009-2010 ("OT2009").

Of course, Court-watchers will be most eager to analyze the new dynamic that new Justice Sonia Sotomayor, who replaced retiring Justice David Souter over the summer, might bring to oral arguments and to voting. (They had a head start last month, when the Court heard re-arguments in an OT2008 case, Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission: transcript.)

The first case on today’s calendar involves a dispute between South Carolina and North Carolina over the equitable use of the Catawba River (briefs at ABA Merits Briefs page). This “water war” has dragged on for several years; today the High Court will consider whether the city of Charlotte, Duke Energy Corporation, and the Catawba River Water Supply Project should remain intervening parties in the dispute. Additional materials on this case are posted on the South Carolina Attorney General’s website. [UPDATE: the NC/SC arguments were postponed shortly before their scheduled start time, due to a family emergency for one of the counsel. Story at Charlotte Observer.]

To preview the rest of the Court’s upcoming cases, or to read subsequent analysis, check out the following resources:
To research other Supreme Court information (including biographies of current and past Justices, caseload statistics, and more) check out the Goodson Law Library’s research guide to the U.S. Supreme Court.