Supreme Court issues four rulings

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JENNY ROUGH: I’ll start with a correction. Last week, when I reported on the tariff decision, I said that along with Chief Justice John Roberts’ principal opinion and Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s principal dissent, every other justice with the exception of Samuel Alito wrote a separate concurrence or dissent.

But Justice Sonia Sotomayor didn’t either!

And Justice Alito actually brought up their omissions during a recent oral argument. The tariff opinion was the size of a small book: 170 pages. Last Tuesday, a lawyer before the court suggested the justices could decide his case with a super short written opinion.

JOHN BURSCH: All we’re asking you to do is to to reverse. I mean, it could be an opinion that’s 160 pages less than the tariffs opinion last week. (Laughter.)

JUSTICE SAMUEL ALITO: Well, that’s certainly a goal to aim for. (Laughter.) I felt very left out in the tariffs case. Justice Sotomayor didn’t write, and I didn’t write opinions.

JUSTICE SONIA SOTOMAYOR: Maybe we’ll have a chance here. (Laughter.)

I did read all 170 pages. Apologies for the oversight.

Alright, moving on. The court issued four more opinions last week. First, Hain Celestial Group versus Palmquist. Sarah and Grant Palmquist fed their son baby food they say contained heavy metals that contributed to their son’s autism. Justice Sotomayor wrote the unanimous opinion. She affirmed that a lower court correctly held the parents could pursue their case in Texas state court instead of federal court.

Here’s Justice Sotomayor during oral argument, giving an early indication of the decision to come:

JUSTICE SOTOMAYOR: The rule is very simply this plaintiff filed in the forum it wanted. And it filed appropriately. It was entitled to stay in state court.

A trial in federal court has already taken place, and the Palmquists lost. But this decision means a re-do in Texas, in the proper court.

Next, GEO Group versus Menocal. GEO Group runs a immigration detention facility in Colorado under a contract with ICE. A group of detainees allege the government contractor forced them to do janitorial work for no pay, or a dollar a day. GEO Group lost its argument that it’s shielded from liability because it acted at ICE’s direction. It wanted to appeal that unfavorable ruling before the trial began, but the Supreme Court said no. This one, too, was unanimous, Justice Elena Kagan writing that the GEO Group can raise that as a defense during the trial. But it’ll have to wait to appeal the ruling denying it immunity until after final judgment.

Number three, Villarreal versus Texas, another unanimous judgment. David Villarreal took the stand at his murder trial to argue self-defense. But an hour into his testimony, the judge called an overnight recess. The judge instructed the defense attorney to refrain from discussing his client’s testimony during the recess. But he was permitted to talk about related topics with his client, like whether he should take a plea. At oral argument, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson said that sounded reasonable.

JUSTICE KETANJI BROWN JACKSON: To the extent that the lawyer couldn’t manage, coach, prep, practice with the witness while he’s on the stand, why should he be allowed to do so during an overnight recess?

She wrote the opinion affirming a lower court’s ruling.

Finally, the last case today, U.S. Postal Service versus Konan. Konan sued the postal service, alleging it wrongfully withheld her mail and its reason for doing so was racially motivated. The postal service argued a federal statute protects it from claims “arising out of the loss, miscarriage, or negligent transmission of letters.” Here, the debate centered over whether the statute’s language protected the postal service from intentional misdelivery.

In a 5 to 4 ruling, in favor of the postal service, Justice Clarence Thomas wrote the majority opinion to say it does. Justice Sotomayor dissented, joined by Justices Kagan, Neil Gorsuch, and Jackson.

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Jenny Rough.

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