First week back at SCOTUS: Rejections, a short-handed hearing and another execution

The Supreme Court opened its new term with a run of denied appeals, a recusal that complicates a major climate case, and a further execution. Among the petitions turned away were a Michigan mother's First Amendment challenge over her sons being barred from wearing "Let's Go Brandon" sweatshirts at middle school, and Roy Moore's attempt to revive his defamation suit tied to a 2017 Senate campaign ad. Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote separately in an Alabama capital case the court would not review, where a judge ordered a prospective juror arrested for arriving 30 minutes late. She warned that jurors' fear of speaking freely is especially serious when a defendant's life is at stake, according to MS NOW.

The court also let Texas execute Jamaal Howard for the 2000 murder of Vickie Swartout, rejecting several stay requests, including one citing intellectual disability. Only Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson noted a dissent. That followed the botched Tennessee injection of Christa Pike, whose fate remains uncertain after the majority allowed it over dissents from Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Jackson. Separately, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced a December firing squad execution of Nidal Hasan, to be livestreamed.

Justice Samuel Alito stepped aside from Suncor v.

Summarized by PolitiKool from MS NOW’s reporting. Read the full story at MS NOW →